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Floored: The Pelvic Muscles You Need To Know

A woman crouches down with one hand on the knee and one hand on the stomach of a woman lying on her back in a bridge position balancing her shoulders on a foam roller. In the top left hand corner of the image the text reads: FLOORED.
Charnel Hunter
The pelvic floor is a sling of muscles that supports the organs in our lower abdomen. We can't see them, but they help with sexual function, peeing and pooping — and can be connected to issues from pain during penetrative sex to urine or stool leakage.

Anita figures out why everybody's talking about the pelvic floor. Turns out, getting-to-know the hammock-like structure of muscles we carry around has helped some people heal their relationships with sex and their bodies. She also uncovers the game-changing ways her own dad has contributed to pelvic floor medicine.

Meet the Guests:

  • Ijeoma Nwankpa, a certified specialist in pelvic health, trained sexuality counselor and owner of the Center of Pelvic Excellence Physical Therapy & Wellness LLC, gives us an education in pelvic floor health
  • Allyson Byers, a freelance writer and editor, shares her personal experience seeking help for pelvic floor pain
  • Dr. Satish Rao (Anita's dad), a professor of medicine at Augusta University and a specialist in gastroenterology, hares his work pushing for more collaborative study of the pelvic floor as it relates to the bowels

Read the transcript | Review the podcast

Anita Rao is an award-winning journalist, host, creator, and executive editor of "Embodied," a weekly radio show and podcast about sex, relationships & health.
Kaia Findlay is the lead producer of Embodied, WUNC's weekly podcast and radio show about sex, relationships and health. Kaia first joined the WUNC team in 2020 as a producer for The State of Things.