Do you know how important your pelvic floor muscles are?

Do you have any of these symptoms?

Leaking urine when coughing or sneezing, frequent trips to the toilet to urinate, frequent urination at night, feeling nervous when there is no toilet nearby, difficulty defecating, straining during bowel movements, vaginal leakage, painful intercourse, soreness and heaviness in the lower back, and a foreign body sensation in the lower body are all inextricably linked to the pelvic floor muscles.

What are the pelvic floor muscles?

As one of the important supporting structures to ensure the function of the pelvic floor, the pelvic floor muscles are divided into three layers from the outside to the inside: the outer layer, the middle layer and the inner layer. They include the pelvic floor muscles, fascia and ligaments, and bony structures, which together form a "hammock"-like structure to support the pelvic organs, ensuring the stability of the position of pelvic organs such as the bladder, urethra, uterus, vagina, and rectum, while maintaining the functions of the pelvic organs, such as: sphincter function (controlling defecation and urination), sexual function (vaginal leakage, failure to reach orgasm, vaginal spasm, etc.), and reproductive function (pregnancy, childbirth).

Therefore, the pelvic floor muscles play a very important role in daily activities. If the function of the pelvic floor muscles declines, it will affect the normal functioning of physiological functions such as defecation, urination and sexual life, and the above-mentioned discomfort symptoms will appear, which will affect the life of postpartum women and the physical and mental health of elderly women to varying degrees.

Image source: pexels

Which groups of people need to pay attention to pelvic floor problems?

1. Women who do long-term heavy physical labor, often sit in the office, have chronic coughs, are obese (BMI ≥ 30), etc. will have decreased pelvic floor function due to long-term increased abdominal pressure.

2. For pregnant and postpartum women, the gradually enlarging uterus during pregnancy causes the pelvic center of gravity to move forward, and the pelvic floor muscles are in a continuous, gradually aggravated state; various hormonal changes affect the pelvic floor ligaments; during vaginal delivery, the pelvic floor muscles and nerves are extremely stretched, and if there are factors such as dystocia and instrumental delivery, these all lead to a decline in pelvic floor function.

3. Due to the influence of pregnancy and childbirth, changes in estrogen levels in the body, and thinning of connective tissue in perimenopausal women, the pelvic floor function will also decline, leading to pelvic floor diseases.

4. Pelvic surgery: Pelvic floor rehabilitation after urogenital surgery, pelvic floor reconstruction, hysterectomy, etc. can prevent and reduce the occurrence of postoperative pelvic floor dysfunction.

5. Spinal cord injury: People with urination or defecation dysfunction after spinal cord injury.

Source: Chongqing Institute of Population and Family Planning Science and Technology

Author: Liu Yi, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Family Planning Research Institute

Audit expert: Chen Liang

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