A number of bones and muscle groups serve a very useful function in stabilizing the body, thus allowing for effective movement and warding off injury. Most people know that the spinal column and the core muscles, for example, play this role. The pelvis, and especially the pelvic floor muscles, are especially critical to overall torso health and stability. But despite this importance, most of us do not think about the pelvic floor until we have an injury in this area or something else goes wrong.
This is a shame, because developing the pelvic floor muscles when they are healthy provides a strong base for the spine from below, improves movement ability in general, and has many other benefits in daily life. In fact, if you have aches and pains due to less-than-ideal posture, pelvic floor exercises are an effective way to ameliorate this issue. Working on the pelvic area can even increase your balance and stability when playing sports.
Since there are a great many individual anatomical differences in the pelvic floor, and health issues in this area can be subtle, you’ll get much better results by consulting with a physical therapist before beginning an exercise program. At JAG Physical Therapy, we are New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania’s local, specialized PT source, and we are known for our extensive pelvic PT program – schedule your appointment with us today or read more below on what pelvic floor exercises can do to improve your general health.
What Does the Pelvic Floor Do and Why Does It Matter for Posture?
The pelvic floor (sometimes also called the pelvic diaphragm) is an anatomical structure that runs below and perpendicular to the hips. It consists of two muscles – the broad and thin levator ani and the roughly triangular coccygeus – and their associated connective tissue. The primary function of the pelvic floor is to keep the bladder and intestines (and the uterus in women) in place – obviously something of great importance. However, secondarily, these muscles also help the lower parts of the spine (the lumbar and sacral regions) and the hips to bear weight.
As an example, think about how the bottom part of your pelvis partially opens up when you do squats. The pelvic floor is one of the muscle areas that is engaged in this situation. The spinal column, too, bears so much of the body weight that it must rely on structures below it, like the pelvis and ultimately the pelvic floor. Weakness or dysfunction in this area can lead to unconscious slouching while seated – a seemingly minor problem that can result in disruptive levels of lower back pain. It may also be the root issue in pelvic tilt, which causes the spine to deviate from its natural curvature at rest and ultimately a host of possible hip, back, and even abdominal problems.
How Does Pelvic Floor Strength Affect Your Balance and Stability?
If you are an athlete, or are simply conscious of your musculoskeletal health, you may have heard of certain prominent muscles referred to as deep core stabilizers. These include the diaphragm, the transverse abdominis below the ribs, and the multifidus running along the spine. The pelvic floor works alongside these large muscles of the torso to stabilize the body in all directions, exerting force when needed to keep balance in various different conditions.
Moreover, training your pelvic floor creates greater proprioceptive awareness of the lower body – which can make a big difference if you’re attempting to walk on icy ground without slipping or trying to safely juke around a defender on the basketball court. On the playing field, this muscle group assists in avoiding stumbles that can end a play early or even cause an injury. The pelvic floor muscles also help you ground yourself and maintain a stance. This means they play a role in lifting heavy objects, jumping, blocking an opposing player, and many other motions used in everyday situations, recreation, or athletic competition.
What Are the Best Exercises to Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor?
Although the pelvic floor is less accessible in exercise terms than the nearby back or leg muscles, this doesn’t mean that you need to learn complicated movements in order to work out this area. In fact, starting with some very basic exercises is one of the best things you can do for your pelvic floor, and you can continue using these same exercises no matter how long you’ve had your training routine.
The Kegel exercise, for example, is incredibly simple, yet forms the foundation of all pelvic floor strengthening. This familiar exercise – tensing the levator ani muscle – can be repeated for a few minutes at a time multiple times a day in most situations, and over time this leads to greater muscle tone across the entire pelvic floor.
Diaphragmatic breathing, a technique that mostly involves parts of the body in the thoracic region, can nevertheless help improve the pelvic floor’s condition. To breathe in this way, lay down flat with both your neck and your knees supported with pillows. Rest one hand high on your chest and the other with the forefinger right underneath the bottom rib, in order to actually feel your diaphragm muscle. Slowly inhale through your nose, keeping your hands still, then tighten your stomach muscles to exhale at the same pace. By using diaphragmatic breathing in your routine, you’ll help your upper pelvis remain as stable as the lower part, as the diaphragm works alongside the pelvic floor in its core stabilizing function.
By learning the proper form for these two exercises and practicing them consistently each day, you can integrate them with the most common functional movement exercises for the lower core, like squatting, bridging, and pelvic tilting. This is an important consideration because these well-known exercises work far better for the pelvic floor when done using effective breathing and the right level of pelvic muscle engagement.
Should You See a Physical Therapist for Pelvic Floor Dysfunction?
Even if there are no health issues arising from your pelvic floor, it can be very beneficial to exercise this region with the help of a physical therapist, as discussed above. However, if you have symptoms related to a dysfunction in the pelvic floor muscles, you may need PT even more urgently.
Some symptoms that are clearly associated with a problem in the pelvic floor include pain in the middle of the hips, urinary incontinence and other issues related to bladder control, and pain during or after sex. However, other, less localized health issues may have pelvic floor dysfunction as one possible cause. These can include low back or tailbone pain without clear cause, a sensation of instability in the hips when walking, and problems with posture in the lower torso.
When you see a pelvic floor physical therapist, they will first carefully assess your condition with an examination of the affected muscles. You will most likely receive detailed guidance on specific, targeted exercises you should do. Furthermore, you might also be treated with biofeedback, myofascial release, or other pelvic-specialized methods. Sticking to the exercise routine you have been given, however, is the biggest key to long-term pelvic floor improvement.
Get Expert Pelvic Floor Support at JAG Physical Therapy
If you’re looking for effective and compassionate pelvic physical therapy in New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, or New York, turn to JAG PT. Our skilled pelvic floor specialists combine the latest evidence-based techniques to rehabilitate any pelvic floor issue, and we have helped many patients of varied ages, genders, and lifestyles with postural retraining, core stabilization, and beyond. If you start to feel something is wrong in your pelvic floor, it’s never too early to get help from a physical therapist. And if you’ve been living with an issue in this sensitive body region for a long time, it’s never too late, either. Book your appointment now to get started on the road to a better pelvic floor condition – and therefore improved overall musculoskeletal health.
