Please define Pelvic muscle tensing

[Todd]

I understand a lot of symptoms come from chronic tensing of the pelvic muscles. Often when I stop and become aware of my lower extremities, I notice I am tensing up the muscle you use to prevent a bowel movement. I relax it only to realize several minutes later it's tense again. Is this the only muscle we can control or is there a technique that will allow me to determine if other muscles are tense down there?

Thanks
Todd

[Jay]

The pelvic floor is actually made up of several muscles, not all of which you are especially aware of. When you relax your pelvic floor, that's not a single muscle letting go, but several. Even the seemingly straightforward act of using the restroom requires coordination among different muscles in the floor.

I can tell you that my pelvic floor PT definitively diagnosed via internal examination. Manual contact is the only way to access some of the pelvic floor muscles. Referring to your specific example, that kind of relaxation is very, very difficult. You have an unconscious habit of carrying yourself with pelvic tension, as most of us do, and it usually will revert when you stop thinking about it. Some guys utilize reminders, such as alarms that go off periodically.