Pelvic Floor Disorders
Educational information. Individual clinical review of this presentation by Dr. Ehsan is not yet documented. It does not replace personal medical evaluation.
Source: MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine. Read the original source
MedlinePlus data edition September 26, 2026. Imported September 27, 2026. These dates do not indicate a new clinical review of the article.
The pelvic floor is a group of muscles and other tissues that form a sling or hammock across the pelvis. In women, it holds the uterus, bladder, bowel, and other pelvic organs in place so that they can work properly. The pelvic floor can become weak or be injured. The main causes are pregnancy and childbirth. Other causes include being overweight, radiation treatment, surgery, and getting older.
Common symptoms include:
- Feeling heaviness, fullness, pulling, or aching in the vagina. It gets worse by the end of the day or during a bowel movement.
- Seeing or feeling a "bulge" or "something coming out" of the vagina
- Having a hard time starting to urinate or emptying the bladder completely
- Having frequent urinary tract infections
- Leaking urine when you cough, laugh, or exercise
- Feeling an urgent or frequent need to urinate
- Feeling pain while urinating
- Leaking stool or having a hard time controlling gas
- Being constipated
- Having a hard time making it to the bathroom in time
Your health care provider diagnoses the problem with a physical exam, a pelvic exam, or special tests. Treatments include special pelvic muscle exercises called Kegel exercises. A mechanical support device called a pessary helps some women. Surgery and medicines are other treatments.
NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Symptoms, tests and care options
Further reading selected by MedlinePlus. Links open the original organizations’ websites.
- Anterior vaginal wall repair (surgical treatment of urinary incontinence) - series · Medical Encyclopedia
- How Are Pelvic Floor Disorders (PFDs) Diagnosed? · Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
- How Are Pelvic Floor Disorders (PFDs) Treated? · Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
- Kegel Exercises · National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
- Pelvic Floor MRI · Radiological Society of North America
- Pelvis Ultrasound · Radiological Society of North America
Questions for your care team
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- How does this information apply to my situation?
- Which symptoms or results need evaluation?
- Which tests are useful, and what can they tell us?
- What care options, benefits, and risks should we discuss?
- When should I seek urgent help, and whom should I call?
- When is follow-up, and how will we know whether the plan is working?
For a life-threatening emergency, call 911 in the U.S. or your local emergency number.
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