Pelvic Floor Problems

What are pelvic floor problems?

Your pelvic floor is an area of muscle and connective tissue that helps support all the organs in your lower abdomen. Pelvic floor problems can develop if:

• You overstretch your pelvic floor muscles
• Your pelvic floor muscles weaken
• The pelvic floor muscles are too tight

Signs that you have a pelvic floor problem include stress incontinence, where you leak urine when you cough or sneeze, or sometimes when you laugh or during exercise. You might also have urge incontinence, suddenly feeling desperate for the bathroom and not always making it in time.

You might constantly feel the need to urinate, but also find you can’t always empty your bladder. Similar problems can affect your bowels as well, causing fecal incontinence. You could have pain in your pelvic region if you have a pelvic floor problem, or find it uncomfortable to have sex.

If your pelvic floor is severely weak, you might experience a prolapse, where some of the organs in your pelvis drop down through your vagina. You might be able to feel the prolapsed organs or have sensations of discomfort and heaviness.

What causes a weak pelvic floor?

You can be born with a weak pelvic floor, or it can come on through your life. Like all muscles, pelvic floor muscles need exercising, and if they don’t get a regular work out, they can grow weak over time.

On the other hand, some women’s pelvic floor muscles are so tight they can’t relax them, which brings its own set of problems.

One of the main causes of pelvic floor problems is being pregnant and giving birth vaginally. Other triggers for pelvic floor problems include:

• Chronic back pain
• Chronic constipation
• Being overweight or obese
• Heavy lifting
• Chronic cough
• Older age

If you’ve had an injury or surgery to your pelvic region in the past, or received pelvic radiotherapy, that can also lead to pelvic floor problems.

Advanced Women's Health Specialists features experts in assessing the health of the pelvic floor. They also provide exceptional diagnostic testing for urinary problems, using a series of tests known collectively as urodynamics to measure urine flow and bladder control.

How are pelvic floor problems treated?

For most women, exercising their pelvic floor regularly can strengthen it and restore its function. Your provider at Advanced Women's Health Specialists can advise you on the exercises you should be doing and how often. In most cases, they’re able to treat pelvic floor problems within the office.

If you have a pelvic organ prolapse or other serious problem that exercise isn’t going to cure, you might need to have surgery to fix your pelvic floor problems. Advanced Women's Health Specialists doctors have considerable experience in performing minimally invasive and robot-assisted surgeries for pelvic organ prolapse and other pelvic floor problems.

If you’re concerned about pelvic floor problems, call Advanced Women's Health Specialists today or book an appointment online.