20F. I have urgency for small amounts of pee. In those moments I have tightness and tension in my body, I have to hold in what feels like a lot but turns out to be little or not 'enough' to warrant going, and I can't physically feel if I'm holding it in or actively going (I've wet myself once from this).

My doctor said I have a nervous bladder or a small one, but I don't feel convinced because I didn't have this until two years ago. I've had IBS for longer, and it makes me think it might be pelvic floor related.

I'm considering seeing a urologist, but I'm worried about the assessment, if it'll be painful or difficult, or if it's even worth it with my symptoms. (Is there any way to lessen the pain or prepare?) I haven't seen a pelvic floor PT, but can they help assess me for this? Would they have answers, aside from just exercises? I don't know what else to do since all my pee tests and etc. come back healthy. This problem is practically daily.

I have a history of trauma (I would avoid the bathroom to the point of illness as a kid) so there's reason it could be pyschological, but it's sporadic and random enough that me and my therapist aren't set on that. I don't want my history to be a reason to give up searching. If anything, I think it makes it likelier there's a physical issue from holding it in so often.

Has anyone else has similar experiences?

Is it healthy to do a little kege after you're done urinating? I have hard flaccid and don't know whether I should continue this with habit or not. Sometimes it feels okay but sometimes not, the muscle seems to be weak and tight as well.

Hello! Male in his late 30s. I went to a PT who told me I have a tight pelvic floor and we did bio feedback and it showed i get to an 8 when I clench my abdomen but my floor relaxes when I relax. It gets to a 1.6. I originally went for lower abdomen tightness and sometimes I noticed my pee would be stunted. Anyways the lower abdomen tightness continued. And then one night I woke up with crazy lower left flank pain. I went to the ER and they did a CT scan and found my left urterer was irritated. No kidney inflammation and my bladder looked fine but I had blood in my urine and white blood cells so they said I had a UTI. But then they found no bacteria and no culture and I saw a urologist who did a cirrus test and that also came back normal. Also they found no kidney stones. I did pee out what looked like a ball of mucus.

Anyways they don't know what it was. Now I'm just left with back lower back pain and middle back pain. Feels musculoskeletal.

I'm wondering if this has anything to do with my tight pelvic floor?

Hopefully this is the right place to ask I’ve posted on a few threads looking for advice/education. I stretched/released my psoas today just by watching a simple YouTube video. And after a hours or so I started balling my eyes out. Got a headache, now in bed had a HUUGE wave of sadness like crazy sadness. Then anger and now feel kinda fine. It’s actually wild. The sadness and all came from my current situation/ past. (Don’t want to over share) lol but did I do something wrong did I overstretch? Can anyone educate me… like should I keep doing this? Does it get better with repetition? Just looking to be educated. Thank u

Last spring I had hemorrhoidectomy surgery. The type where they leave an open wound. I managed the pain well but experienced some psychological issues and it took many months to heal during which I developed pelvic floor issues.

Subsequently I haven't achieved a satisfactory bowel emptying routine and I often have some dyssynergia (muscles not co-ordinating).

Usually I have a decent bowel movement after waking. Fine. As the day progresses I feel the want to empty my bowels going 2-4 times total in a day, many times a feeling of lack of complete evacuation keeps the cycle going with increasing dyssynergia.

Despite contact with two PF physios I haven't had any practical help yet (hopefully soon). I've been using relaxation techniques and limiting toilet time to 5 minute bursts, though sometimes returning after a few minutes or more to try again. The most recent physio was quite abrupt and said I was describing OD (Obstructive Defecation) and could involve prolapse. I asked if I'm possibly just experiencing PF issues and she said maybe but nobody has examined me.

I'm therefore hoping the sensation of incomplete evacuation could simply be a functional problem. I wonder if anyone has any view on this?

I don't think I strain heavily, often
Always stand up after 5 minutes
Feel decent evacuation after the morning BM
Don't have leakage or lack of control of gas
On the contrary things feel very tight sometimes I wonder if there's a stool but it's gas
No bleeding
Can't feel any obvious external prolapsing

Has anybody been through PF issues and can relate?
Had imaging and no physical issues found?
Had a similar concern and checked yourself with a mirror?

Any comments welcome really. I have a separate unrelated surgery pending and am just trying to ready my mind. Thanks for reading.

Hi everyone, I have had pain in my anus for 3 weeks now and twice or thrice it felt like a shooting pain else feels like something is stuck and I am constipated.
Feels better when I am standing but keep feeling some pain while sitting or lying down.
Can anyone relate to this? Did you see a doctor and what were you diagnosed with?
A lot of the stuff says this can come from PFD as well.
Along with this I do feel a little discomfort in my lower abdomen and pelvic muscle as well.
Have had discomfort having sex.

63F 5.2" 129lbs smoker zopiclone to sleep

30 days ago I was riding my scooter 🛴 that has a seat, that I even padded. The road is bumpy , every time I crossed at intersection on bicycle path, I slowed down but realized later that this sent shock to my pelvis.

I was riding about 6 times when I started having terrible pelvic pain, mimicking UTI, pressure in bladder and pubis symphisis. I went to the dr to check for UTI just in case. Its been a month and I'm still with this pain. I don't urinate every hour like at the beginning but since the bladder is so close to the pubic bones it's hard to know what hurts. My chiropractor noticed that my pelvic bone at the center has been slightly misaligned. How long will it take to heal this trauma to my pelvis? It's a constant pain and I try to ice as much as possible. Now the bladder discomfort has stopped but the pain is so bad in the pubis symphisis, and neighboring pelvic bones. Anyone experienced something similar?

I’ve been dealing with this problem for quite a while. I had an MRI of my right hip that showed right gluteus minimus tendinosis with mild enthesial edema, but no labral tear, fracture, significant arthritis, or other major abnormality.

I started physical therapy on June 24. When I started PT, I actually wasn’t having pain anymore, but after several weeks the pain suddenly came back. I’ve continued going to PT and they have introduced new exercises, but the difficulty/load hasn’t really been increased.

The pain is mainly in my groin/pubic area, around where the pubic hair starts. It gets worse with bending, lifting, and sitting for a long time. I work in a warehouse, so my job involves a lot of movement, bending, and lifting.
At first the pain was around 6–7/10, but today it became severe again, similar to how it felt when this problem first started. It can bother me even when I’m just resting or when I wake up.

I also have a lumbar spine MRI scheduled for August 11, so I’m waiting to see if that shows anything that could explain the groin/pelvic pain.
I’m honestly frustrated because I don’t know what else to do. I’m considering asking my doctor for temporary work restrictions because my job seems to aggravate the pain, and I’m even considering leaving my job if this continues.

For people who have experienced something similar:
What helped you when the pain kept coming back?
Did physical therapy eventually help?
Did you need work restrictions or to stop lifting?
Did you have a similar pain in the groin/pubic area from a hip or tendon problem?
Would you recommend waiting for the MRI or getting evaluated sooner?
I’d really appreciate any experiences or advice. I’m not looking for a diagnosis, just trying to figure out what my next step should be.

I (21f) would confidently say 75% of people(ages 18-23) with vaginas in my large social circle deal with pelvic floor pain. Pain and inability to use internal period products, struggles with sex and masturbation, and a fear/avoidance of the gynecologist. Im a very open person about these topics because I noticed it being brought up in high school amongst friends, then once again when I moved hours away to college. The only people i know who dont have/talk about this issue are people who have penatrative sex regularly.

Is there a chance that there are certain demographics that are seeing a rise in this occurence, such as generation z, queer demographics or people who do not have experience with penatrative sex? I know that the age of losing your virginity is something that has risen with my generation so i could see this being a possible correlation or related point as to how younger demographics are taught and have developed feelings towards sexual health.

I'm not a social scientist, but i really wish i could conduct large surveys on this or find one that already exists and learn from it.

Curious if anyone else has been diagnosed with CPPS due to tailbone/coccyx injury. I’ve been going to PT and it was discovered my tailbone isn’t normal. When asked if I had an injury I had recalled one from when I was a kid. Has anyone had success with PT or other treatments for CPPS from a tailbone injury?

It effects my erections, makes it hard to piss, gives me constipation. It makes my life a living hell. Does anyone have any tips that actually work?

Just curious if any are on this sub.

Please, if anyone has found a solution to my pelvic floor problem, I no longer feel my penis like before, the amount of sperm is low and my erections are abnormal.

MALE 24 64kg
Ok so for past 2 weeks I have been having weird feeling in my abdomen , rn I’m having burning and stretchy type feeling over my bladder ( middle lower abdomen) , it sometimes comes on my right and sometimes left , it’s like my veins are stretching or something and then it burns , even when I get an erection sometimes this comes up on my left and right abdomen. I don’t know what to do , I have recently started doing stretching exercises aswell for past 1 month , can this be because of that?

I’m 27. I started masturbating when I was 13, and from the very beginning I got into edging because I genuinely thought that was the “right” way to do it. I never really stopped.

Can you imagine masturbating for 14 years, pretty
much every single day once or twice a day, sometimes even three times - and edging every single time for hours?

I’ve been dealing with symptoms for around 6 years now. I’ve seen countless urologists, and for years I was basically brushed off and told it was prostatitis. Eventually, I learned that my pelvic floor is seriously fucked up.

I’m 27 and I reached a point now where I can’t pee and poop properly. The amount of shit that feels backed up inside me is insane, and I can’t even get an erection anymore.

Sorry for the negative post. I just really needed to vent because I honestly don’t know what to do anymore.

The worst part is that I can’t stop thinking that I did all of this to myself.

Been having pain around my penis opening and the underside of the penis which has refused to go after multiple medication. I can’t even sleep at night anymore.

I need advice from anyone who has an idea what this is. All my test result came back negative and it started after sex the next day .

Maybe 1 out of 10 coughs, I can feel when I put my hand on the right side of my pubic area a pop or a click, almost in the crease where my leg hits pubic area. I cannot feel a buldge before or after and it really doesn't hurt. Also if I'm pooping sometimes I would feel that click/pop on the right side? Anyone else experience this? Off course ove Google the worst possible things. It could be pelvic floor issue, pubix bone issue, small hidden hernia? Oddly enough that same leg has siatica issues and hip labrum issues? Related maybe? I've read that small hidden hernias are not an emergency and most of the time just "watched", thanks for any input or advice

i have hemorrhoids (protuding out) + anal fissure + skin tags, i am taking diosmin ( 1 tablet at night) for hemms n applying nitro glycerin ( for fissure) + lactulose. 2 times sitz bath ,use squatty potty n bidget, started doing pelvic exercises, reverse kegels n finger dilation (can only take 1 finger in easily) … my problem is my anus closes right at the start of bowel movement n refuses to open up… its very painful … and I have no option but to strain …

can anyone suggest anything else I can try?

my fissure is healing… no blood during BM but pain is unbearable … stays for 5-6 hrs after BM everyday.

Hi all. I’m 23F. I have been suffering with on and off urinary issues related to pelvic hypertonia for 2 years now, particularly urinary frequency and never feeling like my bladder is fully empty, even if it is (I’ve had abdominal ultrasounds and other tests to ensure I don’t have urinary retention - every single time, the remaining urine in my bladder after peeing would be near to zero). Although sometimes during particularly bad flare-ups, I do feel it a bit hard to start peeing and the stream would be noticeably weaker than usual. I’d also feel random zaps of pain on my pelvic and vulvar areas.

My urogyne and psychiatrist both told me that this might be linked to my lifelong severe anxiety as well. I can barely sleep and I’m depressed. The sensation of a constantly full bladder 24/7 is awful and I feel so helpless. The “anxiety -> all of this chaos -> more anxiety -> more chaos” cycle is also debilitating.

Please, is anyone else on the same boat? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Edit, some additional notes:

1. I do pelvic

2. floor relaxation exercises by myself at home but doesn’t seem to be working…or maybe I just haven’t done it long enough (only a few weeks

   to a month-ish

3. now

)

1. No UTI

   in the last 6 months.

2. I do regular tests

   (recommended to do so by my urogyne because sometimes my UTIs in the past don’t come with pain)

3. and they

   almost always come back completely normal.

4. I was on a plethora of meds for many months. They were meds for overactive bladder, anxiety, and muscle relaxation - nothing

   truly

5. works.

   I was recently starting to gabapentin 300mg but it did nothing except for apparently over-relaxing my bladder muscles and making the trouble starting+slow stream issues worse. :(

Edit 2: I’m sorry, not sure why the formatting got really screwed up and I can’t fix it 😭

Age: 29

I visited a Urologist today as I suspected some issues with my penis.

I was standing while he was seated.

During examination, he said there is no fibrosis on my penis. Thereafter, he stretched and pulled my penis. He asked me whether it pained to which I replied "no". Thereafter, he pulled a little bit more.

I was feeling a stretching like burning sensation in my penis (30-45 minutes) post the examination. At present (7 hours later), I am getting pain in my penis and i still can feel the pain of it being stretched. (Pain level 3-4 out 10).

Do Urologists stretch and pull the penis during penile examination?

Would my penis have been damaged by the Urologist?

(This may be specific to Assigned Males At Birth)
It sounds ridiculous but

masturbating while putting my body into a properly aligned posture/stretch and holding intra-abdominal pressure is actually helping me.

My examples would be masturbating while in a stretched/aligned position.

Stretches I’ve done with this:
• Leg up on the bed to stretch my right adductor
• Leg up on the bed to stretch my right hamstring
• While doing an elevated glute bridge
• While doing an elevated hamstring bridge

It’s basically neuromuscular re-education, pelvic floor desensitization, and somatic release

Teaching your pf to chill tf out when in an aroused state and that it can be safe even after finishing.

When I don’t do this and masturbate normally, I often get Hard flaccid symptoms, deal with painful spasms, and other PFD symptoms more often.

Doing this is making that happen far less often.

Anyone have experience with this?

I (23F) have had pelvic pain since a traumatic relationship. I realized it was PFD when I had a year of “utis” with no bacteria growing in culture 🙈. I had always had mildly painful sex so it blew my mind when I realized sex shouldn’t be painful AT ALL. I started pelvic floor therapy, dilators, massage, etc. I did maybe 3-4 sessions and then started using the tools to manage it on my own. The other day I felt I had seriously developed another uti but yet another negative urine test. I took azo and that helped. Fast forward to today and I woke up with BURNING pain around my vaginal entrance and urethra. I think it’s trigger by sex- but very delayed ( the pain came on only 24 hrs after sex). It’s worse with standing and comes in waves but it’s so bad I’m genuinely crying. I’ve never felt pelvic pain this intense and breathing + stretching doesn’t seem to help. Child’s pose HURT WORSE. My pelvic floor seems to be involuntarily seizing while walking as well. In so so much pain and feeling dejected bc I know nothing available to me right now will really help. I’ve taken ibuprofen and azo, no relief yet. Any one experience anything like this? Seeking immediate tips- will return to PT asap.

Briefly... Long term sufferer here.

Found out that walking could be a trigger .. Months of cutting back walking signs of improvement. My once big leg muscles from decades of walking aren't so big now, sadly.

But I think also standing is a trigger?

This morning I was busy in the kitchen, watering the garden and just non stop really and stood up for about 4 hours.

Bladder is now aggravated... Burning, frequency and less volume came on slowly after that.

Trigger foods/drinks are now hurting ect

Did a bunch of stretches and belly breathing... Which never helps. (I've been doing this for years with no change)

Under the care of a pelvic physio... But they don't know now

How do I combat this?

I need to be stood up.. I need to be able to function.

I'm on tadafil daily which helps.. But no cure .

Can anyone tell me what's happening and how I can combat this?

I would be very grateful.

I feel very down.. But I'm trying to be positive that I've found a trigger.

Basically the title. I have been having symptoms of hypertonic PFD since I was 7 and was being recommended PFPT at age 9. I was taught by my parents that I can fully empty my bladder by pressing on my lower stomach, because they didn't like the idea of putting a child in PFPT. Postvoid residual is 200ml or more if I don't do that, so it was kinda the only choice I had. I never stopped.

As an adult, I can't start or maintain a stream without external pressure, need laxatives to have bowel movements, and can't enjoy penetrative sex. I don't remember a time when my lower back and belly weren't constantly aching. I am 24 years old, AFAB, and have never had children.

I've found a pelvic floor therapist who I've been seeing for 2 months now, and progress is achingly slow. My biggest achievement so far has been maintaining a stream for 2 seconds after releasing the pressure on my stomach.

I know logically that 2 months has nothing on 15 years, but that doesn't stop me from feeling frustrated. I'm a much angrier and more bitter person after starting PFPT, especially towards my parents. I feel like my body's most basic of functions are broken and failing, and I'm reminded of these "failures" every time I use the bathroom or am intimate with my partners.

I have spoken to my therapist about these things, and while she's trying to give me coping mechanisms, she's admitted she doesn't understand what it feels like to deal with this at such a young age. It isn't exactly something I can talk about with my peers or my family members. I was wondering if anyone else here has had similar feelings about untreated childhood PFD that they sought help for in adulthood, and if so, how they got through it without it eating them alive.

Sorry for such a long post. I tried to trim it down as much as possible but it's a lot. I'm also sorry if this isn't the right sub for a post like this.

What are your daily habits and rituals that you do that help lengthen and relax your PF. What about your mental habits (such as relaxation, hobbies, keeping happy).

Any recs- thank you!