When some or all of these structures of the pelvic floor are not functioning properly, they can cause a multitude of different symptoms. People who are suffering from bowel, bladder, and or sexual problems, as well as those who are suffering from pain in the pelvis, upper legs, abdomen or buttocks most likely have pelvic floor impairments contributing to their pain.
Surface electrodes (self-adhesive pads placed on your skin) can test your pelvic muscle control. This might be an option if you don’t want an internal exam. The electrodes are placed on the perineum (the area between the vagina and rectum in women, and between the testicles and rectum in men) or on the sacrum (the triangular bone at the base of your spine). This test is not painful.
Your pelvic floor is the group of muscles and ligaments in your pelvic region. The pelvic floor acts like a sling to support the organs in your pelvis — including the bladder, rectum, and uterus or prostate. Contracting and relaxing these muscles allows you to control your bowel movements, urination, and, for women particularly, sexual intercourse.

Discussed extensively in Travel and Simon’s two volume series, trigger points are taut (firm) points in the muscle that have a consistent referral pattern (they transmit pain to the another part of the body). Trigger points are not only important because they cause pain, they also can affect how the muscle works. This is one of the main reasons our therapists at Beyond Basics are fastidious about ensuring all trigger points are released in the abdomen, back, legs and pelvic floor before transitioning to any core stabiltiy or strengthening exercises that can re activate a trigger point.

Cleveland Clinic’s Ob/Gyn & Women’s Health Institute is committed to providing world-class care for women of all ages. We offer women's health services, obstetrics and gynecology throughout Northeast Ohio and beyond. Whether patients are referred to us or already have a Cleveland Clinic ob/gyn, we work closely with them to offer treatment recommendations and follow-up care to help you receive the best outcome.

Great article thank you. I notice urinary leaking occurs after about mid morning (so i always exercise first thing in the morning) and then can be either worse or non existent during the month. I’m assuming hormones are at play but havent worked out if a pattern exists … yet. I think I’ve dealt with it but then it’s back!! Look forward to implementing these points.

Home exercise and therapy is also a mainstay of PFD rehabilitation. Because the goal of PFD therapy is to learn to control and, especially, relax the pelvic floor, therapists will teach you techniques for use at home to build on the therapies they do in their offices. This usually begins with general relaxation, stretching the leg and back muscles, maintaining good posture, and visualization—part of learning to sense your pelvic floor muscles and to relax them.

If that’s part of your treatment protocol as determined by your therapist, she may use one finger to stretch and mobilize the pelvic floor muscles, explains Tadros. While it may seem like some patients would balk at this, “I find that patients are so desperate for help, they’re more than okay with having it done. We don’t use a speculum or stirrups. This isn’t invasive, it’s designed to keep someone as comfortable as possible,” she adds.

^{OMG I have it so bad can you help me, having rectocele repaired for 2nd time along with bladder lift oct 24 dr. Acher-Welch Ehlers Danlos Syndrom is also one of the diagnosis I have causing lots of elasticity to my skin. Saw you on IIN Talk love your style and information, our whole class is talking about how they love you. Just wanted to let you know, I’m still finishing the video but loving every bit of it as did my classmates. You are spot on in everything I know or am learning. Go Dr. N}
Help….I had a preventive hysterectomy seven months ago because of a horrible maternal family history of ovarian and uterine cancer. At 53, I had just started into menopause with skipping periods, but hadn’t gone a year. Now, I have had constant pelvic pain….it’s hard to walk sometimes, hard to stand for more than 30-40 minutes and a cystocopy showed that my bladder was inflamed. All these practitioners are telling me I have IC, but I have no frequency, no urgency or burning. When I finally went to a uro/gyn, during the exam she told me several of my pelvic muscles were tight and I the only pain I had was when touched near my bladder. I think this may be a pelvic floor dysfunction along with a hormonal imbalance, but no one listens and just keeps prescribing Uribel and other bladder drugs and now they want to do instillations. Am I completely off base that this is a wrong diagnosis? Any insights would be helpful.
^{Issues with the pelvic floor can arise from a multitude of reasons. Infections, previous surgeries, childbirth, postural and lifting problems, and trips and falls can all bring on pelvic floor dysfunction. Pelvic floor pain can persist well after the cause of it has been removed. So it is entirely possible to feel the effects of an old infection, surgery or injury, days to years after they occur. Anyone who has had long standing abdomino-pelvic pain, or pain that they can’t seem to get rid of after seeking the help of medical doctors or other healthcare providers is a good candidate for a pelvic floor physical therapy evaluation and possible curative treatment.}