What is the Female Pelvic Floor?

Have you been told to do your pelvic floor exercises? It can be helpful for ladies to be able to visualize this pelvic floor, as many people aren’t even sure what this is, and so their pelvic floor exercises can be done completely wrong! The female pelvic floor sits at the base of a bowl that we call the pelvis. It consists of muscles, connective tissue, blood vessels, nerves and skin that sits at the base of the pelvis. The female pelvic floor has several important roles, including:

• Continence of urine and faeces. This requires co-ordinated contraction and relaxation of the muscles of the pelvic floor.  We will mainly be talking about this today.
• Transferring load from the upper body into the legs below
• Supporting pelvic organs (bladder, uterus, and rectum) from the effects of gravity or downward straining
• Sexual Function, which requires proprioception and strength of the muscles, and
• Pregnancy and childbirth

The Pelvic floor muscles themselves are in (roughly speaking) 2 main layers.

1. The Superficial layer is involved in squeezing closed the 3 openings (urethra, vagina and anus) to help maintain continence.
2. The deep layer is a larger fleshier muscle and acts to lift the whole pelvic floor including organs, and pull the tubes forward so to kink the urethra and rectum, preventing faeces and urine from descending.

Often after childbirth or menopause the pelvic floor can become weaker, resulting in involuntary loss of urine with coughing, sneezing (or even yelling at the children!).  When this happen, it is very helpful to have a proper assessment and be given some guidance on how to improve the function of the pelvic floor. If you experience these symptoms, Natasha is available to help you.  Phone 6056 6616 for an appointment today!  For more information on Women’s Health and how physiotherapy can help, read Natasha’s blog on Top Tips for Abdominal Pain during Pregnancy here.