Get Your Body Map Out: How Different Parts of the Body Impact Your Pelvic Floor
The human body, in all its glory, is interconnected. Which is too freakin’ cool for an anatomy nerd like yours truly!
It’s why we can experience pleasure stimulated outside of our reproductive organs.
It’s why we can get a foot massage or shoulder rub and our whole body feels more relaxed
It’s also why we need to look at the whole system when we’re trying to figure out the root cause of pain rather than just focusing on the ‘problem’ area.
We’re getting our body map out to connect how different parts of the body impact the pelvic floor (and vice versa).
I get a little deep into anatomy in this note, but remember - the anatomy isn’t the takeaway. What’s important is sensing into the relationships and expanding the capacity to embody your anatomy!
Pelvic Floor + Back
Postural habits matter
The positioning of the pelvis and the spine significantly impact one another. The postures we find ourselves in throughout the day may range from sitting at desk jobs, DIY work-from-home couch set-ups, standing into one hip while waiting in line at the grocery store, holding your baby in one arm while trying to do something with the other. It may shift from pregnancy, an injury, surgery, or in response to pain. These postural habits seem small, but it’s the little things that pack a punch. Our bodies are amazingly adaptive and eventually get used to these positions as the new norm.
Posterior kinetic chain influences the pelvis & spine
The ‘posterior chain’ refers to a group of muscles located on the backside of our body running from the calf muscle to the upper back. These muscles can play a role in the way our pelvis and spine lays in our physical frame. For example, tight hamstrings pull on the pelvis causing the pelvis to tilt backwards. Tension or weakness anywhere in the posterior chain can change the optimal pelvic position or an extreme in the natural curvature of the spine, which can be a culprit in pain and pelvic function.
Deep core connection impacts pelvic functioning & back pain
The deep core is made up of the respiratory diaphragm, transverse abdominis, multifidus, and pelvic floor. These muscles work together to support the entire body. If we think of our core as a canister, the pelvic floor is the bottom of that canister and the respiratory diaphragm is the top. These muscles work as a team, if one isn’t functioning properly the others are likely not either.
Intra-abdominal pressure management
Another way to think about the core system is as a pressure cooker. We naturally build up pressure in our bodies and distribute that pressure throughout the day. Everything from basic tasks like getting out of bed or carrying grocery bags to higher impact exercise like Crossfit, running, or Barry’s Bootcamp. If we are not utilizing that pressure properly, the pressure has to go somewhere. And one of those places could be down into the pelvic floor (a.k.a. pelvic organ prolapse or urinary leakage) or in the back (cough, back pain).
Pelvic Floor + Feet
Biomechanical changes from the ground up
How the arches and bones of the foot have contact with the ground dictates movement of the knee and hips. For instance, softening of the middle foot to absorb shock is called pronation. When a person has collapsed arches or too much pronation, the leg turns in. This leads to overactive muscles straining for stability causing the hip to rotate, which can often be felt near the sit-bones or tailbone.
Fascial lines from the foot to the spine
The deep fascial line runs from your foot to your pelvic floor up to your head. Fascia is the thin stretchy glue-like structure (think like saran wrap) that holds organs, nerves, muscles, and blood vessels. If there’s tension anywhere along this chain, it can impact the muscles, joints, bones, and nerves. Restrictions along the fascia can cause a sheath or thickening in that area that ‘sticks’ to structures nearby. Anytime the body moves, that thickening pulls on skin, muscles, bone, and nerves - which can be felt as discomfort.
Neighbors in the sensory motor cortex
Your body is mapped out in your brain in the sensory motor cortex. This essentially means that each body part has their own special designated spot in the brain. It is how we process sensation when that part of the body gets stimulation. When someone experiences increased pain, sensitivity, or loss of function, areas can sometimes overlap. Fun fact: The feet and genitals are mapped right next to each other!
Shock absorption & load transfer
Both the feet and pelvic floor are responsible for shock absorption for everyday movement and exercise to support the body during impact. When you get up from your seat and walk over the fridge, the first part of our bodies that absorb shock are our feet. The first central part of the body that absorbs shock and transfers that load is the pelvic floor.
Pelvic Floor + Neck/Shoulders
Head positioning, core activation, & pelvic health
Forward head posture or a term coined ‘tech neck’ is not just the cause of your neck or upper back discomfort. That forward positioning misaligns the natural plum-line from the head to the heels, and turns off a natural responsive core activation. Turning off this automatic core responsiveness often results in poor pressure management and/or pelvic floor tension. The tension is due to overactive muscles trying to hold up the bottom part of our core canister.
Relationship between the thorax & the pelvic diaphragm
TMJ and teeth grinding increase pressure in your thorax, which transfers down the chain to the pelvic diaphragm and is highly correlated with increased tension of the pelvic floor.
Scapular strength & mobility
The top of that core canister is the respiratory diaphragm. Poor scapular strength, mobility, and rib-cage positioning can not only impact neck pain, but also the pelvic floor.
Neural tension & referred pain
Similar to how the deep fascial line connect the feet and pelvic floor, poor mobility in neck and shoulders can create neural tension into the pelvic floor.