Causes
The pelvic floor muscles can become weakened, stretched out, slow to contract, or torn for many reasons. Frequent reasons why women experience problems with the pelvic floor muscles may include:
Age – Your internal organs can sag with age, putting pressure on your bladder.
Pregnancy and childbirth – Can cause problems for your pelvic floor muscles. It is important to do your pelvic floor exercises on a regular basis during pregnancy so that your issues following child birth can be lessened.
Chronic Constipation – Having to strain to empty your bowels on a regular basis can cause overstretching and weakness. Difficulties with emptying can be a host of reasons, one may be due to poor relaxation of the pelvic floor muscles.
Symptoms
Bladder:
- Leakage while coughing, sneezing, during sexual intercourse
- Sudden need to go to the toilet that may include leakage
- Going to the toilet quite often
- Getting up from bed to go to the toilet more than once
Bowel:
- Leakage with physical activity or an urge to go frequently
- Difficulty getting clean after bowel movements
- Leakage of gas
Vaginal:
- Feeling of something flowing down from inside
- Heaviness (pelvic organ prolapse) when pelvic organs drop lower in the pelvis and create a bulge in the vagina
- Mild pain which can be felt vaginally or sometimes in your abdomen
- Lack of sensation during sex