Common Causes of Pelvic Floor Pain
Nearly one-fourth of people experience a pelvic floor disorder within their lifetime. The pelvic floor consists of the muscles and connective tissues that contain the pelvic organs including the bladder, rectum, and reproductive organs. These muscles run from the front of the hips to the base of the spine. You can think of the pelvic floor as the divider from your torso to your legs.
Common pelvic floor disorders you may have heard of are urinary or fecal incontinence, pelvic floor dysfunction, and pelvic organ prolapse. These conditions are caused by pelvic floor muscle weakness or even overworked muscles which cannot relax. Pregnancy also causes pelvic floor issues as it causes tremendous stress on the muscles and ligaments of the pelvic floor region from added weight and hormones relaxing the pelvic floor for childbirth.
People who have had added stress or who are inactive are at risk to develop pelvic floor issues. Anecdotally, some pelvic floor experts have seen an influx of patients during the pandemic with new or worsening pelvic floor problems related to working from home and heightened levels of stress and anxiety.
“The combination of stress and then just sitting and not getting up to go to do those different activities throughout your workday definitely seem to have contributed to people’s symptoms,” said Alicia Jeffrey-Thomas, a pelvic floor physical therapist at Greater Boston Urology. Pelvic floor conditions cause discomfort, prevent normal muscle activity, and alter the function and the orientation of the reproductive, urinary, and digestive organs.