Help please? WWhat to do about coughing, sneezing. laughing; day to day life & WW posture and exercises with fused ankle

Submitted by J-mom on October 6, 2011 - 9:44pm
Body: 

Thanks for your inital post, GranolaMom re: my initial question re: how to do Christine's Prolapse First Aid exercises. I've made several adaptations and have gotten satisfactory results. However, I haven't been able to figure out how to sit cross-legged or do the elegant ballet positions. (I look a bit like a quaisi-moto). How important are 3rd -5th positions?
My main concerns are related to day to day life. What is the best position to sit in for any length of time, given my feet need to be elevated? What is the best position to sleep in to help the prolapse retract?
What about coughing, sneezing fits, laughing hysterically? All three cause the prolapse to descend rapidly. Is there a way to stop the descent?
If any of you have had success with any of these issues, I will be so grateful to hear from you.

louiseds

October 9, 2011 - 5:22am

Hi 3-mom

Just wondering what you mean by needing to have your feet elevated?

J-mom

October 9, 2011 - 4:52pm

Thank you, everyone, if you've got ideas for me to reverse prolapse. The answer to your question, louiseds, is that my feet almost always need to be elevated when I sit or lie down. Forty years ago both my femurs were broken and my right ankle crushed. The ankle was bone grafted back together and fused. Ten years ago I developed a very severe case of plantar fasciitis (sp?). That took a long time to be diagnosed and I still do all the exercises to keep my arches strong. The two situations together have caused me to need to elevate my feet whenever possible.
Currently, I'm dealing with complications from vaginal surgery (removal of Bathelon Gland) that led to a sudden colapse (bladder prolapse from nothing to level three, rectal, and cervical from nothing). Since receiving Christine's First Aid for Prolapse tape about a month ago, I've been doing the exercises and reduced the bladder prolapse to level two and am no longer concerned about cervix or rectal.
The help I need is information -
1) When I laugh, sneeze, or cough, the prolapse gets worse. Does anyone know how to stop this from happening?
2) Lifting things correctly is also difficult - any help here would be great!
3) When I'm doing Christine's exercises, does it matter that I can't do the ballet positions of three through five? If I just continue with the program using positions one and two, is this enough to help the prolapse return to its correct positioning?
4) Does it matter that I can't sit crosslegged? What is the best posture to hold when I'm sitting, given that my fused ankle foot most often needs to be elevated?
5) When I'm driving a car, because my right foot is pressing the gas pedal, I drive with the ball of my foot. Because my ankle can't move, to keep my hips from going off their correct alignment, I have to drive like I'm lying back in a beach chair. This puts me way past 90 degrees. This seems as if I would be making the prolapse worse as my pubic bone is more or less facing the ceiling of the car. Is there another way I could be driving that would be helpful to reducing the prolapse?
6) What is the best position to slepp in to help reduce the prolapse?
Thanks again to everyone who is reading this. Your ideas will be gratefullly received!
In peace - J-mom

Mishek

October 12, 2011 - 10:57pm

Hi J-mom, i'm so sorry you are having these extra complications-as if pop isn't enought to cope with. I can advise you on some of your questions but the others will need someone more experienced so hopefully they will chime in.With the sneezing i try to keep it to a minimum by using a hayfever nose spray (Rhinocort) and it's non drowsy, recommended by my Physio. Once per day is advised, but one spray in each nostril will last me a couple of days or even more. I take this during the hayfever season. If i have to sneeze i try to sit or lye down and brace my pelvic floor muscles. With coughing i swallow until i can reach for some water or bend deeply at the hip hinges and then cough. I also carry some Soothers with me during the winter months. Laughing - i havn't noticed that it affects me but you can do the same thing here brace your PFM. Louise explains all about how to lift correctly in one of her older posts. Maybe type in lifting into the search bar and you'll find heaps of info. With sleeping positions, it is recommended to sleep on our side. I never sleep on my back or front anymore. Someone suggested recently that she does the all fours (on hands and knees or elbows and knees on the bed just before going to sleep. Thankyou to that person as i am following your advice. Hope this helps.

Tintagel

October 13, 2011 - 3:52pm

Hello J-mom
Just picking up on your comment about laughing. I haven't seen it mentioned here before, but I too have noticed that there is a definite downward pressure when I laugh suddenly - and of course you can't plan ahead for a laugh, it just appears. I find it only happens when I have a good giggle over something very funny, mildly amused has no effect. I don't know how it can be avoided, maybe the only thing to do is try to get into posture immediately after a good belly laugh and perhaps do a bit of firebreathing if possible to get things back in the right place. Anyway, laughing is very good for the soul so I don't think we should give it up, even if we could!
Best wishes
Tintagel

J-mom

October 14, 2011 - 11:08pm

Your comment was deeply appreciated, Tintagel. Fire breathing is a great way to recover after a 'prolapse experience' and I find myself doing it many times/day.
I've been crossing my legs as well (sort of ballet position # 5) when I start laughing (like one would stop oneself fom peeing) when laughing so hard. At least this gives me a feeling of stopping the descent.
What surprises me is how rapidly the prolapse can descend, not just when laughing, which I love to do, but also with random coughing and sneezing (and passing gas and pooping) that happen spontaneously. I try to sit down immediately and bend forward into a sort of squat to make sure the pubic bone is actually the floor. That seems to help the prolapse from descending. It is mind numbing to think how many women are dealing with these problems.

J-mom

October 15, 2011 - 12:07am

Your thougthful response is deeply appreciated, Mishek. Since I wrote I have been laughing a lot and crossing my legs into a sort of position #5. I will add sitting and bending at the hip joints. I've tried sitting and bending forward for sneezing and coughing with some success. Right now Im thinking I will try fire breathing (given I can remember in the middle of things) as fire breathing seems to be the fastest way to get the organs back in place.
Thanks too, for your reference to Louis re: lifting in an older post. I will look up her comments and any others' using the search box.
What's revolutinoary for me is with sleeping. I've found I can sleep on my back with my lumar support pillow for a while and then turn on my side (with the pillow supporting the weight of my waist) and I no longer have chronic shoulder pain from sleeping on my side! This is like a miracle for me as I've been dealing with chronic shouder pain for a long time.
Christine's exercises, wwposure and the lumbar support have saved me!
As has this incredibly beautiful forum where we are all doing our best t help each other. With deepest appreciation - J-mom

louiseds

October 17, 2011 - 8:23am

Just laugh proudly, with lumbar curve in place, and your butt out the back! I am not hard to convince on the benefit of a good belly laugh!

louiseds

October 17, 2011 - 8:29am

Hi J-mom

It will get easier. These techniques become intuitive after a while, and you can figure out really easily how to tweak almost any action or activity. There are some rules I use for lifting.

1 If you think it is too heavy it probably is. Break the load into parts or get help.

2 Bend from the hips, not the waist.

3 Stick your butt out the back and let your spine be horizontal with a strong lumbar curve.

4 Use your thigh muscles which are designed for lifting.

5 Keep the load close to your body.

6 Use all the joints in your body as a zigzag, which spreads the load.

etc. Very late here. Gotta sleep.

Louise zzzzzzzzzzzzz