[3] It is attached to the inner surface of each side of the lesser pelvis, and these unite to form the greater part of the pelvic floor.

The levator ani is the main pelvic floor muscle and contracts rhythmically during female orgasm, and painfully during vaginismus.

The fibers pass downward and backward to the middle line of the floor of the pelvis; the most posterior are inserted into the side of the last two segments of the coccyx; those placed more anteriorly unite with the muscle of the opposite side, in a median fibrous ridge called the anococcygeal body or raphe, which extends between the coccyx and the margin of the anus.

From this circumstance, as well as from its peculiar relation with the prostate, which it supports as in a sling, it has been described as a distinct muscle, under the name of levator prostatæ.

The pubococcygeus arises from the back of the pubis and from the anterior part of the obturator fascia, and is directed backward almost horizontally along the side of the anal canal toward the coccyx and sacrum, to which it finds attachment.

[7] A strong pubococcygeus muscle has also been linked to a reduction in urinary incontinence and proper positioning of the baby's head during childbirth.

Kegel exercises have been prescribed to ameliorate erectile dysfunction due to venous leakage and to help men control premature ejaculation[9] and to treat urinary incontinence in both sexes.

They meet with the corresponding fibers of the opposite side around the lower part of the rectum, and form for it a strong sling.