Glossary of Terms (SPARC)

Glossary of Terms

These are some terms that you might hear health professionals or other patients using. The Macmillan website is also a good place to look, to make sense of medical terms.

MDT / Multi-disciplinary team

This is a term to describe a group of health care professionals from different clinical backgrounds (for example a doctor, a nurse, a clinical psychologist, a physio and many more). The term MDT is also used to describe the MDT meetings that take place to plan treatment decisions.

The pelvic area

The pelvis is the region of the body in between the hip bones, highlighted with the shape on our logo. It contains the sex organs, the bladder, a section of the small bowel, the lower end of the large bowel (the colon, rectum and anus). It also contains muscles, bones, nerve blood vessels and lymph nodes.

Pelvic health

This is a state that we “don’t have to think about our pelvic function and being” where “it doesn’t impact on our day-to-day life” It relates to the functioning of the organs that sit within your pelvic area.

Pelvic floor muscles

These are muscles that span the bottom of your pelvis, running from your tailbone to your pubic bone. They support your pelvic organs. Both men and women have these muscles.

Incontinence

This term describes the difficulty that people have controlling when they open their bowels (poo) and empty their bladder (have a wee). There are different types of incontinence. Stress incontinence is when you leak when your bladder or bowel is put under sudden extra pressure, for example when coughing. Urge incontinence is when you feel a sudden and very intense need to go to the toilet.

Sexual activity

This can include caressing, foreplay, masturbation (solo sex or partnered), oral sex and intercourse.

Sexual intercourse

Usually referring to the penetration (entry) of the vagina or anus.

Sexual stimulation

This includes situations like foreplay with a partner, self-stimulation (masturbation), sexual fantasy or any activity that increases arousal.

Sexual dysfunction

Persistent or recurrent problems that prevent a person from experiencing satisfaction from sexual activity. This can relate to sexual response, arousal, desire, orgasm or pain.

BMI

Body Mass Index – a measurement that uses height and weight to estimate body fat (weight in kilograms divided by height in metres).