Incontinence worse from exercises

Welcome to WW,

When you say incontinence, do you mean bowel or bladder? I have a rectocele and haven't had incontence of either other than occasional mild stress incontinence if I sneeze etc (bladder). Hopefully someone else on the site will be able to help.

Pollyanna

Hi Chelan,

I'm going to guess that you mean stress urinary incontinence, when you cough or move a certain way.

We know a little bit about the "natural history" of SUI and prolapse. Gynecologists have always known, and we have heard it here, that SUI is often the first symptom of prolapse - particularly if a woman has had one or more episiotomies. Over time, as a woman's bladder prolapse becomes more severe, her SUI lessens or disappears entirely.

SUI can only occur when the angle of bladder to urethra is changed, becoming more open from the sharp right angle that defines normal urinary tract anatomy. As time goes on, the bladder falls further back and pinches the top of the urethra off in the opposite direction. While incontinence improves, urinary retention often becomes a problem.

By far, the most common presentation of prolapse is cystocele/rectocele with the cervix up above. It sounds like you may be in this in-between stage where your organs are shifting to this somewhat natural place so many settle to.

The goal is to try to re-create normal anatomy by moving the organs forward through posture, breath work, and exercise. In many women, the bladder bulge does not go away, but improves enough while also protecting against SUI.

Perhaps your anatomy is not quite there. Will your front vaginal wall become a bit more bulgy to support the prolapsed back wall? I do not know and cannot give you a definitive answer. However, given the data we have, I expect this might be the case. Will your incontinence then improve? Again, I think so.

No guarantees. However, for women to understand just how their anatomy works is enough to help them consciously and perhaps subconsciously work throughout the day to keep the organs well positioned. If certain exercises are causing leakage, discontinue them for the time being. You may be able to come back to them in the near future.

Please keep us updated and tell us of your progress. Right now I'm sitting in regular feet on floor position on my wide computer stool. I can sense that my fully nutated pelvis (lumbar curve) is forcing that right angle between bladder and urethra. There is no way I could leak if I coughed or sneezed. Even sitting can be very good for re-stabilizing the pelvic interior.

Wishing you well,

Christine

Yes, women complain all the time about how sore/tired the posture makes them. Quite understandable, given that your whole musculature is reconfiguring around a new skeletal shape. Eventually it becomes effortless and ultimately comfortable. The best you can do on the airplane is relax with a small pillow at your lumbar spine. Good for you for sitting on the floor! I hope you sent all the other clients to WW! :)

welcome!
I just wanted to offer reassurance about transitions. These moments of transition can be hard whilst our bodies find a more natural place, but have faith that your body will shift to a more natural anatomy as you keep going with Christine's work. My prolapses took a few months to settle into their final configuration of a rect / cyst / mild uterine prolapse. From there, they then really improved--so now same configuration, but much less prominent.

What you describe sounds very rectocele like. So important is not getting constipated and never pushing again the toilet. if you can't go, try again later. go for a walk, drink lots of water, and try again. i found i had to change my diet with POP--no cheese, no chocolate, lots more fibre. even then it doesn't always work, but i know more now about how to keep things working. so do experiment.

plane--i really worried about flying, but since POP have gone on multiple 12 hour flights. i follow christine's advice, pillow behind my back and relax. but i also walk a lot on teh plane (easy with a small child!), and stretch when i can. as a result, i haven't felt any worse. I also make sure i drink lots and lots in the days coming up to it, knowing i'll dehydrate on the plane, and drink again lots extra on the other side. so far so good with it! so don't worry, bodies are resilient. enjoy your trip
Kiki

I believe incontinence is more likely when the uterus starts to tip backward, which is actually the first stage of prolapse. Almost all of us have been told at one time or another that we have a “tipped” uterus. We are never told that this is connected with prolapse, or what to do about it.

Another huge contributor to SUI is episiotomy, which is well documented in the gynecologic literature. The central tendon of the pelvis is a large, pyramidal structure, the base of which sits between the back vaginal opening and anus. It reaches up the length of the back vaginal wall and connects into the uterosacral ligament complex. It is like the mast of a ship, which many structures connect into. Nerve damage and loss of the vaginal sphincter loosen the mast, the first symptom of which is often SUI.

So glad you are becoming stronger!

Christine

Chelan, my company, Jade & Pearl, produces Sea pearls sea sponge tampons for menstruation & Pelvic Organ Prolapse. These sponges can also be used for incontinence. In addition, we make a rejuvenating herbal tincture called Pelvic Power and many of our customers report great improvement with incontinence issues. Visit our website at www.jadeandpearl.com to see all of our awesome health products.

The vagina does very interesting things with moisture. It could be that the times you are feeling wet, it isn't actually urine. The uterus will leak clear fluid out of the cervix at times and you are certainly early on in menopause so you can expect to see some strange fluid changes.
To be sure you are emptying fully each time you go pee, you can try a few tricks. One pee, stand up walk around, pee again and two, pee on all fours. If you are fully emptying your bladder you will be less likely to leak urine.

Also, reading your first post I had the thought that maybe your bladder was previously *settled* and kinking the pipe so that you didn't leak. Then you added the wholewoman exercises and your uterus was moving things forward in such a dynamic way that your bladder stopped kinking the pipe and you were experiencing a temporary leak situation that would resolve as you progressed through WW exercises.
Keep up the exercise for sure!

Hi Chelan

Another thought. You don't say how the incontinence presents. If it is with coughing, sneezing, etc, it is stress incontinence and you will feel a few drops moisten your knickers at that moment. If it is urge incontinence you will feel the need to go urgently, and probably go and empty, many times a day. If this is the case you may have an almost empty bladder for most of the day. This means that your bladder does not take up much space in your pelvic cavity, and cannot apply much continuous pressure backwards on your vagina, so your rectocele can impinge forward into the vaginal space. It also means that it is more difficult to really flush stale urine out of the bladder.

If you can train your bladder that it is not full yet, and must wait for a while, you will make your bladder into a big, fat pessary which will push back on your vagina, keeping the top of it pressed backwards and squashed flat, and prevent your rectum from moving forward into the vaginal space.

My mantra is, "Keep your bowel empty and keep your bladder full. Answer quickly the urge to defaecate, but ignore the urge to empty your bladder until it is really full."

Louise

Louise, I recently thought I was leaking when I was sneezing. I was totally bummed. But upon further investigation I found that when I checked it out- the fluid was definitely vaginal-
sometimes thin and clear and other times thicker and whiter.

H again Chelan,

Haven't been online for a while - life! My rectocele symptoms vary but I always have quite a lage loose feeling bulge at the back wall of the vagina. If I have passed a bowel movement it is softer and floppier. If my bowel is full it is firmer. It sometimes feels fery low - I can feel it just inside the vaginal opening - other times it is a little higher up. Some days I am not aware of it much and others I feel very aware. A lot depends on how my bowel problems are and also my mood. I don't like it when I can feel it just inside the vaginal opening as I am very aware of it then when I am walking and sitting. I used to worry that it would come out further but it never has. I do the exercises every day and try to manage the bowel problems so I never get constipated. I try to rest when I can and don't lift things unless I have to. I know things will improve with time - its just a matter of patience and perservernce and trying to keep your spirits up along the way.

Hope you are feeling less worried about things.

:) Pollyanna