Disclaimer: This article is for general information only. It is not medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Persistent pain needs a clinician, not an article. Bodyotics products are wellness products and are not medical devices.

Lower back pain is uncomfortable enough on its own. It is worse when it radiates to the front of the pelvis, and it can extend into the buttocks and legs. A physical injury is the usual suspect, but the pelvic floor muscles can be involved too, and telling the two apart is genuinely difficult. A physician or a physiotherapist is the person who can actually work out which it is.

Causes of lower back pain that can radiate to the front pelvic area

Misdiagnosis is common with pain in this region, which is why it helps to know what else can produce it:

• Pressure on a spinal nerve
• Spinal disc injury
• Other trauma
• Chronic stress
• Load on the lower back during pregnancy
• Complications during delivery
• Poor nutrition during pregnancy

Source: prohealthclinic.co.uk.

Where the pelvic floor comes into it

Most back pain never gets traced to a specific cause at all — one review puts the share with an identifiable cause at around 15%. So it is worth knowing which structures are nearby.

The pelvic floor muscles sit across the base of the pelvis and support the bladder, the urethra, the uterus and the rectum. They share muscle groups and attachments with the lower back, which is why problems in one area are often felt in the other.

A 2018 study found pelvic floor dysfunction to be very common among women reporting lower back pain. Worth being clear about what that does and does not mean: two things occurring together is not evidence that one causes the other, and it does not tell you which came first. It is a reason to have the pelvic floor assessed if you have persistent back pain — not a diagnosis.

Symptoms worth mentioning to a clinician

• Difficulty urinating or passing stool
• Leakage of urine or stool
• A bulging sensation or pain in or around the vagina
• Difficulty emptying the bladder fully

What to do about it

See your doctor. A full assessment is what establishes whether pelvic floor dysfunction is actually part of what you are experiencing, and that determines everything that follows. There is no shortcut worth taking here, and nothing you buy replaces the assessment.

It is not only women

Pelvic floor problems are more often reported in women, but men experience them too, including back pain radiating into the pelvic region — sometimes alongside a hernia or sciatica. It is less well studied in men.

In short

Lower back pain that radiates forward can point to something involving the pelvic floor, particularly alongside any leakage. Get it assessed rather than guessing, and take any exercise advice from the person who did the assessing.

Working on pelvic floor awareness. The Bodyotics kegel weights are six graduated weights, 50 g to 130 g, with a step-by-step guide. They are a wellness product — not a treatment for back pain or for pelvic floor dysfunction. If you have persistent pain, start with a clinician. Explore the kegel weights →