7 Signs Your Pelvic Floor Needs Attention: When to Seek Help

Your pelvic floor plays a critical role in supporting your bladder, bowel, and reproductive organs. This group of muscles and ligaments helps you maintain normal bladder and bowel function, while keeping you comfortable and confident in your everyday life. 

Unfortunately, the pelvic floor tends to weaken as we get older, leading to a common problem called pelvic floor dysfunction. 

Our team at Feminine Urgicare helps you identify the earlier signs of pelvic organ dysfunction so you can seek help early, when therapy is most effective and less complicated.

1. You leak urine

If you routinely leak urine when you cough, laugh, or exercise, that’s a clear indication you have at least the early stages of pelvic floor weakness. 

Urine leakage happens because your pelvic floor is no longer providing your bladder and urethra with the support they need to control the flow of urine.

Urine leakage is especially common after menopause. In fact, it is so common that for many women, leaking a little urine is often accepted as a “normal” part of aging. But urinating when you don’t mean to is never normal, and pelvic floor treatments can help.

2. You feel a constant urge to urinate

Needing to urinate frequently or feeling like you have to even when you don’t is another sign of pelvic floor dysfunction. Once again, these symptoms are often related to changes in pelvic floor muscle tone that make those muscles ineffective in managing bladder symptoms.

Frequent urges can impact your comfort and your daily routine, but they’re even more aggravating when they happen at night, when you're trying to sleep. Pelvic floor therapy helps improve muscle tone, which can improve symptom management.

3. You have difficulty emptying your bladder or bowels

Sometimes, you really do need to urinate (or move your bowels), but when you sit on the toilet, you can’t seem to void completely. When you’re finished, it still feels like you need to urinate a bit more, or like you haven’t completely emptied your bowels.

That’s because moving your bowels and urinating don’t “just happen.” They rely on a coordinated effort by different pelvic muscles to move urine and feces out of the body. 

If your pelvic floor muscles are weak, you may have trouble having a complete bowel movement or completely emptying your bladder, frequently feeling like something is “left behind.”

4. You have pelvic pain or pressure

Pelvic floor muscles that are too weak or too tight can cause painful sensations. If your organs aren’t properly supported, they can shift out of position, leading to feelings of fullness, pressure, or discomfort. 

These symptoms tend to feel worse after a long period of standing, walking, or other physical activity. Many people find discomfort increases as the day progresses, with symptoms sometimes interfering with comfortable sleep.

5. Sex is painful

Likewise, too-weak or too-tight pelvic muscles can contribute to pain during intercourse, as well as lingering discomfort afterward. 

Discomfort happens when penetration irritates the tight muscle floor, or when weak muscles allow organs to shift slightly, moving closer to the vaginal vault.

Painful sex isn’t limited to physical symptoms, either. It can take an emotional toll on you and your relationship with your partner, which is another reason why it should never be ignored.

6. You see or feel a bulge in your vaginal area

When pelvic floor dysfunction isn’t treated promptly, you can develop a condition called pelvic organ prolapse. This condition happens when your pelvic floor muscles are too weak to provide proper support, and one of your pelvic organs descends into the vaginal vault.

Women with pelvic organ prolapse may have symptoms like pressure or fullness in the vaginal area, or they may actually see or feel a bulge. Symptoms may be more noticeable when using the bathroom or when sitting or standing for long periods.

Help for your pelvic floor

Pelvic floor dysfunction can cause uncomfortable symptoms for sure, and without prompt treatment, those symptoms will almost certainly get worse with time. 

Fortunately, our team can help with a personal therapy plan focused on improving pelvic floor muscle tone and support, so you can enjoy a more comfortable, more confident life.

To learn more, request an appointment online or over the phone with the team at Feminine Urgicare in Paramus and Clifton, New Jersey, today.