Pelvic Floor Disorders
Pelvic floor disorders can significantly disrupt your daily life. Find comprehensive treatment options from the caring providers at Reid Health.
Finding relief from pelvic floor disorders
The pelvic floor plays an important role in your body, supporting pelvic organs such as the uterus, bladder, and bowel. This floor is made up of pelvic muscles and other connective tissues that form a hammock-like support system across the bottom of the pelvis.
If your pelvic floor muscles or connective tissue become weakened, stretched or injured, you can develop a pelvic floor disorder. These conditions cause symptoms ranging from mildly uncomfortable to significantly disruptive to your daily life and well-being.
If you’re experiencing symptoms that might be caused by some type of pelvic floor disorder, the team of women’s health providers at Reid Health offers the expertise you need. We provide comprehensive services to diagnose pelvic floor dysfunction and treat it effectively, right here in our community.
What are pelvic floor disorders?
Pelvic floor disorders occur when the pelvic floor muscles or connective tissues are injured or weakened in some way. When this happens, the support system holding your pelvic organs in place begins to fail, which can cause organs to slip out of place or not work effectively.
The pelvic floor can be weakened by many things, including:
- Chronic coughing
- Chronic straining to have a bowel movement
- Conditions affecting the connective tissues
- Heavy lifting
- Menopause
- Past surgery on the pelvis or abdomen
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Stress on the pelvic floor from being overweight or obese
Types of pelvic floor disorders
Pelvic floor disorders can affect any part of the pelvis. These conditions include:
- Fecal incontinence: The leakage of stool
- Pelvic organ prolapse: A condition in which a pelvic organ, such as the vagina or uterus, slips (or “prolapses”) out of place
- Urinary incontinence: The leakage of urine. Urinary incontinence comes in different forms, including a sudden urge to urinate (urge incontinence or overactive bladder), leaks related to laughing or coughing (stress incontinence), and needing to urinate but only being able to go a small amount (overflow incontinence)
Symptoms of pelvic floor disorders
Pelvic floor disorders affect different organs and parts of your pelvic floor, so they can cause many different symptoms. The symptoms might include:
- A visible bulge coming out of the vagina
- Constipation
- Difficulty controlling gas
- Difficulty making it to the restroom in time
- Difficulty urinating or completely emptying the bladder
- Frequent or urgent need to urinate
- Frequent urinary tract infections
- Pain when urinating
- Stool leakage
- Urinary leakage
- Vaginal heaviness or aching that worsens after a bowel movement or near the end of the day
Diagnosing pelvic floor disorders
Reid Health OB/GYNs and women’s health providers can help you find a solution for uncomfortable symptoms that interrupt your daily life. Our providers understand how hard it can be to talk about these concerns, and they take a sensitive, compassionate approach to diagnosing your condition and helping you find the right care.
Diagnosis usually starts with a physical exam. Your provider might also use other tests, such as urine analysis or imaging scans, to confirm a diagnosis.
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Specialized care for pelvic floor disorders
Pelvic floor physical therapy is a unique form of physical therapy designed to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, improving support for pelvic organs and helping you manage many symptoms of pelvic floor disorders.
Our specially trained therapists in Richmond work with women of all ages, one on one, to address urinary and fecal incontinence, pelvic pain, pain during intercourse, and many other concerns.
Talk to your provider for a referral.
Nonsurgical and surgical treatments at Reid
Our providers have expertise in caring for many pelvic floor disorders. In some cases, lifestyle changes, such as eating more fiber, quitting smoking, or losing weight, could be enough to relieve symptoms.
When additional help is needed, we offer nonsurgical options such as:
- Bladder training: Setting a schedule to use the bathroom to help improve bladder control
- Medications: Prescription or over-the-counter medications to prevent constipation or loose stools
- Kegels: Exercises you can do on your own that strengthen muscles related to urination and bowel movements
- Pelvic floor physical therapy: Specialized physical therapy focusing on strengthening pelvic floor muscles
- Vaginal pessary: A removable device placed in the vagina to treat prolapse
Minimally invasive surgical options
Depending on your condition, you might benefit from robotic-assisted or laparoscopic urogynecologic surgery. These surgeries use smaller incisions, result in fewer complications, and typically have a faster recovery time than traditional surgery — and they’re available close to home at Reid.