Pelvic health and control

The pelvic floor is the layer of muscle and tissue which control bladder and bowel function.  The muscles of the pelvic floor are kept firm and slightly tense to stop leakage of urine from the bladder and wind or faeces from the bowel. When you pass water or have a bowel motion the pelvic floor muscles relax. Afterwards, they tighten again to restore control. The muscles actively squeeze when you laugh, cough, lift or sneeze to help prevent any leakage. 

The muscles of the pelvic floor help to:

• support the organs in your abdomen especially when you are standing.
• protect the pelvic organs from external damage.
• hold the pelvic organs, like the bladder in the correct position.
• control of passing of urine, gas and bowel motions.

For men, the pelvic floor plays a role in maintaining an erection.  For women, although the pelvic floor as a whole plays a crucial role in orgasm during intercourse, there is no conclusive evidence which confirms that strengthening pelvic floor muscles through exercise improves sexual function or enhances orgasms for women.

However, doing specific exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles can have a positive impact on managing bladder and bowel symptoms or both men and women.

Pelvic floor exercises are quite specific and require quite a bit of concentration.  Here you will find some written instructions about how to do pelvic floor exercises and a Pilates routine which you might find helpful

If pelvic floor exercises are something you are adding to your plan, you may want to ask your physiotherapist to check you are contracting the right muscles (they do this by using their hands to feel (or palpate) the muscles contracting about an inch in from your front hip bone, at the level of your belly button).

How to find your pelvic floor muscles and do the exercises

Although women and men both have pelvic floors, due to different anatomy they aren’t contracted and exercised quite in the same way, so the following section is divided by sex.