Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Approaches in Pelvic Floor Health in Female Athletes: Traditional Review

The pelvic floor is a complex functional structure that occupies the entire of pelvic cavity. Pelvic floor muscles, an important part of this structure, their fascia together provide support for the urethra, vagina, and rectum and constrict the urethral, vaginal, and anal orifices. In addition, it supports the spine and maintains lumbo-pelvic stability by working synergistically with the pelvic floor muscles, abdominal and back muscles. Changes on pelvic floor in female athletes can be explained with the forces acting on the pelvic floor during sports, the effects of sports on energy metabolism and hormones. These changes can cause various pelvic floor dysfunctions (PFD) associated with lower urinary tract symptoms, anorectal symptoms, pelvic organ prolapses, sexual dysfunctions and pelvic pain. Determining the incidence of PFD in female athletes, raising awareness of the effects of sports on pelvic floor muscles, knowing the methods of protecting and improving pelvic floor health can prevent female athletes from quitting sports and reducing physical activity level due to the PFD, and also can lead to the improvement of sports performance and quality of life of athletes. In this context, this review aims to describe the female pelvic floor, pelvic floor muscles, functions and dysfunctions, to summarize the changes of pelvic floor muscles, their causes in female athletes and the prevalence of various PFD in female athletes, and to discuss the physiotherapy and rehabilitation methods used in the management of PFD and the effects of these methods in female athletes.

This review discusses pelvic floor health in female athletes and physiotherapy approaches.