The pelvic floor, also called the pelvic floor muscles (Latin: Musculus Levator Ani), is a muscle group at the bottom of the pelvic girdle. It supports a variety of organs in the pelvis. The biggest function of the pelvic floor is the opening and closing of the body openings like the urethra and the anus. Sexuality wise, the pelvic floor plays an important role as well. Lots of veins and nerves go through the pelvic floor to the genitalia. 

 

The pelvic floor is a big muscle in the pelvis. These pelvic floor muscles are located at the bottom of the pelvis and are attached to the pubic bone and reach to the tailbone. They are also attached to the sit bones, otherwise called the ischial tuberosity. The pelvic floor muscles close and open openings like the urethra, vagina and the anus. Let’s imagine going to the toilet. With a healthy pelvic floor, you hold the control over the pelvic openings and whether they need to be opened or not. You could call the pelvic floor muscles active, but they don’t need to be actively closed. The pelvic floor muscles automatically keep your anus and the urethra closed throughout the day. They also grant stability in the pelvis and keep the organs, located in the pelvis, in place. 

 

I’m going to talk with you about your pelvic floor, because, well, most people don’t really know what the pelvic floor actually is. I’m going to make a change in that. Should you still want more tips, advice or information after this, feel free to take a look on the website. I have lots of content! It’s filled with in-depth information, tips a webshop and also exercises too. 

 

This is the pelvic floor 

The pelvic floor is located in one of our most complex and crucial areas, and yet you don’t directly see or feel them. The down part about the pelvic floor muscle is that you don’t immediately have it in sight. You can easily point out your bicep, but try that with your pelvic floor muscle. Are they relaxed? Are they tensed up? You don’t really see anything change about them, and yet it’s still very crucial that they function properly. The best way to get a good idea of what the pelvic floor muscles look like is comparing them to a hammock. They hang in the bottom of the pelvis and your organs are supported in this hammock of muscle. The name itself also gives away the location of the pelvic floor muscles – in your pelvis. 

 

The pelvis is that thing where your hips are in. I’m sure you can place your hands on the pelvic brims. Let your fingers run over the brim and see where it leads to. All of the bone that you’re feeling is your pelvis. This also counts for the tailbone and the pubic bone at the front. 

 

The pelvic floor muscles are like a sort of webbing in your pelvis. All sorts of firm cables go to the tailbone, the sit bones, and the pubic bone. The pelvic floor holds the pelvis together from the inside. Try to find those junctures. If you go sit on a hard floor you will immediately feel your sit bones. Your pelvic floor has two or three openings. With men, their openings are the anus and the urethra. Women have a third opening apart from the two mentioned earlier, the vagina. The pelvic floor muscles are directly around the urethra, (for women also the vagina) and the anus. The bladder, (for women also the uterus) and intestines hang just a bit above this pelvic floor muscle group. These pelvic floor muscles control the opening and the closing of those openings. 

 

This is what the pelvic floor does 

We can simplify the main activities of the pelvic floor muscles into three keywords: closing, opening, and carrying. The opening and closing primarily have a lot to do with your activities on your toilet, or when something is to be inserted into the vagina. The carrying is being done by your pelvic floor through the pelvic organs. Like this, your organs are being supported from the inside by the pelvic floor muscles, so that every organ remains on the right spot with the right amount of support. You can see your pelvic floor muscles as a support for your lower back. One thing is for sure in your body; everything is linked with each other. 

 

The urethra, anus and vagina 

The pelvic floor muscles are directly around the vagina, anus and the urethra, and without you realizing it, those three are neatly being closed off. They will only relax and open when the need for it is high so you can do your needs on the toilet. 

The pelvic floor muscles are busy with preventing floods all day. These gatekeepers need to brace themselves when the floods are about to burst through the gates. The pelvic floor muscles are very precise and they give all signals through to the chief (you), on time. That’s how you know if there is a breeze or a storm about to come up and whether you want to prevent that or not . If you’re experiencing trouble with holding up your stool or urine, then it could be the case that your pelvic floor muscles are too weak or even too overactive. The pelvic floor muscles are dysregulated and you don’t have a good control over your muscle usage. Contact your doctor to get to the source.  

 

Relaxing and opening those gates wen you’re on the toilet is of course a nice feeling. Let the whole ordeal go. Relaxing is what the pelvic floor muscles have to do to be able to open up the anus or the urethra, but the vagina is also an opening that contains the involvement of the pelvic floor. That’s why it’s important to be able to properly relax during sex or during childbirth. If you experience trouble with relaxing, then you could be dealing with an overactive pelvic floor. Having an overactive pelvic floor means that you struggle with relaxing which could make you develop urge-incontinence issues, obstipation or vaginismus. Have a read through my other articles to get more information on it and visit the doctor if you are unable to properly relax the pelvic floor muscles. 

 

The support 

To support, to stabilize and to carry. It sounds like a building project, but we are still talking about the pelvic floor muscles. The pelvic floor supports the bladder, the uterus, and the intestines. These all rest in a comfortable hammock. The heavier the hammock, the harder the pelvic floor muscles have to work. Gravity also plays a role. When you stand up, and when you have stored up a lot of stool, you will have more trouble keeping your pelvic floor muscles tensed up. You can feel the pressure in your anus rise up. But full intestines and a full bladder aren’t the only things that influence it. Think about the effects a baby can have; a beautiful, round belly carrying around a little one will also ask more from your pelvic floor. 

 

The abdominal pressure 

It’s good to know what you can do to keep the pressure as low as possible. Your breathing pattern can already help a lot, in this case. With the right abdominal breathing the abdominal pressure will decrease, and with that the pressure on your pelvis will also decrease. It’s necessary to keep your abdominal pressure low when another pressure arises, for example with lifting something heavy. You will often hold your breath and lift something. The pressure rises, but if you keep on breathing, the pressure on your abdomen and the pelvic floor will drastically decrease. Have a nice read through my article about abdominal pressure. There you will find a few handy tips that you can directly apply.  

 

The pelvic floor muscles and trunk stability 

The support is mainly coming from the lower back and abs. The pelvic muscles are related to those muscle groups and relatives, of course, support each other. All those groups together are called the trunk stability, or better said, core stability. See it as a tight corset. This group keeps everything in place and it also gives support for a firm and proper posture. A good balance in and around your core will tremendously help you, not only during pregnancy but also during very common situations. You’ll experience way less issues, one of them being a bad posture, when your core is balanced. So take proper care of your trunk and keep your muscles in a good condition for your pelvis. 

 

Issues and problems

Everyone possesses a pelvic floor, but I think you’ve figured that one out by now. Though, it’s mainly the women who experience issues around the pelvic floor. This is easily to be explained by the heightened pressure during pregnancy and childbirth. However, men and children can experience issues too.  

 

Approximately 60% of the women has pelvic floor muscle issues. That’s, of course, a lot. But the pelvic floor isn’t only at work during pregnancy, you see! The pelvic floor issues could have a huge influence in your day to day life and activities. Having a laugh, running with the kids, being intimate with your partner or a fun day out can look very differently out of nowhere. So sound the alarms on time and get help from a professional who’s specialized in pelvic floor issues. Relaxation is often the core of every treatment if too much tension is causing the issues, so that’s at least a benefit! 

The most common symptoms regarding pelvic floor issues are a weakened pelvic floor or an overactive pelvic floor. 

 

Weakened pelvic floor symptoms:  

• Overflow urinal loss. Urge-urine incontinence 
• Overflow stool loss. Fecal overflow incontinence 
• A developed stage of vulvitis 
• Erection issues 
• Trouble with going to the toilet 

An overactive pelvic floor 

Pelvic floor issues are often being linked to weakness. You often experience issues with a muscle when it has weakened. Sure, it’s possible, but with pelvic floor issues it’s more often overactive or too tense than being too weak. Relaxation is the biggest issue here. Both of those issues often go hand in hand, we call this a coordination issue. For example, not being able to relax properly when you visit the toilet, and not being able to tighten up properly when you need to hold your stool. It’s also a must that you can relax and tighten up properly during coughing, lifting something, bending over, standing up, laughing, losing your urine, and losing stool, though with all the things mentioned, issues can occur. Imagine you’re having a laugh and you have urine loss, that’d be a real buzzkill.  

 

Tightening up the pelvic floor 

Are you able to tighten up your pelvic floor and check it yourself? To simply put it, absolutely! Act like you’re holding back urine or stool, or tighten up your vagina (if you have it). Now you’re tightening up your pelvic floor muscles. This way you can also train them if they would ever be too weak. Tightening up is just as important as relaxing them, but now you’ve noticed that you can do this yourself too. Are you able to continue breathing normally with these actions? Try to calmly continue your breathing through your abdomen. You’re not tightening up your gluteus now, are you? Because that’s not the intention right now, so don’t squeeze your butt cheeks together so you maybe lift up a little. Solemnly focus on your anus and your vagina. Tighten them and relax. Keep on breathing properly, and you’ll have control over them. 

Do you want to know more about pelvic issues or the solution for pelvic issues? Click on the words to go to the right article.

 

And lastly, are you looking for more information? 

Hopefully this information was useful to you! We’ve discussed multiple points about the pelvic floor, like its anatomy, its functions, the muscles, pelvic floor issues, and their symptoms. If you’re still looking for some more information, feel free to take another look around on the website. It’s filled with in-depth information, tips a webshop and also exercises. I still have a lot of articles with lots of information about other symptoms and issues. Feel free to click on the blue words to take you straight to the right page.