The pelvic floor makes up the floor of our ‘core’, and plays a major role in core stability. The pelvic floor is a group of muscles and ligaments in the pelvis which, quite literally, form the floor of the pelvis. They stretch from the hip bones in the front and the sides to the sacrum and coccyx (tail bone) in the back. These muscles and ligaments support all the organs in the pelvic region- the bladder, rectum, uterus and vagina. The pelvic floor helps to support the lower back and all the pelvic organs. As a result of this, it plays a key role in urinary and fecal continence. Lastly, the pelvic floor is also important for sexual stimulation and reaching orgasm.

The term ‘Pelvic Floor Dysfunction’ is broadly used to describe conditions of the pelvic floor. This may include weakness, laxity or spasm of the muscles and ligaments. Some of the conditions that result from this include:

1. Urinary Incontinence, Bowel Incontinence

2. Overactive bladder, Urinary hesitancy

3. Uterine prolapse, Bladder prolapse, Rectal prolapse

4. Pelvic pain

5. Sexual Dysfunction

Physiotherapy can be used to decrease pain, identify the reason for bowel or bladder incontinence and uterine/bladder/rectal prolapse, which can then be treated accordingly. It can also aid with sexual dysfunction. Some of the methods used for treatment are as follows:

Bladder training – Involves a number of techniques used to identify the cause of incontinence, including potential dietary causes. Once causes have been identified, correcting measures are taken. This is done in conjunction with training of the bladder to improve voiding or gaining better control of the bladder by increasing time between voiding episodes and improving bladder capacity.

Exercises – Mainly focus on improving the strength and endurance of the pelvic floor muscles so as to provide better support and control of the pelvic organs which aids in issues related to incontinence. Strengthening the pelvic floor also improves sexual stimulation and orgasm. These may include the usage of cones, balls and catheters.

Manual techniques – They include deep muscle massage, myofascial mobilization, trigger point release, manual resistance and closure techniques to decrease pain, improve myofascial mobility, increase/decrease muscle tone and aid in strengthening of the pelvic floor muscles.