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What are the Symptoms of Pelvic Floor Dysfunction?

What are the Symptoms of Pelvic Floor Dysfunction?

Get Reliable Information about Symptoms from NICE Guidance

Symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction include;

  • urinary incontinence
  • emptying disorders of the bladder
  • faecal incontinence
  • emptying disorders of the bowel
  • pelvic organ prolapse
  • sexual dysfunction
  • chronic pelvic pain.

Urinary Incontinence

Urinary incontinence is the unintentional passing of urine. It’s a common problem thought to affect millions of people.

There are several types of urinary incontinence, including:

  • stress incontinence – when urine leaks out at times when your bladder is under pressure; for example, when you cough or laugh
  • urge (urgency) incontinence – when urine leaks as you feel a sudden, intense urge to pee, or soon afterwards
  • overflow incontinence (chronic urinary retention) – when you’re unable to fully empty your bladder, which causes frequent leaking
  • total incontinence – when your bladder cannot store any urine at all, which causes you to pass urine constantly or have frequent leaking

It’s also possible to have a mixture of both stress and urge urinary incontinence.

Pelvic Organ Prolapse

Pelvic organ prolapse is when 1 or more of the organs in the pelvis slip down from their normal position and bulge into the vagina. It can be the womb (uterus), bowel, bladder or top of the vagina.

A prolapse is not life threatening, but it can cause pain and discomfort. Symptoms can usually be improved with pelvic floor exercises and lifestyle changes, but sometimes medical treatment is needed.

The content on this page is based on guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and NHS resources. It has been summarised and rephrased where appropriate for informational purposes only. For the full, official guidelines, please visit the NICE website at https://www.nice.org.uk or the NHS website at https://www.nhs.uk/.