**1. Introduction**

The pelvic floor has an important holding and support function in a woman's body. If this substantial holding apparatus suffers from disorders, this can have a huge impact on a woman's quality of live, as taking part in everyday life can be considerably restricted by pelvic floor disorders. The pelvic floor consists of fasciae (endopelvic fascia, rectovaginal septum, perirectal fascia), ligaments (ligg. Sacrouterina, arcus tendineus etc.) and muscles (pelvic diaphragma, urogenital diaphragma), which are already exposed to a high load due to the upright gait. Other events in a woman's life like injuries, chronic overload or giving birth contribute to further stress on the pelvic floor and can lead to disorders. Vaginal delivery, an event most women experience at least once in their lifetime, can lead to damage to connective tissue, ligaments and muscles up to tearing of muscular

structures and stretching of pelvic nerves. Hereditary connective tissue weakness contributes further to the weakness of the pelvic floor. In summary, pelvic floor disorders have multifactorial reasons and can result in descensus of the bladder, the uterus, the vagina or the rectum as well as incontinence. In most women, symptoms occur in an advanced stage, with the woman being able to compensate the symptoms through training of the pelvic floor muscles in earlier stages. As muscle strength decreases, the level of suffering increases, while fecal and urinary incontinence may also occur at earlier stages. Women present to their gynecologist with urinary incontinence or prolapse symptoms, while anal incontinence is still highly taboo.
