Posture and lower belly

Hi Shortcake - since incorrect posture is such a contributing factor to prolapse, then it could certainly be contributing to your situation now. There is no way for us to know if you are doing it correctly, but if you aren't relaxing your belly and if you can't breath deeply into your belly, then I'd say you are not in posture. That is the hardest transition for most of us to make. In addition, from what I've heard from various sources about urodynamics testing, this could also be causing a small setback.

Prolapse can cause air in the vagina and I'm not enough of an anatomy guru to explain it well (there are some discussions you might be able to find by searching). I have it sometimes. Prolapse prevents the vagina from being a closed, flattened, airless space. So correct posture will help this. I wouldn't place too much significance on when you notice it and when you don't. Others may have more to say on this topic.

Look for some discussions on here about belly relaxation and breathing. The only way I was ever able to learn to relax my belly, was simply to say to myself, relax your belly! It worked eventually! - Surviving

So are you suppose to stomach breathe in posture rather than from the diaphram?

I don't remember seeing any actual demonstrations of sitting posture in a chair.

Could someone tell me what is best?? I happen to be short, so I cannot sit back in a chair and have my feet touch the floor. Should I be sitting with no back support?? Should I be using a foot stool?? Should my legs hang down, or should they be straight out in front of me??

Ok so we accept that it is important to sit with full lumbar curve. This requires a strong back and legs, so the more you use posture, the stronger your back and leg muscles will become and the easier it will be to sit in posture.
I find I need to concentrate on ensuring that my back is self supporting and the resting weight of my legs is more on my feet. Now this can usually be done by sitting in the middle of the seat with your feet flat on the floor, your knees parallel and your feet directly under them. I find that it is more comfortable if I sit in such a way that I am placing more of my body weight on my pelvic bone and thighs rather than the weight being more on my buttocks. I also find a cushion shoved just under my buttocks helps make this position comfortable.
When I sit for hours, I am usually seated in an ordinary dining room chair. When I start to feel restless, I place its back to one side and I sit astride one edge (in a way like a man’s riding saddle!). This also encourages me to keep my legs apart which for me helps to hold my feet down firm and flat and directly under my knees. I also sit on top of a few cushions, this gives me a little extra height so that my thighs can slant just slightly down (as well as a soft seat). This position gives me the full freedom to sit in posture and is not so tempting to the forgetful slouching moment. I sit similarly if I use an ergonomic office chair.
When you drive because the seat of the car seat is usually slanting backwards it is important to place cushions on the seat to try to level the seat itself and a lumbar pillow again to allow the back of the car seat to accommodate your lumbar curve. A lumbar pillow also helps when you are relaxing in an armchair. (Speaking of relaxing as in watching your favourite tv show - this is a weird one - but I have a stool some 19 ½ inches tall, and my armchair at seat level is about 15 ½ inches high, I place the stool about 18inches away and I put my legs from the knees down on the stool, my lumbar cushion is now a pillow for my head, my body is on the seat down to the waist and my mid-drift is suspended in space. Love it.
Being short wan2know may present special problems, you will need to work on. You may need a foot stool because you want your resting leg weight on your feet and your feet need to be under your knees.

It can be confusing and I find when I concentrate on my breathing which is simply so natural, I start mucking it up. Diaphragm breathing has to do with the tummy going out as you take a breath in and the tummy coming in when you breath out. It does mean the diaphragm rises and falls and thus its name, but it is far easier to just put you hand around your navel area and as you take a breath feel your tummy expand out and then when you exhale feel your tummy relax back in.

I take this as a positive, as it means for me the pelvic organs are moving around rather than being stuck firmly in a prolapsed position. The more you exercise, the more you work on your posture, the less often you will find these surprising moments will happen.

That definitely helps me, fab. Thank you. I had been sitting in the middle of my office chair with my feet flat on the floor, back in WW Posture, but I find myself slouching after a while. I'm sure that my back will get stronger in time as I use WW Posture more and more.

I have taken to sitting/lying on my lazy boy chair with a pillow to support my back properly.

The breathing is still not coming naturally, but I am becoming more aware of it and intend to permanently change to the proper breathing.

What about sleep position? Does a pillow force the head forward. Is the stomach most relaxed laying on the side?

Pillows when sleeping really gets back to personal comfort. My natural sleeping position is on my side but during the night of course I am all over the place. We have talked about this a lot and there has been a sort of consensus that because when laying down there is not the specific force of gravity as when we stand that probably any position when we sleep is ok. If however, intra-abdominal forces such as wind, constipation, gastric upset, full bladder etc are at play and putting undue pressure on your prolapse during your sleep then apart from getting up and going to the bathroom I find shifting onto my back and massaging my tummy starting at my right side above my pelvis and following the intestine up and over my navel and then down the other side to above my rectum gets out the kinks and blockages and relaxes things for sleep. If there is not a specific thing going on, another way to relax the pelvic area is to lay on your back and stretch your legs straight down and hold for a few minutes and then release.

I don’t really know shortcake. Let’s look at these things you have mentioned from my perspective and see if I can point to something worth your pursuing.

The overloaded bladder: I don’t want to insult you by saying “well empty it”, but of course that is what you need to do. Is it because you have urine retention? That your urethra being prolapsed does not carry the urine off efficiently. Have you tried emptying in the shower down on your all fours? Do you put your weight on your feet when you do urinate and do you then wait a minute or two (maybe pace back and forth) and then return to the bowl and without straining try your luck again? I often find that’s what I need to do otherwise the pressure from the remaining urine makes me feel like I have a full bladder. I can’t tell how much urine is left just by feel and it varies. It is comfort wise better for me to do the double dip as well as from an anxiety freeing point of view.

Now with your belly feeling full and interfering with your breathing. I know when I had put weight on that bending over to cut my nails made me puff. I don’t know if this is the feeling you are describing. When I lost the weight I don’t have that problem anymore. In the meanwhile, it doesn’t hurt to avoid these situations. I’d suggest it would be much better for you to get out there and do some serious walking. If you are not overweight but you are getting breathless then I think it is something you need to check in with your doctor about, probably better to do that anyway.

The lack of control over your lower belly muscles is not unusual and not just with ladies with prolapse and can very well have some influence on making it hard for us to do the deep belly breathing. It makes sense from this point of view to start building the strength in those muscles. WWposture does help you do that, but it is a gradual process.

The swelling sounds like an inflammation and you possibly may need to be looking at your diet and exploring any possible causes. With summer in the northern hemisphere have a look first at any bountiful summer crop you may have been recently indulging.

I sure hope you find something here shortcake. It sounds terrible what you are copping at the moment.

Hey just wanted to show you some support!! I am sorry for what you're going thru! I noticed you said that you feel more swollen this week... Could it be your period? I know that my uterus was falling out n my first period after prolapse was an experience all it's own!! :) just wanted you to know it does get better!! I have been following all the advice from the knowledgeable n wise women here as well as working WW posture every single waking moment and my uterus hasn't fallen out since!! Two days ago I actually had to search a little to find my cervix inside me!!! That's sooo awesome!!! It does get better just know you have an army of prolapse survivors and their general Christine leading the way for you!! Wish u well!!!

My back SCREAMS in pain if not supported by a chair. If I'm sitting in a chair without lumbar support, which is most of them (including my car), I use a pillow. My feet are then supported by a foot stool of sorts. I use the foot stool and my legs to gently push my back against the pillow for support.

It feels GREAT and my back (and me!) are MUCH more rested doing it this way.

This is just me though.

I was always like that too, Truffle. My back would scream in pain if I stood for too long in one position or if I sat without back support.

As I stand or sit in proper ww posture, I am amazed at how well my back does. In fact, the day that I learned about ww posture, I had 48 lbs of strawberries to wash and hull. I stood at the kitchen sink in ww posture for at least 3 hours -- with no back pain. I kept reminding myself to stand with feet flat on the floor -- knees above feet -- back curved in -- shoulders relaxed -- breathing properly -- and voila!!!

I'm finding the same thing as I sit at my computer. I sit halfway back on my office chair -- feet flat on the floor -- body in ww posture -- and I can sit here for hours with no back pain.

Amazing!! If it's doing that much good to my back, I'm certainly hoping that it is also helping internally.

The only time I am using the lumbar support is in situations where I HAVE to sit back on my chair -- eg. driving the car or sitting in a meeting/seminar.

w2k

Yes indeed want2know, this is about the spine and hips just as much as it is about prolapse. Lots of heavy yard work today. I realized that it's quite possible, during heavy physical work, to stay in posture a lot of the time, if you try to. Other times, well, ya just can't! So right now, although the 'celes feel pretty OK, my back is quite sore for the first time in ages (probably since my last heavy yard work). So I'm going for a nice posture walk of one mile minimum, maybe two since it's nice out! One of the best parts of this work is knowing that you can redeem yourself after a bad day. - Surviving

Thank you, Surviving. I find that I'm getting more strength in my back & legs.

I used the 'posture' as much as possible in my gardening this week too, and I have had little or no back pain or strain.

Of course, I'm taking time for rest as well.

Only did a mile on my walk, but my back feels normal now!

One thing I find is that the longer I live in this posture, the more I can provide my own lumbar support if I need to. If I'm driving and don't have anything to put behind my back, I have restored enough curvature that I can still sit more or less the same way I'd sit if something was there, even if nothing is. Is it better to actually have something there for support? Absolutely. But the more you restore lumbar curvature, the more your support comes from the spine itself - at least that sure how it feels to me. - Surviving

That's what I'm finding too, Surviving. Most of my problem is in remembering to hold myself in ww posture. As soon as I do, I feel the difference.

For driving my car, I'm going to have to put a 'wedge' cushion under me. Once I do, I may not need to depend on the lumbar support as much.

I think also that changing to clothing more suitable for the ww posture will remind me to stand/sit properly

w2k

Thanks for the info. I wondered too about your misplaced anus. Is it like someone has suffered a stroke and the muscle around their mouth has collapsed on one side?
With the constipation you probably read where I have suggested you make sure you have every day Vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, protein, fat and calcium. Being young and healthy and already on a good diet for five years you probably have all that covered. Just trying to be thorough here.
The other things we suggest is a probiotic, a multi strand one downed with water before breakfast, no pretend sugar in a bottle and supplement with magnesium to help form a decent stool i.e. easily passed.
Hopefully, your now reminding yourself to urinate regularly will start to bring back the normal sensations. Have you been sent to a physiotherapist?
Sounds like Wantmylifeback hit a nail with the suggestion with variation of hormone's with periods.
I am not familiar enough with birth control pills, I seemed to find the old ones exaggerated my menstrual symptoms. Don't worry about being long winded or blowing your own trumpet. We realise how absolutely frustrating this condition must be, if you had been lax you could then have fooled yourself perhaps you deserved it, but having tried to do the right thing you are only left with raging against a cruel fate, but it's good to see you are working on the problem and although your post appears to be a matter of eliminating possibilities it's all part of the working things through. Hopefully you will come out on top soon.