Ballet exercises

Hi Daphne,

Given your surgical history it's impossible to know, but I encourage a few simple WW exercises borrowed from ballet because they are great for general strength, balance and flexibility. I just gave a class this morning to a local 62 year-old who was in good health, but never exercised with hip turnout. It is amazing to see how working with these exercises changes a woman's ability to better hold the posture.

I wish I could help you reduce your symptoms further - surgery changes everything.

Christine

Hi Daphne,

I would hope that you’d keep the appointment for the additional data it might provide. The best case scenario would be that you could replicate the dropping down for him to examine and if knows his stuff he could tell you exactly what it is. All I can tell you is that it is the opposite of what happens normally. When a woman who has not had surgery bends over, her organs drop into her lower belly and away from the pelvic outlet at the back of her body, so that her prolapse symptoms disappear. The great challenge of the female body was to keep them in this very same position while standing - a design that works beautifully until it is compromised by surgery and habit.

Bless your heart and please keep us posted, Daphne.

Christine

Hi everyone
Well after some procrastination I thought I would put something on the board. Went to a gynaecologist yesterday and was told I have all three prolapses - cystocele, entercole and rectocele - that's the way to go I thought - all or nothing. Yes it is a problem and I do get fed up. Have looked at Christin'e video and read the book but think I was in total denial. Now it is time to get going. My prolapse protrudes quite a lot however I am not ready for surgery yet - even though the gynaecologist gave me a quote for the repair he thought it was so bad. I thought about sponges to see if this helps - has anyone had success with these and if so where do you get and what type? Happy to buy overseas if not available in Australia.
I am surprised at how common this problem is and yet women, who generally share openly, don't discuss this problem face to face- hence the opportunity to share on the forum.
Hopefully I will get to meet some of you at the Conference where there will be a common objective. I am 64, do exercises and even a little running so I am not prepared to let this get on top of me.
With a prolapse as bad as this, does someone have positive feedback on doing ballet exercises, posture etc. I was thinking about also the yoga videos - to get both?
Okay ladies, over to you. I am sure there is some wonderful positive feedback out there.

Hi Aussiemaid - well, there is quite a lot of information on this forum (use the search feature up above to look for specific topics) not to mention the entire wholewoman website. There is a whole forum section for success stories, for example. Since you have already read the book and seen the video, can you provide some more detail on how the WW principles have been working for you....assuming you have been trying them? Are you clear about the posture?

Hi Aussiemaid,
Just wanted to say hi and welcome. I am in Australia and recently purchased some sea sponges. I tried to see what I could find here , but no luck really. I ended up ordering from Jade and Pearl in Florida USA. They do actually have a distributor here in melb, but they only have the sea sponge tampons...not the larger size for prolapse. If you want to find the distributor you can click on that tab in the jade and pearl website. Can't remember it off the top of my head. Also jade and pearl now have extra soft sponges, so I decided since they were going to be used in such a delicate area it was worth the extra couple of dollars. It was tricky trying to work out what to order size wise, so I just ordered the larger tampon ones and the prolapse ones. They can all be trimmed a bit to size and shape. I figured with the cost of postage from the US I just wanted to order once and got few things.

I have used them, but only twice now...the reason is I have just started seeing some good improvement in my symptoms. For your reference I have cystocele probably grade 2-3. The comment that seems to come up on this site is that the sponges seem most useful for cystocele...and maybe less for other celes. I will probably use the sponges for my period as for me they were definitely quite comfortable to use. If you research it on this site you will find varied responses on this subject.

On the subject of videos I find the FAFP DVD great and do it every day. I am thinking about also getting the yoga DVD. If cost is not an issue for you, I would get both. The FAFP gives you a good understanding of the posture although I believe you can see this excerpt on YouTube .

WW posture has really helped me....but like anything it takes time. I have over the months taken heart from the stories of other women who have had success...but as always it is a time thing. The beauty of the posture is that it strengthens everything, abdominally, and in the pelvic region too - at least that is how it seems to have helped me.

Yesterday I was at a family gathering and was sitting most effortlessly in my WW posture, and an aunty said to me "Relax! Relax!" but I said to her I Am relaxed...and I was because my abdominal muscles and my spine support me so beautifully. After time it does become a way of life.

Well I hope my comments help. Ask any questions . Always happy to pay it forward.
Lindy

Welcome Aussiemaid,

I look forward to meeting you at the Conference! Prolapse is often asymptomatic until it's at or very near the vaginal opening. Virtually all of us have or have had a third degree prolapse. I believe you will be able to improve your symptoms with WW posture, focused breathing exercises and a super-nutritious (anti-inflammatory) diet.

Thanks for finally joining in the conversation!

Christine

Oh...and we all have some level of all three...search Nature's pessary. ;)

I am in York, Western Australia. See you at the conference.

Louise