The pelvic floor is made up of the muscles and connective tissues that support all the organs in the pelvis: the bladder, uterus, vagina and rectum. The pelvic floor can be damaged by childbirth, chronic coughing or lifting, aging or other problems. After damage occurs, the organs of the pelvis may not work correctly or they may lose their normal support.
The most common types of pelvic floor dysfunction or injury include:
Stress Urinary Incontinence
This is associated with damage to the pelvic floor after childbirth, surgery, heavy lifting or other chronic stress. Leaking urine when exercising, sneezing, laughing or even just walking can be the result. Stress urinary incontinence can increase after menopause as the muscles supporting the bladder weaken.
Urge Urinary Incontinence
The frequent need to go to the bathroom, even with only small amounts of urine in the bladder, can be a sign of overactive bladder. Overactive bladder results from spasms of the bladder muscle that cause feelings of urgency, frequent trips to the bathroom and sometimes leakage of urine. Overactive bladder is sometimes caused by stroke, Alzheimer's disease, Multiple Sclerosis or other conditions that affect the nervous system.
Prolapse
After childbirth or other significant injury to connective tissues of the pelvic floor, the organs supported by these muscles can drop down from their normal position. The dropping down of the organs - the bladder, uterus, vagina, intestines or rectum - is known as prolapse. Women with prolapse often experience a sense of pressure or bulging of tissue from the vagina or rectum. These symptoms are often worse at the end of the day or after heavy lifting or exercise.
Emptying Disorder
Women with pelvic floor dysfunction often have difficulty emptying their bladder or bowels. This may be due to prolapse of these organs, weakening of the organs themselves or incoordination of the pelvice floor muscles.
Bowel Incontinence
Some women have trouble controlling the passing of gas, liquid or solid stool. This can be due to weaking of the sphincter muscles around the anus or other disorders of the colon and rectum.