pelvic prolapse activities

Submitted by savtahsavav on February 22, 2013 - 3:20pm
Body: 

I have a severe bladder and uterine prolapse (both organs out of body most of the time, all that I can hold in one hand) and am presently doing the exercise routine from the wholewoman DVD. I began doing the exercises in December and have not missed more than an occasional day here or there. I notice an increase in my balance, and mobility of the prolapsed parts but they are still mostly outside my body. I do knee chest at night to bring them inside and they stay there as I sleep but as soon as I get up they come out. I have a wonderful husband who does not want me to do anything that will hold back progress in healing. I need to know if it helps to avoid activities that cause the uterus to be more outside the body or if normal activities are alright or if avoiding particular ones is helpful. I feel the need to get some exercise but I want to do anything that will speed recovery. I sense that lifting, stairs and leaning (as Christine suggests) are detrimental. I am practicing the posture and sitting techniques she suggests and I find I am very uncomfortable if I do not do them.
Thank you for any responses,
savtahsavav

Forum:

Surviving60

February 22, 2013 - 5:28pm

Hi savtah and welcome. I’m glad that you are noticing some positive things from doing this work. Getting the organs back inside when they are that far out, is a huge undertaking. We have some out-of-body folks here who can give you more first-hand information than I. But let me ask a few things. Do you stay in posture all the time? Is it natural for you yet? A couple of months is not usually enough time for the posture change to become second-nature, so it is probably safe to say that you aren’t all the way there yet. So even when things are out, keep that belly relaxed and chest pulled up. In order to improve the position of your organs, that space needs to be there all the time.

Have you tackled fire-breathing or nauli yet? You will need to get upside down (well, not literally but you know what I mean) and get those organs up over the pubic bones before you start. Strong moves like fire-breathing should be part of the routine throughout the day.

Hopefully the experts will be on here soon. Keep up the good work! - Surviving

osmari

February 22, 2013 - 6:38pm

My heart goes to you. Like you, I have prolapse of bladder and uterus which sit in my panties when I stand up; however, your situation is more severe than mine. The books and DVDs are on the way to me; I do hope they get here soon. I was sitting in a recliner chair in the evenings but I found out that is not good for our prolapse so now I sit upright with feet on the floor.

I live in a multilevel house and wondered if going up and down the stairs was good or bad but from what you said, I guess it is not, is that correct? I am practicing the posture but so far I have no improvement as it has only been a couple of weeks. My understanding is that it might be a year before I see any, but anything is better than surgery.

How long have you had prolapse? For me it has been about 7 years. Did you use a pessary at any time and if so, was it of use at one point?

If you have trouble urinating, I might have a suggestion for you.

I know how scary all this is. I discovered this site about 2 weeks ago and have learned so much! All the best!

savtahsavav

February 22, 2013 - 9:46pm

thank you all so much for your sensitive responses. I am a midwife and have been in my younger days a ballet dancer and spent much time in the theater so these concepts are not foreign to me. As I midwife I tell women after birth to avoid, vacuuming, sweeping, stairs and lifting because of the possibility of prolapse but I give them what I call puttering privileges so they can be active and get things back in line. Because of this I am inclined to think the same way about myself but was unsure.
I have had worsening symptoms over especially the last three years but probably before but I gave it no attention. I did not want to consider surgery so I thought to live with it was my only option which I was prepared to do because I didn't have any faith that surgery would help so much anyway. The condition began with cytocele progressing to extreme bulge, later my uterus followed down the canal but was so distorted I barely recognized it as a uterus because it was a total balloon with a hole at the back. I finally dawned on me that the hole was my cervix but it was so distorted it perplexed me. then bleeding followed with much accompanying pain. My husband insisted I go to our friend the gynecologist. She knew I would not consider surgery but she did a test to eliminate the possibility of cancer and told me I had a fierce bladder infection. I had never had a bladder infection in my life so did not recognize the symptoms which I expected to be burning when I urinated which never happened. Instead, it was an aching pain but frequent urination. Once I knew my problem I ate an alkaline diet and took uva ursi to knock out the infection and followed up with D-Mannose. I also took 200 C arnica. I was astonished after three days that almost all of my pain was gone and I was able again to urinate normally if I did hands and knees before I tried. She fitted me for a pessary which I wore out of her office but it was pressed out by the time I got to my car in the parking lot. I tried it again a few months later after I had done the exercises for a time and put it in myself much higher up. It stayed in but would not allow me to defecate or urinate until I removed it.
So....that is when my husband found Christine's site which I am very thankful for. I noted she said you could become some what normal in function and that sounded very good to me as I am not inclined to sit around and if I do I know I will become "old" quickly, not my desire so.....here I am wondering how to proceed with wisdom.
I am consistent with sitting in the posture because it hurts not to. Standing I find myself sometimes forgetting and tensing my lower belly out of years of training. I have studied what Christine says about fire breathing but I have not tried as suggested by surviving 60 suggested. I will do so. I have done headstands and knee chest on repeated occasions but as soon as I move to upright everything comes down, but as I said not before trying the firebreathing. I do the whole routine that is on the DVD and have to hold on to do the psoas muscle stretch and the leg lift to the front, side and back. Other than that I can do the routine without a problem.
I hope that isn't too much information to give you all to consider but I just want to do what will make the most progress toward function that I can have.
Thank you for listening
Savtahsavav

osmari

February 22, 2013 - 11:17pm

No, it was not too much information. Thank you, you actually gave me ideas regarding uva ursi etc.. I also ignored my prolapse (for about 5 years) because a friend had several unsuccessful surgeries..... after which a nurse told her about pessaries! Until then, she (and I) had never heard of them! I waited a year after she got hers to see how things would go for her and since all seemed to be fine, I finally went to the doctor. Unfortunately for her, since then she has had more surgeries, the last TWO being last week; and unfortunately for me, due to heavy lifting etc, my pessary did damage so like you, I am doing without at present until I heal. I have a month to decide what I will do next.

As I suggested to someone else (since your prolapse is quite significant) you might want to consider Christine's hour long phone consultation (for a fee). The talk was extremely beneficial to me, she answered my questions and gave me valuable information for which I will always be grateful.

If you have trouble urinating try this (if you haven't already tried it): Instead of sitting on the toilet, bend forward quite a bit until you feel your prolapse going in, and in that position try to urinate. It might take a few seconds before you will be able to start. If you think you might lose balance, put a heavy stool, chair or a heavy basket in front of you and hold on for support. Once you stand up, you might have to "go again" as likely your bladder might not empty at first try. This was taught to me by another "prolapser".

Once again, I wish you all the best.

savtahsavav

February 23, 2013 - 8:33am

Uva ursi is quite effective but works the best if your system is alkaline. It has knocked it out quickly for me and I take a little whenever I feel the ache that I have learned means something is starting. If I drink a lot I have much less problem. I have tried leaning over to move the prolapse as well as pressing it inside. Sometimes the tension is great and it resists going in but if I relax and breathe deeply into my belly it relaxes usually and I can move it to urinate. I do the second go often to try to move out any bacteria.
I would like to call Christine when I think I can afford it. I am sure it would be helpful.
Thank you for your response. I know it takes time to read all of these things and consider how to respond. I appreciate your time given to me.
Savtahsavav

savtahsavav

February 23, 2013 - 8:35am

I tried the firebreathing after doing knee chest and toe touches and over the head backward sombersault type position and I will continue to try to get things inside while I am doing it but when I breathe out it comes down again. Any advice? The nauli I am doing as best I understand how to do it.

MsNightingale

February 23, 2013 - 9:12am

I wanted to say hello and wish you the very best. It sounds like you have a difficult situation. You mentioned that you were a ballerina. I am wondering if you have learned yet to allow your full lumbar curvature and to completely relax those tummy muscles. This concept is very unlike the body concept in ballet and in much of yoga. I do believe that when you can breath fully into your soft belly, you might start to notice signs of improvement. As long as your tummy muscles pull in, you will not have a place for your organs to move forward into. The natural lumbar curve will best be attained when pulling upward from the crown of the head, allowing a slight tucking of the chin, and yes, the softening of the belly. This posture must become your new body, as it is from here that little by little, your organs will find their way to their position. It must be done every moment when you are up on your feet or when sitting. Eventually you will feel good with it. Fire-breathing and nauli are recommended but I am not confident yet with them. I believe from my own experience that this posture will bring you improvement. I am wishing you the very best!

savtahsavav

February 23, 2013 - 10:07am

thank you for the exhortation. The posture is indeed very different than how I was trained and I forget on occasions but because my prolapse is ever present it reminds me and I am trying to do it. I am sure I lack real understanding yet of what it is I am trying to do and the reaching upward from the crown of my head does help orient me. If you have other measures to test if you are doing it right I would be glad to hear them.

MsNightingale

February 23, 2013 - 10:48pm

Yes, it is hard to really know if we are doing it all correctly. I am still questioning and running through the mental checklist, although not as often now. For me, I believe the hardest thing and the most important was learning to lengthen the abs rather than tighten them up. Lifting the chest, relaxing downward the shoulders, upward the crown of the head. Then if you calmly pull your breath into your belly that might help you to remember not to tighten up. I am sure that I have much room for improvement with all of this, but it was within a couple of weeks of learning to relax the belly that I began to notice marked improvement in all of my symptoms. The walks and gently doing the Prolapse DVD, also helped me to more in the direction of good posture. Best wishes to you.

savtahsavav

February 25, 2013 - 3:34pm

Thank you. I will try that MsNightingale and look forward to that improvement. thank you for the encouragement.
Apart from doing the posture correctly do you think it makes a difference what else you do in terms of work, activity etc?

savtahsavav

February 28, 2013 - 11:16am

MS Nightingale, Louise just told us about an exercise she is suggesting trying. I tried it and found out I wasn't really loosening my lower stomach muscles. When I heard pull up I was subtly tightening everything. Little details make a big difference it seems in this realm. I am noticing a change that I think is going to help me. That loosened belly seems to really make a difference and Louise's exercise seems to help as well.

MsNightingale

February 28, 2013 - 9:19pm

Which exercise is Louise talking about? I looked for it here and I am thinking it might be in another thread somewhere. However, this is great news. It is very difficult for many of us to relax the belly and I am glad you were able to find that in another perspective. I too did not even know I was tense but realized that in trying to gain a good WW posture. I am so happy that you have made this discovery. Give yourself patient time now, things will get better as you learn to live with those long abs instead of the tightened ones. I will look about here for the exercise you are referring to. Best wishes to you!

fab

March 1, 2013 - 5:04am

Savtahsavav was referring to an old thread on air bubbles brought up by Spirit3 if I remember correctly. It's been a long day.

https://wholewoman.com/forum/comment/38658#comment-38658

cheers, Fab

savtahsavav

March 1, 2013 - 9:27am

yes, that is the exercise I was talking about. It is quite amazing to lean over and suck in your stomach and hold it until you stand up. then completely relax your lower belly. It has helped my organs stay up and in. I am very thankful for the help it gives me but even more for the understanding that I wasn't really relaxing those muscles. they sneak in on their and get tense I think when I try to reach up with the crown of my head.