Also called: Cystocele · Enterocele · Pelvic prolapse · Rectocele
Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Pelvic Floor Disorders
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.
It sits within Women and Female Reproductive System.
The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Pelvic Floor Disorders
737 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Aerobic Exercise and Guided Imagery in Low Anterior Resection SyndromeBiruni University
- Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy and Exercise for Women With Endometriosis and Chronic Pelvic PainHospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre
- Safety and Performance of a Pelvic Floor Mesh Implant (LatGYNious)A.M.I. Agency for Medical Innovations GmbH
- The Reliability of Pelvic Floor Measures From Ultrasound Images Acquired at Rest and During Weightlifting Tasks.University of Ottawa
- The Relationship Between Pelvic Floor Dysfunction and Quality of Life, Functional Capacity, Gait Parameters, and Static Balance in Children With Defecation DisordersIzmir Bakircay University
- Target Physiotherapy Versus Exercise Support Intervention for Bladder-bowel Dysfunction in Adolescents With ObesityUniversity of Lisbon
Research already completed
- Bladder Training With or Without Biofeedback-Assisted Pelvic Floor Muscle Training for Women With Wet Overactive BladderGaziantep Islam Science and Technology University
- Virtual Reality for Urinary Incontinence in WomenWroclaw University of Health and Sport Sciences
- Effect of Prehabilitation on Recovery Outcomes in Post-Surgical Cervical Cancer WomenSaveetha University
- Bladder Training Supported by Alarm Reminders and Distraction Techniques for Mixed Urinary IncontinenceIzmir Katip Celebi University
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- About Pelvic Floor Disorders (PFDs)Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
- Pelvic Organ ProlapseFood and Drug Administration
- Power to the Pelvis: Strengthening Your Pelvic Floor MusclesNational Institutes of Health
Diagnosis and Tests
- How Are Pelvic Floor Disorders (PFDs) Diagnosed?Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
- Pelvic Floor MRIRadiological Society of North America
- Pelvis UltrasoundRadiological Society of North America
Treatments and Therapies
- Anterior vaginal wall repair (surgical treatment of urinary incontinence) - seriesMedical Encyclopedia
- How Are Pelvic Floor Disorders (PFDs) Treated?Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
- Kegel ExercisesNational Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
- Pelvic Organ Prolapse -- SurgeryAmerican Urogynecologic Society
- Urogynecologic Surgical Mesh ImplantsFood and Drug Administration
Prevention and Risk Factors
- Pelvic Organ Prolapse - PreventionAmerican Urogynecologic Society
Related Issues
- Urinary RetentionNational Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
- What is a Urogynecologist?American Urogynecologic Society
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: CystoceleNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Pelvic Floor DisordersNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Rectal ProlapseNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: RectoceleNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Uterine ProlapseNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Pelvic Floor Disorders, Pelvic Organ Prolapse, Rectal Prolapse, Rectocele, Urinary Incontinence, Stress, Uterine Prolapse. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Pelvic Floor Disorders, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.