What it is
A sling of muscle strung between the pubic bone at the front and the tailbone at the back. It supports the bladder, uterus and bowel, controls the sphincters, and contributes heavily to sexual sensation.
It works reflexively — tightening a fraction of a second before you cough, laugh or lift. When that timing or that strength fails, the symptoms are immediate and obvious.
Two opposite problems
- Hypotonic (too weak)
- Leaking when you cough, sneeze, run or jump. A dragging or heavy feeling. A bulge you can feel at the vaginal opening by evening.
- Hypertonic (too tight)
- Pain with penetration or tampons. Constipation and incomplete emptying. Chronic pelvic ache. A sense of never being able to relax down there.
When it's cycle-related
Pelvic floor tension often tracks the cycle: worse premenstrually, worse during a flare of endometriosis or IBS, easier mid-cycle. Logging pelvic pain in MenstrualBae alongside your cycle days lets the pattern report show whether your pain is cycle-locked — which is exactly the evidence a clinician needs.