What's a pelvic floor?

What is a pelvic floor?

Most people are familiar with the term pelvic floor. The general perception is that it sits somewhere at the base of the torso and has something to do with making sure you don't wet yourself. Oh and maybe, better orgasms - I'm sure I've read that in a magazine somewhere...

But having a clear image of where the pelvic floor muscles are, what they do and how they interact with the rest of your anatomy in the pelvis can be really helpful when you want to understand why things might not be working as they should. 

At its most simple, the pelvic floor is a sling of muscles and connective tissues located in the pelvic bowl (the cavity created by your pelvis at the base of your torso). The pelvic floor sits in the bottom of the pelvic bowl and stretches from the tailbone at the back to the pubic bone at the front.

These muscles are essential for supporting your core (posture), holding in and releasing wee and poo, for sex, birth, and breathing. They also hold our pelvic organs, like the womb and the bladder, in place.

Healthy pelvic floor muscles squeeze and relax automatically, helping your body eliminate waste, but you can also squeeze and relax them consciously like flexing and releasing your bicep.

You can feel your pelvic floor muscles in action around three sphincters (circular shaped muscles) - around the urethra (the tube where wee exits the body), around the vaginal canal and around the anus (where poo exits the body). You squeeze the muscles by pulling them upwards and inwards, from the anus at the back to the vagina and urethra at the front. This movement can be subtle so don’t worry if it takes you a few tries to feel it. 

Your pelvic floor muscles form the foundation of your ‘core’ - they work with your back muscles, stomach muscles and diaphragm (dome shaped muscle under the lungs that stabilises breathing). Together these muscles attach to your pelvis and your spine creating stability in your body. 

Pelvic floor issues are known as pelvic floor dysfunction or disorders and symptoms include incontinence (both wee and poo - from a tiny leak to full flow), inability to hold in a fart, pain and prolapse (where the pelvic organs start to bulge into the vagina, bladder or rectum).

There are many reasons why these conditions can occur and many of them disproportionately affect women. 

Pregnancy, childbirth, menopause, obesity, prostate Issues, chronic constipation, chronic cough, hormonal changes and heavy lifting can all impact how our pelvic floor works.

The pelvic floor is also connected to our emotional selves, with many women carrying tension in their pelvic floor in response to stress and anxiety. 

Prioritising your pelvic floor health will improve your quality of life. 

A healthy pelvic floor means we can trust our bodies to carry out a whole range of activities without having to worry about leaking wee or poo or having pain - from simple bodily functions like going to the toilet, to feats of endurance like running a marathon and pleasurable experiences like stress-free sex.

Untreated pelvic floor issues can lead to all sorts of complications later in life - from weight gain, disrupted sleep and low self-esteem to high blood pressure, heart disease and decreased bone health. 

A healthy pelvic floor is one that is balanced - it must be strong enough to hold our organs in place and prevent incontinence, but flexible enough to allow us to wee and poo as we need and to have pleasurable sex. 

Knowing how to prevent, manage and treat pelvic floor issues throughout your life means less stress, more joy and better health outcomes in the long term. 

Now that is something that is worth your attention.

There are many ways to support healthy pelvic floor function and Sheela wants to empower you to get started today. That is why we have created a free guide for all of our email subscribers (we won’t spam and you can unsubscribe anytime). Download it here.  

In this guide you’ll uncover 5 simple habits you can easily integrate into your lifestyle without having to adopt any complex exercise programs or even figure out how to do a kegel ;)

For more accessible content like this, find us on Instagram (@sheela.ie) and YouTube (@sheelawomen). 

Lastly, if there is a woman out there you think might need to hear any of this, please share. Talking about these issues is essential if we're going to help women move past them.