It’s easy to forget about your pelvic floor — until it starts making life miserable. Like a hammock at the base of your pelvis, these unsung muscles keep your core stable and hold vital organs like ...

There may be a whole month dedicated to pelvic pain, but generally speaking, the pelvic floor — as in, the muscles and connective tissue that stabilize the core and come into play during sex, peeing ...

The urge to poop occurs when your rectum fills up, triggering receptors in the anus to signal the brain: go poop. The longer the stool sits in the rectum, the more water is absorbed from it, making it ...

Fecal incontinence results when the pressure in the rectum exceeds anal sphincter pressure. Coughing or lifting can transiently increase intra-abdominal pressure and result in stool leakage if the ...

Experts warn that sitting on the toilet for more than 10 minutes can increase the risk of hemorrhoids and weaken pelvic muscles.It might seem like a harmless way to pass the time when you’re going ...

Maybe you've struggled through a bout of constipation recently and now you've just experienced some relief, only to find that your "output" is far more voluminous than you could have expected. The ...

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Constipation may be both a symptom and cause of pelvic organ prolapse. Weakened pelvic floor muscles can increase the risk of both. A pelvic organ prolapse is a condition that happens when one of your ...

Illustration: Kelsea Petersen/The Athletic; Icon Sportswire/Getty, Leila Coker/Getty “We don’t give it the time of day,” says pelvic floor physiotherapist Emma Brockwell. “If you look at any journal ...

Every person with a period has likely faced this situation at some point: You’re in the bathroom, wondering if you should (a) take your tampon out before pooping or (b) just leave it up there while ...