Pelvic floor physiotherapy is a specialized branch of physiotherapy involving an internal and external assessment and treatment of the pelvic floor muscles. Those muscles are located between the hip bones and the sacrum, and they serve as a hammock/sling to support the pelvic organs including the bladder, colon, and uterus.

 

Pelvic floor physiotherapy is becoming more established in the literature as a first-line of defence against incontinence and pelvic pain. You may benefit from this specialized physiotherapy if you have any type of pelvic floor dysfunction. This is generally classified into two problems: muscles are either overactive (too tight), or they are underactive (too weak).

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A tight pelvic floor can contribute to:

• Urinary frequency and urgency

• Pain with urination

• Waking up during the night to urinate

• Urinary incontinence (loss of urine before making it to the washroom)

• Constipation, straining, or painful bowel movements

• Sexual dysfunction (inability to have vaginal penetration, or pain with penetration)

 

A weak pelvic floor can contribute to:

• stress incontinence (loss of urine during jumping, running, coughing, or sneezing)

• pelvic organ prolapse (a pelvic organ shifts out of place creating heaviness or bulging at the vaginal or rectal opening)

 

These pelvic conditions can occur at any point in a woman’s life, but it most commonly happens after childbirth or during menopause. Sadly, women think that they must live with these symptoms for the remainder of their lives, but luckily there is much that can be done to correct these problems and lessen or get rid of symptoms!

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