When I first “cracked the code” on stabilizing and reversing prolapse, and wrote and published Saving the Whole Woman, I set up this forum. While I had finally gotten my own severe uterine prolapse under control with the knowledge I had gained, I didn’t actually know if I could teach other women to do for themselves what I had done for my condition.
So I just started teaching women on this forum. Within weeks, the women started writing back, “It’s working! I can feel the difference!”
From that moment on, the forum became the hub of the Whole Woman Community. Unfortunately, spammers also discovered the forum, along with the thousands of women we had been helping. The level of spamming became so intolerable and time-consuming, we regretfully took the forum down.
Technology never sleeps, however, and we have better tools today for controlling spam than we did just a few years ago. So I am very excited and pleased to bring the forum back online.
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Best wishes,
Christine Kent
Founder
Whole Woman
saddleup
August 19, 2008 - 2:49pm
Permalink
To ride or not to ride?
Hi, Qtrpony:
Congratulations on your little one that is swimming around in the amniotic ocean! First, thank you for not riding right now--I'm sure your baby appreciates your care, and time goes fast. You will have to let your body heal up after you give birth, of course, and you may find it is shaped differently than before.
It seems, from what I've read here, that lots of women who experience pregnancy-related prolapses get better within several months as tissues and organs return to normal. Is this your first pregnancy? Do you have a history of prior prolapses?
Me, I'm post-menopausal, 53, in good physical condition and of slender build. My cystocele was discovered about a year ago but gave me no trouble at all till last winter. I ride a bouncy Quarter Horse and was also jumping in one lesson per week. The urogynecologist I saw blamed the riding for making the prolapse worse. He thinks I should only ride a gaited horse, like a Tennessee Walker, if any. He also wants to do surgery to "fix" the cystocele.
I don't know what the doctor's equestrian expertise is, though I admit that riding has a lot of impact on the seat and therefore probably on the pelvic organs. Amidst crying, swearing, and praying, I cut way back on my riding. My daughter is home from college, so it works well for her to ride our horse this summer. Lately, I've been getting back on, with mixed results. One thing I've tried, per a suggestion on this forum, is using a Playtex sports tampon when riding. It keeps my bladder in place and I have no leakage of urine. I take it out when I get home from the barn.
So far, the prolapse does not seem any worse, though sometimes I just feel sore "down there." Yesterday I couldn't get comfortable in the saddle no matter what I tried. I have been doing the Whole Woman body work (dance-type exercises) found in the second edition of the book "Saving the Whole Woman" by Christine Ann Kent. Sometimes, no matter what, I experience small leakages of urine during the day with no prior warning or feeling that I have to "go." (Hence the crying and swearing. When I do more praying and less of those two, I know that at least my attitude is feeling better.)
I would suggest you track the Pregnancy and Prolapse thread of this forum, as pregnancy presents specific challenges, and it involves your baby's well-being, too.
I plan to keep on riding. I may have to do it with less intensity. I also intend to avoid the surgical solution offered. I will deal with what Mother Nature gave me first. I think if I had the surgery, I would be forever paranoid about jarring things around that were already stretched and tightened unnaturally.
So, I can't tell you anything authoritatively. However, as with all of us on this forum, I can share my experiences as I try to figure out what works and what doesn't. Get a nice slobbery horsey kiss and you'll feel better. I wish you the best, and I keep everyone on this forum in my prayers.
Saddleup