May is Pelvic Pain Awareness Month, in which organizations strive to raise and improve public awareness of issues in the area of chronic pelvic pain. As a physical therapist with a special interest and years of experience in the treatment of patients with pelvic girdle related pain, I hope you find that this blog article increases your knowledge of the role our pelvic floor muscles play in pelvic girdle, pelvic, buttock, low back, and hip pain and stiffness and stress urinary incontinence (urinary leakage).
Men and women have a pelvic floor. It is not really a floor, but a collection of muscles, ligaments, nerves, tendons, blood vessels, fascia, and connective tissue at the bottom of the pelvis. Several layers of muscles make up our pelvic floor muscles (“PFM”). Some of these muscles connect the tailbone to the pubic bone while others spread outward and connect to pelvic bones and the hips. Thoracolumbar fascia connects these muscles to the low back. The deeper layer of muscles supports the vagina, bladder, uterus, and rectum. The outer, or more superficial layer, surrounds the bladder, vagina, and anal openings.
