Term
Pelvic Floor
The group of muscles at the base of your pelvis — men have one too — and the topic that Carrie Boen will discuss at any meal, with or without a glass of wine.
The pelvic floor is a diaphragm of muscles sitting at the base of the pelvis, supporting the pelvic organs (bladder, uterus, rectum) and functioning as the center of gravity for the body’s movement system. It does not operate in isolation — it works with the diaphragm above, the transverse abdominis, and the multifidi as part of what most people call “the core.”
Men have pelvic floors. This is stated, in the episode, explicitly and repeatedly.
Dysfunction splits into two categories: overactive (hypertonic — too much tension, leading to difficulty with penetration, defecation, or chronic pelvic pain) and underactive (too little tone, leading to incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse). The incontinence-from-sneezing or jumping-on-a-trampoline situation is common, frequently accepted as normal, and not actually normal.
Guest Carrie Bowen, owner of Restore Physical Therapy in Corvallis, has been doing pelvic floor PT since 2004. She used to require wine to discuss the topic at parties. She has since progressed to water. Jason confirmed he will never accept a dinner invitation from the Boen family.
First seen in Pelvic Floor Therapy: Why It’s Crucial and Who Needs It with Kerry Boysen, PT, DPT.