Everything You Never Knew About Your Pelvic Floor Muscles

TexHi! My Name is Your Pelvic Floor Muscles

 If you are a human, you have a pelvis AND pelvic floor muscles. If you are like most humans, you have little (to no) idea on what your pelvic floor muscles are, how to use them, and how to help them work better.

Allow me to step in :) My name is Dr. Kelly Sadauckas, one of a handful of Doctors of Physical Therapy in the world that are double board certified in Pelvic Health and Orthopedics. Today, I’d like to demystify your pelvic floor muscles.

What are the pelvic floor muscles?

1. The Pelvic Floor Muscles are a Hammock that literally form the base of your core.

The pelvic floor muscles are a three dimensional layer of muscles that goes from the back of your pubic bone, to the front of your sacrum, as well as from your sit bones to , well…your taint (the space between your vag and rectum, or balls and rectum).

2. There is more than one pelvic floor muscle

There are more than 6 different muscles on each side, not to mention the deep hip muscles that live in the neighborhood!

3. You have left AND right Pelvic Floor Muscles!

Just like you have muscles of your left leg that have their own strength and coordination apart from your right leg, you have TWO GROUPS of pelvic muscles, one group on the left side of your body, and one group on the right.  In the best of times, these two groups of muscles function ‘cooperatively’ together, with totally different nervous system control, and totally different coordination patterns. 

Frankly, it’s amazing that our pelvic floor muscles can ever work…yet they do!

The Pelvic Floor Muscles Work Together!

They have unique, but complementary functions

•  Some constrict (close) or relax (open) the urethra (pee hole)

•  Some constrict (close) or relax (open) the rectum (poop hole)

•  Some connect the pubic bone to the tailbone, narrowing (or broadening) the pelvic outlet (bottom opening space)

•  Some go from the pubic bone and loop around the vagina or rectum, assisting in ‘normal’ angles for pee and poop.

•  Some elevate the entire hammock…’lifting and scooping’ all the parts up between our sit bones, as I like to say :)
  
  

Pee, Poop or Seggsy Time Problems Happen When The Pelvic Muscles Stop Working Cooperatively

Yep, nearly all pelvic problems have some component of muscle dysfunction at their root, or as a part of the persistent problem.  Pee leaks, fart leaks, pee urgency, pee anxiety, poo urgency, constipation, pain with sitting, pain with tampons, pain with periods, pain with sex, “meh” sex….while there can be other medical causes of these pelvic problems , one of the most common causes is pelvic floor muscle hypertonicity, which means “muscles are too dang tight to work right.”

Pelvic Problems are Usually Due to the Pelvic Muscles Being Too Tight.

Tight muscles are NEVER strong.  And they are often painful. If this is hard to understand, I totally get it.  Here's two silly Instagram Reels where I explain it:
* The Wall Sit Analogy: Sure you can pop up and down a flight of stairs easily right now...but what if I put you in a wall sit for 8 hours....or 8 years...how would your quad muscles work then?

* The Flour Analogy: How well would your arm work, if you had to carry a 15-20# bag of flour around ALL DAY LONG??

Q: But won’t the pelvic problem just goa way on it’s own.  I don’t want to talk about this with anyone!

A: Nope, Pelvic Problems Don’t Usually Go Away on Their Own Because The Brain LOVES to Ignore the Pelvic Floor!

We get into dissociation and trauma, and brain anatomy in other blog posts, but the gist is this: Any trauma, illness or stress, can result in the brain ignoring your pelvic region. It does this in a misguided attempt to protect us. 

After ANY physical injury, illness or stress, especially one that involves digestion, the crotch or pelvic problems (including having abdominal surgery, or having a baby!!), the brain is like “Whoa. That sucked. I don’t want that to happen again. I’m going to protect you by ignoring the pelvic region, so you never feel pain again AND I’m going to tighten up the pelvic muscles to protect you.” 

But here’s the thing, chicken wing. The brain isn’t supposed to ignore “all of the nerves” to a body region.  It actually can’t.  So it ends up ignoring the proprioception nerves, which are the nerves that tell us where our body is in space.  So our pelvic muscles start to rest in a clenched fist…and since our position sense is turned down, we don’t notice. 
(Side note, it also does this in response to emotional trauma, or perceived stress.  One old study showed that if you show a group of college age women (with zero trauma history) a picture of a dark parking garage, that their pelvic floor muscles will clench without them realizing it!!)

And we don’t notice, in fact, until we start peeing our pants, or sex hurts.

And even then, we just notice the symptoms, and we’re not even aware of the cause. 

We might be told “just do kegels”, because the practitioner didn’t understand that the usual way we have pelvic problems is from muscles being disconnected and weak because they are too tight all the dang time. 
 

How do we Fix This?  Are YOU Ready to Take Action?

Educate yourself, by someone with kick-butt pelvic health credentials, like me! 

This blog post is the tip of the iceberg in teaching you about your pelvic floor muscles. The most important thing for you to know is that whatever your pee, poop or seggsy time problem is, you are not alone, and you are not permanently broken.   There are real muscles involved here, just like muscles are involved in low back pain, and it is worth investing your time and energy to reconnecting those muscles to your brain.  YOU DESERVE THE PELVIS OF YOUR DREAMS.

I would love to work with you one:one, either in-person or online!  Visit my scheduling site to grab the first available appointment that works for you!

I have a full catalogue of streamable pelvic wellness courses, designed to help nearly any human achieve the pelvis of their dreams!  Courses can be completed at your own speed, from the comfort and privacy of your own house, at a fraction of the price of a one:one visit of Pelvic PT! All are streamable on your computer, but ALSO through your phone or tablet, for seamless integration or exercises and lessons at home, at the gym or while traveling!  For phone and tablet use, just download the free Kajabi app (blue K) wherever you download apps from :) 

AND, if you need even more motivation to get working on the pelvis of your dreams…for every 4 online courses that are sold, 1 is donated to someone in need through our People Before Profits program…improve your pelvis, and improve another person’s life!  What else could we ask for?

Xoxo -Dr. Kelly

www.pelvicfloored.com