Bathing with uterine prolapse

I'm not an expert but I think baths shouldn't really be a problem unless you take them excessively. I would think once a week at the most. Also, you might want to consider adding a few drops of tea tree oil to your bath. This oil works wonders at preventing and treating vaginal infections. However, be sure to do a small skin test (do NOT use the oil undiluted on your skin) before soaking in a tub of it. I'm curious to see what everyone else thinks.

Jacquie

Hey fellow travellers, I remember when I was about 12 my Mum told me about periods and managing them. Her advice was don't wash your hair while menstruating, and don't shower or bath. The poor darling must have followed her own advice for at least forty years. She was in perimenopause at the time, and was no doubt keen to leave it all behind her. I imagine she would have been fairly pissed off when I told her about tampons and swimming during menstruation, when I was about fourteen!

With all due respect, we aren't hothouse flowers. Our bodies have coped with all sorts of things between birth and prolapse as adult women, from sitting in our own excreta as babies in nappies until somebody figured out what the smell was and changed us; through using filthy public toilets if the need arose, sex (perhaps with men whose past we knew little about); wearing the same pair of knickers all day; menstruating; giving birth; swimming in non-sterile rivers, lakes and oceans, and perhaps a few other less than sparkling clean situations.

Prolapse is simply pelvic organs in places where they didn't start off. There are no more orifices than there were as babies. There are no more breaks in the skin than when we were babies. The cervix still opens and closes the same way it did before during the menstrual cycle. The urethral opening may be a bit laxer, but still closes off between urinations (well, mostly ;-)anyway!)

Yes, I agree that the inside of the vagina is usually protected from the open air, as is the cervix, and we perhaps need to be a bit more mindful with prolapse, of keeping knickers clean, wiping backwards after a bowel movement, and adopting the new posture which tends to tuck everything back in again.

But to doubt the ability of our bodies to cope with a simple bath? I don't think so, not this bunny anyway. Sitting in a bath or spa, or swimming are some of the simple pleasures of life :-). Obviously it's not a good idea to slouch for hours, half-propped up in a bath in a position that puts pressure on the pelvic floor, but it's probably no worse than vegging out on the sofa to watch a movie.

Don't get me wrong, prolapse has made me feel vulnerable, incapable, helpless and weak at times, but let's not let the muck and magic of old wives tales overtake simple logic when it comes to what you can and can't do when you have prolapses.

Germs are a part of life, not a death sentence. Grab a hold of all that life has to offer.

Cheers

Louise

Hi:
My prolapse does go back in if I push it up past the pelvic bone.
If I hurry into the hot tub i thought it was safe but now am not sure that i didn't get scalded or chemically irritated by the chlorine.
I am very disturbed about this.
I love to swim and it is a time when I felt my body was in good posture all the time.
The hot tub is so soothing.
Now the concern over my uterus being affected by the bleach and the higher temp of the tub is keeping me from this
Any comments?
Sammy

Hi Sammy,

I missed this post earlier...it's getting harder and harder to respond to all of them however much I wish to.

Of course there is no hard data on this. I can only add my two cents worth and tell you that I bathe almost every day (I like to skip days when I'm at home - I don't think daily bathing is all that necessary or healthy), love to swim in the oceans and clean lakes and rivers, but will have nothing to do with swimming pools or hot tubs.

I guess it's because of both the chlorine concentration and the heat. It just doesn't resonate with me and much about this work is learning to trust our own instincts, right??

;-)Christine

I LOVED Louise's response to this issue...she nailed it.

Thanks, Louise, for your well-written and wise response. Your attitude towards living life to the fullest is an inspiration.

I am with you there mermaidsd, Louise you are HILARIOUS!!! I always giggle at your responses and they are so very true and wise!
Michelle.

God - Lousise's post really made me laugh out loud - That's the spirit!

I'm also a huge fan of baths and think their really good for us and our cele's and can be soo theraputic.

I avoid any bath cleaning products and clean only with baking soda and white vinager around the house. The baking soda is an excellent cleaner and i don't have to worry about any inner bleaching going on :) or toxins going into my body.

I also avoid all those bubble baths like the plague with all their e1902 and proplyn glycol etc..

Essential oils are physically and emotionally fantastic! (Aromathereapy a-z by patricial davies is one of the bibles on this).

My favourite oils are the deeply relaxing and 'feminine' oils such as rose and neroli, and the all round lavender can be pretty too in a mix.

About 4 drops to about a shot glass full of any natural oil in your kitchen such as olive oil (preferably organic if the price isn't too crazy) will dilute them properly for your skin and mousturise your skin really well.

Other bath option include- epsom salts, sea salts, oat bran (softening and mousturising), moor mud (good fun black and gloopy and full of minerals etc)and one of my favourites thought not for the feint hearted - Sea weed. Gloopy muciligous and makes me feel like a mermaid!

Each time i add a different theraputic mix.

If you're cold they're a really good way to warm the system too, but shouldn't be so hot that your perspire or it's a stress on the heart and not a relaxant.

Anyhoo that's my take on the bath experience and 'celes.

xx

Ann helen

Hi Christine:
I lost a reply it seems in which I thanked you for your devotion to our concerns.
Also to try to inform you that due to changubg servers and forgetting loggins I started a new loggon. If Cathy and Katrina are still registered they are me too.
I am in a conundrum re swimming in chlorinated pools-- not just because of my prolapse but for anyone--chlorine is potent stuff.
Time marches on ..
Sammy

Hi everyone

One of my replies disappeared too. I did just want to mention that our spa is particularly well-looked-after by my darling husband. It has an ozonator as the primary germ killer and hardly uses any chemical at all. We spent a fortune at the Pool shop on chemical before we finally looked to the Web to get an understanding of pool chemistry. Now it is a breeze, and is nearly always perfectly balances. Now swim in some other spas and pools? No thankyou.

Cheers

Louise

Hi Louise and Sammy,

Thanks so much for your comments. I lost a reply once too when I thought it had posted after clicking the "preview comment" button. I then backed out of the screen and thought my reply mysteriously got lost. You have to go on to the next page and choose "post comment", as you know.

:-) Christine