Dealing with prolapse...

Hi JBug! I found your post so uplifting. So many women are ruled by panic and fear as they make the discovery of prolapse, but you have definitely kept your wits about you and found the right people and places to give you the right kind of support. You are going to be great at this. Is the posture coming easily? For most of us it is a huge change in the beginning. If you find this is so, just keep nudging yourself back into posture, and it will eventually be your new normal.

I too am focussing on sugar. I'm doing better, but not great. Posture was easy by comparison, ha! Welcome to WW and keep posting your progress! - Surviving

Hi JBug,
So glad you found the WW site. It's a goddess-send! Most of the women here have also experienced/ing pelvic organ prolapse too, so there's a graet deal of understanding, knowledge and support on this website and forum.

I also found the book very helpful for educating me about the female form, pelvic organ support and general good health. It all makes good sense. The WW approach takes time, practice and patience. It's a life-style rather than a limited time treatment. However it's all about good health, so many of us find we actually find ourselves happier and healthier than we were before, at some point in time.

The WW posture is key to this approach, so do try to make this your default posture. The exercises help to gradually develop the strength, flexibility and good health which helps the body, mind and emotions towards optimum health and happiness. You may find one/more of the dvd's helpful - or if you're lucky enough to live near a teacher/Christine, a 1:1 session might be very helpful.

In my opinion it's definitely worth trying this approach. There's no turning back with surgery, whereas this safe, natural and empowering approach leaves your options open.

Good luck and bonne voyage on the WW journey!
wholewomanuk

I don't know if my input will help you or not, but I've been able to subdue the sugar-cravings quite a bit. In the morning, I have a home-made 'Smoothie' made up of kefir, hemp seeds and about a cup-full of fresh fruits. I add about 1/2 cup of pineapple juice and about a teaspoon of cinnamon.

Late afternoon or supper-time, I have fresh carrot & beet juice.

If chocolate-cravings 'get the better of me', I have dark chocolate on hand (75% cocoa). Usually about 3 or 4 squares of this chocolate satisfies my cravings

:-)
w2k

P.S. This regime (along with regular small meals) has caused me to have regular bowel movements and has caused me to lose 15 lbs in the last 3 months

Hi JBug,
Glad you're finding the WW resources & support helpful.
Re diagnosis; yes I think many women find it helpful to know what kind of pop are primary for them. A combination of cystocele and rectocele is apparently the most common typ of pop that women are diagnosed with. Christine calls this 'natures pessary'! This is because women are unlikely experience a uterine prolapse due to the restriction in the vaginal passage as a result of the anterior and posterior bulges in the vaginal passage.
xwholewomanuk

Hi JBug,
Glad you're finding the WW resources & support helpful.
Re diagnosis; yes I think many women find it helpful to know what kind of pop are primary for them. A combination of cystocele and rectocele is apparently the most common typ of pop that women are diagnosed with. Christine calls this 'natures pessary'! This is because women are unlikely experience a uterine prolapse due to the restriction in the vaginal passage as a result of the anterior and posterior bulges in the vaginal passage.
xwholewomanuk

Jbug, with diligent posture work, over time as you coax those organs forward it will take that pressure off and most likely relieve the pain. It doesn't happen overnight because you need to restore some lumbar curvature to give the organs room to move forward (and this is why the belly must stay relaxed). It really is a very fundamental change and it takes time. - Surviving

I'm faithful to the posture, breathing, exercises. Realize that poofing out my belly takes a lot of retraining and i'm willing to put in the time. Discovered that a "full bowel" helps hold it in place so between dinner and the morning evacuation, I'm fine. And then it's a day of continually pushing my uterus back up!
I need to get something that works before I travel to England in Dec. to spend Christmas with my daughter & family. On a city visit to the Art Institute last week, I took along a tampon which I'd tried at home. The only way I can insert anything is laying on my back. attempting this "insertion" in a public toilet was not successful. I have created a plunger with a plastic tampon covered in disposal glove finger, covered in coconut oil to aid pushing uterus in place. I thought if I could get it "in place", the WW position and breathing would keep it there. It doesn't. I push up; it pushes down. I'm guessing that retraining the muscles takes longer than the 2 months I've been at it. What do I do on an airplane? Sightseeing in London? I'm terrified!

I wish that fab would come on to respond to this post. She has significant uterine prolapse and has been doing this work diligently for several years, in addition to having hip surgery! She has some of the best posts and tips/tricks for getting that uterus to stay inside. And you are correct, a couple of months of posture work is the tip of the iceberg of what is needed to get control of this. But it is a good start. Try searching for some of her posts.

There are also several members here who have had good luck with support garments, especially in the early days of this work, when their confidence level while moving around was so very low. As long as something like this does not compress the belly in any way, it can be a help when you are "out and about".

As far as the airplane is concerned....when you sit with a good spinal curvature, does the uterus behave? Will it be sufficient to keep some good strong pillow or similar item in the small of your back, can this keep the uterus far enough forward and over the pubic bones?

Fab, if you're out there.......Surviving

Dearest surviving, you know your target wll; flattery will get you everywhere. I’ve been meaning to let you know I’ve been thinking of you, so must have heard your message psychically. I’ve been through one of those runs where you go on an annual/ necessary family visit holiday which has it problems to return home to minor but distracting further problems like flu and hospitalised husband and family disunities and now just two days ago leaking hot water system destroying carpets and books, and an operation coming up for my husband; just the general run of misadventures of family life, so I have deserted you, alone to meet your fate, and I am truly sorry for the subsequent heavy load that you have been carrying when all you really want to do is take time out to read Christine’s hips book and slip in a little ball-room dancing, but I see that you have many kind ladies answering here alongside you. You are a natural attraction to the kind and the sincere. You will never truly be alone. – love Fab.

Dear Nan, I’ve been out of things for a bit so have looked up your previous posts. First thing I noticed was you talking about the breathing. Ch’i-kung, or as you spell it Qigong has four methods of breathing: normal breathing or diaphragm breathing which Christine recommends: stomach goes out on the in-breath and comes in on the out, reverse breathing which as you say is the opposite and pre-natal breathing (and its opposite; post natal)and lastly, tortoise breath which are described as wave breathing. These latter three are forms of advanced breathing for more advanced practitioners. Their purpose is to develop Chi and longevity and that’s a discussion that we could go into in further depth at another time, but for purposes of prolapse, Christine’s fire breathing which is using the diaphragm to push air out is directly appropriate. I find it is good especially in the mornings, I like to do it under the shower when I am most relaxed. Yoga’s different ways of breathing through the nose again we don’t need to worry about as we are all about prolapse and you would know much more about this anyway. The jiggling is effective and so are downward dog, cat and cow and bridge, I find these target the uterus specifically. (My yoga terms are not technical; I hope you recognise the ones I mean.) I think the three other significant things I did was to ensure daily regularity, lose weight so that my tummy is not a weight, and pee standing up. This later requires you to have strong leg muscles which I did not, but it seems you with all your physical activity more than likely have. I experimented various ways of doing this and found that backing onto or rather over the toilet bowl was the easiest. There are things called P-MATE and similar which are cup like items with spouts which enable you to pee standing facing the bowl. Whether it would be more workable to use the plane toilet with the aid of one of these would possibly be worth considering. I found I could reuse the cardboard ones by keeping them in a plastic bag as they are not particularly porous. Sightseeing in London you need to arrange to go to places which have toilets. Don’t equivocate about this. If you have a full bladder, your uterus will drop and although you won’t be incontinent, with delay it can become quite painful. So every two hours you need a pee stop. Sounds like a nice trip between London pubs to me, up and down the Thames.

Hijacking your thread a bit, but I agree with your chiro (although can't say I always do) about the sugar. The trick to the sugar diet is to increase your saturated fat. Yes, I know sacrilege. I have a mid morning cup of coffee with whipped cream (just whipped, no sugar added, and me from a sugar state - now that's sacrilege). Whip up about 500mls and it will last a week if you get it fresh enough. Those food manufacturers after all know their business, their products have to have sugar, fat or salt and preferably all three if possible. So if you cut the sugar, have a little fat and you won't crave for the sugar so much. Just think for a moment what is the chocolate craving about? Sugar, cocoa (caffeine), salt and FAT. Better to have the coffee and cream. You can then control how much you have.

Wow, talk about a psychic connection from the opposite side of the globe.....!!! I am so glad to see you and I guess my fears were well founded, that life might be throwing you a few curves. Sending love your way, dear friend, hope things quiet down soon for you. - Surviving

Hope all the wrinkles are easily smoothed out and life gets on its merry way again xx

Thank you all for your help and encouragement. What are support garments?
I'll see if i can find Fab's former texts on keeping uterus in. Yes, in seated position, I'm fine and will use Body Rolling techniques (see Yamuna Zeke's www.bodyrolling.com) to ease the lumbar spine. The airplane bathroom will be a challenge. the London part of my stay is just overnight with some sightseeing & an evening concert. since I'm traveling with grandsons age 7 & 9 bathrooms should be accessible. The family lives outside of Manchester.
Getting used to a pouched out lower abdomen and rounded back takes lots of concentration. I'm doing the fire breath for 5 min am & pm but as soon as I stand up the uterus is sinking. The yoga DVDs are wonderful. For my trip I'm making an audio version.
Not sure about the fat/sugar reference but thought I'd jump in with suggestion. I've been on South Beach for years and on my last trip to the UK read about the benefits of coconut oil. that was two years ago and I've had "miracle cures" with the product.
Am routine: drink glass of water, shower, 1/2 hour yoga/meditation, drink glass of warm water (1 min in microwave) with tblsp of coconut oil, lemon slice and sometimes flax honey--few drops. Never a problem with regularity. Before all this pelvic floor drama, regularity usually followed most meals. I put the oil on my face and breath it into my nostrils (prevents dry nosebleeds) in the morning; put it on hands & feet with gloves & socks for bed. I cook with it and for any intestinal disturbance I use probiotics and coconut oil. For more on this get "Coconut Cures" from Amazon. I had a growth on my eyelid called a chelazion which I had excised by the Opthamologist.
When it returned, I got rid of it with coconut oil. Gave my massage therapist a jar to use on me & other clients. Used to buy it at Whole Foods or vitamin store for $12; now available at Trader Joes for $5.99. The book explaines the nutritional details but it's an anti-bacterial which helps with healing.
thanks you ladies....the journey goes on.

Very interested to hear more about treating the chelazion with coconut oil. I have one that seems to come and go. It was at its most aggravated after the eye doc turned the lid inside out to look at it, then subsided again considerably, and has never been excised....so there would seem to be no way "into" it. Did you apply the coconut oil to the spot where it was excised? And which side of the lid was that?

You can search the forum or else just the web in general for V-2 supporters. I have never seen nor used one but we have some members who have. - Surviving

Just wanted to check up on what you said " Getting used to a pouched out lower abdomen and rounded back takes lots of concentration". I have never heard Christine's WWposture described this way. The back is definitely not rounded. It is straight. The lumbar is curved, but from the lower ribs upwards the back is straight. The lower abdomen is not pouched out, again it is straight and slants from the pelvic bone at 95 degrees to your breast plate. Think standing straight and the lift is from the chest. I don't know anything about body rolling, so can't really comment on that. I know you have said you are a yoga teacher and know qigong and so on, but I would have thought that mixing disciplines may prove counter productive. There are certain body movements which are not remedial to prolapse and some others can be harmful. We need to be careful and thoughtful on how we move our body. Christine's approach is all we can really recommend here. Mixing disciplines would require some thinking.

Thanks again Surviving & Fab: I applied the coconut oil to the outside of my eyelid morning and night. The book, Coconut cures, suggested if using the oil for skin problems to keep them lubricated to speed healing. I've a friend with eczema who tried the oil without success. Guess it just depends.
Fab: I meant lower back curved, not rounded. Just watched Kristine's first DVD--can't remember the title--as I thought I might be missing something (had read the book and use daily the 3 yoga DVDs). I think I was pushing too much on the sacrum instead of letting it curve naturally. Soft belly also takes conscious thought at least for now, but I hope that like diaphramatic breathing, it'll become my new normal.
Yesterday I returned to the Gyn...actually the PA, does anyone see a doctor anymore?!...to see if I could get a removable pessary. It was mainly as backup for days when I'm out & about and for my UK trip. Well, I can't. Only the rather permanent ones, fitted by a uro-gynocologist might work for me. But the PA, Michelle, was very interested in Whole Woman. I suggested she check out the web site. So I continue with the journey in hope that soon my uterus will be back where it belongs. In reading fab's past comments, either she or someone said "don't be afraid of the bulge." That was my "ah-ha" moment. Unconsciously my pelvis area was like stone from pulling everything in in fear of it falling out. Now I don't worry about it falling out anymore; when the discomfort starts, I just push it up. Don't know what I'd do without this forum and Christine's amazing work.

I think we are the ones grateful that you are sharing your journey with us. The more we share from our own different perspectives, the broader picture about prolapse we can create in our community and it's a passing on of the baton of women knowledge which should stand our daughters and granddaughters in good stead. Such a natural worry to have that the uterus will just fall out and we can see some pretty graphic photos on the internet of the prolapsed uterus that have appeared to hang like the clapper of a bell and has done damage to itself and the inner thigh. Actually when you think about that physiologically it would appear very unusual to produce. The ligaments of the uterus although stretched in most cases are sound and strong to hold the uterus up even though at a lower level. The trick of course is to bring her back up as much as possible and not to push things when what you really need more than anything else is to give her and you a break and take the proverbial Bex and a good lie down.

Thanks for your kind and optimistic message.

Again, fab, you've said something I needed to hear. After my diagnosis 2 months ago, I was incredulous and horrified. Until last week I've told no one about this. Best friend Carmen was experiencing abdominal issues and I decided to tell her to see how it would go. She told me to definitely tell my two daughters; so I've been writing out a proposed e-mail to them: your "passing on the baton of women knowledge" makes me realize I must tell them and gives me the proper approach.
In their defense, my darlings are loving girls but seem to tune out when I attempt a "health" discussion. Perhaps because in 70 years the only meds I ever needed were occasional migrane ones. I had a heart issue in spring which turned out to be nothing. But my older daughter didn't want to hear about it. ( After a heart monitor and echo test, a friend said try CoQ10 and that solved the problem.) What's "funny" is that I haven't had a migraine since the prolapse. They say we're only sent what we can handle; someone decided it was time to swap the headaches for the dropping organs. Wish they'd asked me!

yoga nan, we only had boys so thought the not wanting to know about heart attacks and things was a man thing, but when it came down to it they rallied round and were as thoughtful well as boys can be with their parents. I never wanted to really know about uterine prolapse when my mum talked about it. I guess it's a bit like having your mother talk about sex, I don't know it had that yuck element to it. And she had had her uterus stitched, an old operation, but she had forgotten that I was the one as an 11 year old visiting her in the hospital. When she advised me if ever it should happen I was to do the same, I was not at all interested in going through that pain and distress that I had witnessed. But I was grateful later that she had told me about it and that her mother and possibly her mother had had the same. I knew my grandmother had not had the operation and somehow managed. So although I had not asked for much detail, the bare outline was there before me of the different possible approaches and its normalness. That's not to say I did not experience the similar worries to you, but when I pulled myself together in rare moments of clarity there were a few choices, a few game plans to follow and that struck down the terror. Yes, I have heard good reports (unofficial) on CoQ10, my husband far prefers it to aspirin or statins. Next time it might be possible to swop the the dropping organs for a teenage pimple in a discreet position even or will that require another 70 years? something to work on, meanwhile that UK trip is looming what serious fun that is going to be. I hope you keep us posted on that as well as your progress.

crafted a simple e-mail with basics and my reluctance to mention it in person. The local daughter immediately responded with offer to find me the best possible medical care for a hysterectomy. Then she left a message this am about her concern and was there anything she could do. She joked about thinking her uterous was falling out on the treadmill this morning. She has Grave's--hyperactive thyroid-- and knows about dealing with chronic problems.
Daughter in UK called yesterday and we had a lovely chat. Her take was that our 2 weeks would be very low key with not a lot of walking and since they're all looking forward to my visit, she's glad I'm planning to go. She shared tales of her friends with serious health problems and I acknowledged that this doesn't seem to be life threatening. I'll manage.
Then spent the entire weekend trying to keep the uterous in. Nothing has worked in the pessary field--even tried the baby bottle nipples, both sizes turned over and were pushed out. I keep thinking if it would stay up, I could strengthen the ab. wall with fire breathing and the exercises. I push it up ( using my homemade plunger) and as soon as I relax belly for inhale, down it comes.
After reading about the compression garment, I created same from waist band elastic (I sew a lot and have supplies) and that had the security factor even if the discomfort was still there.
There is no way the posture/exercises pull my uterus back up, in fact when it's down, the inhale makes it worse. Is this just a long process of retraining muscle? I try not to be discouraged because I really believe in the WW effort.

Yeah.....if only it were that easy, women would have stopped saying yes to surgeries years ago. Not only does this take time and work, but it takes an understanding of what the limitations are, what maintenance means, and what the alternative are (basically there are none). So we work hard and adjust our expectations as we go along. In the case of a significant uterine prolapse, the primary goal is to keep the cervix inside. Others are better able to address this ..... Fab, Aging Gracefully, WWUK, Christine, and more.

I do think that if inhaling into the belly feels like it's making things worse, you might want to consider getting checked by a practitioner. That doesn't sound right to me. - Surviving

Hi yoga nan,
Surviving is right, this is a process of patience and readjustment. I have the more profound uterine prolapse, and when I read that it could take years to get it up over the pubic bone, I was daunted.
But, I won't have surgery, and instead delved into whole woman practices. I was doing really well for months, keeping my cervix well inside of me most of the time. Now my hormones are changing more with perimenopause, causing a lot of changes in my vaginal walls and uterus. Once again time to regroup and think about what I wasn't doing enough of and what more I could do. I was only firebreathing enough to get my cervix to stay inside, and then I read a post from Free2be that she is firebreathing 5 minutes twice a day! I was also getting a little lax in my sitting, have been getting rid of offending furniture, and sitting on the floor more on a yoga mat.
Thank goodness my bowels are in really good shape, because that can be hell on prolapse. It was for me in the beginning when my uterus was resting on my rectum.
Don't give up, just keep reinventing yourself. I have been doing this a year, and I am no way giving this up, because I feel the positive changes far out way the set backs.
Wish you the best!

Just a little encouragement in a short sentence "Persistence & determination are omnipotent (all powerful) I had to look up the meaning when first told to me, now I love to use it because it fits so well into WW work. Remember that song "We are Women". Putting your mind to Whole Women principles day after day after day IS all powerful and posture IS the key that opens the door. ONCE YOU HAVE THE POSTURE IT's a piece of cake. Peace and love to all.

Love your attitude Aging gracefully. This can be an exciting journey or nothing at all, and you are definitely headed on the right path. Thank you for all your encouraging posts. Know that you are appreciated by many.

If only I had access to this information years ago I would never had my uterus removed. It is so good that women are talking to others now and bringing this very real problem out of the closet. Keep up the good work of helping others.

Thank you, Free2be. Love your post, as always so uplifting!

I wanted to add that I know uterine prolapse can be so frustrating. I know that feeling of getting it up there and having it slump right back down, but I didn't let it stop me. I went on a regiment of holding the posture, doing the exercises, holding the posture, jiggling and firebreathing, holding the posture, walking in whole woman posture, getting the bowels running smoothly and absolutely no straining on the toilet and hovering over in whole woman instead of sitting, and holding the posture, and having sex: yes, penises are great for getting uteruses way up in there, and holding the posture. Over and over, until it feels like the ligaments are actually starting to pull the uterus up a bit, and then a bit more. I tell you, there is nothing more satisfying than that!!

AG, what a beautiful post that perfectly captures the essence of WW work.

I often get impatient with my fellow 'cele sufferers, who waste time bemoaning their bulges when they could be helping themselves from Day One if they would just get up and go home from the pity party. Those of you with significant uterine prolapse who have grabbed this challenge by the horns and refused to let go, are my absolute heroes here. - Surviving

And anyone else interested. AgG- I am pretty much with you on your protocol for daily maintenance ; will have to place a "Personal" ad for the 'sex'-- how does this sound , "Penis wanted for medicinal purposes only". I do consider the 5 min/ 2X/ day minimum Firebreathing once in the a.m. and once in the early afternoon absolutely necessary to keeping my celes and anything else floating around on their best behavior. I don't think we stress the importance of the new "normal" containing periods of rest for the celes. Even if it's only 10 min. several times a day celes just love to be pampered. To you newbies reading this, if you keep a log for one day with how you spend 24 hours (that's 1440 min) you will be surprised how much time could be put to better use.
AZ-- your descriptions of holiday preparations and doing too much is so hard to break and I know we can all relate to trying to be all we were before our new journey presented itself. As I read your post and the step ladder situation, I thought of all the crystals I always hang across my sliding doors to my atrium at least 75 of them and what my celes will have to say about it. I'm thinking that I may have to revise my ad to (Handyman Needed).
S60--you know that old saying, "You can please some of the people some of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but never all of the people all of the time. I think this applies to WW Posture work and the rest that follows. I think your odds are higher than you may think. As long as you keep reinterating Posture, posture, posture it is going to have the domino effect, one by one it will start to spread. Why I even talked to my dentist about prolapse, his wife is pregnant, and needed to know a few things. See what I mean. We have to keep using our positive energy to spread the word to those that want to listen and you are such a positive force for good S60.
Wishing you ladies and all WW a blessed and joy-filled Thanksgiving ( use a Salad plate instead of a dinner plate- there is always the next day for leftovers to look forward to.

LOL!!! Penis' wanted. Do believe you would be one busy woman Free2be! You can send a few my way...for medicinal purposes of course ;-) Crystals strung across an atrium -- sounds beautiful. Loved your post! Happy Thanksgiving!

Lol! Free2be! Yes, that is true, penises are not always available, but I have to say out of all the techniques that is the best one for uterine prolapse. Since the hubby and I don't have a lot of sex, I told him I was going to replace him with a vibrator and a good lubricant. Hmm... Wonder if it would have the same affect.
I did make that regiment sound a little strict, reading it back. Of course, ladies please do rest your celes also. Love knees and elbows or even child's pose with knees spread out to the sides. And, just lying down on the couch can be such a relief.
As always, you make me smile, Free2be!!!
And, I agree, this forum would not be what it is without surviving's presence here!!

You ladies make my day, every day! Love you all and wish you the best of Thanksgivings. So many things to be grateful for. - Surviving

Getting back to yoga nan, all you naughty ladies, I think you do probably need to look at those muscles down there in your mind's eye. You have the groin muscles, the muscles in your labia, the sphincter muscles, lower stomach muscles and the upper stomach muscles and of course all your back muscles and they are all connected to muscles elsewhere. Just start in your mind's eye with one maybe where there is an ache like in the groin, or where it feels particularly flabby like your upper stomach or where you can't get much muscle traction at all by just trying to squeeze as possibly in your lower stomach. As you adopt your posture think where you are feeling a tightness, think where you are feeling an ache. In other words a long way round to getting aware of your muscles and seeing how they are stretching or seeming to not be doing much at all and you will get some idea of the stages and length of your journey.
And when people suggest you relax your stomach this is in reaction to holding it in. When I am holding posture everything is hanging from my shoulders, but there is a tightness of hold of muscle.

Specifically now on pushing up the uterus and it's just flopping down: In my experience when the uterus is at its lowest there is some pressure upon it from the bowel, the bladder or the intestines. That is why it is so important to make sure your diet and toileting improve to lessen these adventures. I find standing with full weight upon my legs to urinate has in itself strengthened the muscles of my pelvic floor (as used in the medical sense) and that frequently now I can sit to urinate and not have all those muscles totally relax although the uterus is still pushed down, it does not bulge as far. So mostly I continue to stand to urinate to allow the strengthening process to continue.
I also found it important to know that my uterus was capable of returning inside the vagina and staying there for a little time and that's where peddling a stationary bike and doing cat and cow and downward dog and bridge etc (but in motion at first not as stationary poses) then the strength to hold the pose increased over time. This reaffirmed that the uterus could stay in and it was a matter then of continuing so that it could stay in when sitting and then standing.
I won't push all of this too long but what I want to pass on is that I picked up on your wondering whether it was a matter of retraining muscle. Possibly because you have been athletic and so your muscles are strong but because you have been doing male oriented exercise they may need a retraining to a female orientation as Christine suggests with her female oriented yoga. I think if you thought about this with your background in exercise you would know far more about the possibilities of this than would I, but that was the approach I eventually took when I was so totally sick of hoisting dear old uti.

So glad you are back here, Fab. I love the way you describe all the details, adjustments,and tweaks about uterine prolapse.

Thank you again, Fab and others. Currently my uterus' new normal is about 1/2 inch outside vagina. I do the exercises daily and the breath work 5 minutes at least twice a day. For a while I'd push up the organ, then assume quarter dog (elbows to wrists on floor) for 20 counts of breathing. What's currently working, is the compression belt I made. Tried to construct one from old tights but the fabric wasn't as secure as the wide elastic. Made another one today. I've also fixed the car seat and changed out wardrobe for knit pants.

That being said, I thought I'd share some lovely self-healing I found in a book from the library called "Healing Pelvic Pain" by Amy Stein MPT (2009). She came to the same realization that Christine did about avoiding surgery but she's looking at total pelvic problems in men & women and recommends lots of Kegel work. However, she has a lovely chapter on self-massage, inside and out, along with other home spa ideas. I'm so lucky to be able to pace myself, take naps, focus on diet and exercise. I know I've found "the way" in WW and will keep at it until that ah-ha day when nothing is falling out. with your help.....

Because of early training by a physical education teacher who was having us girls fo Army type exercises and posture, I spent most of my life breathing with my chest instead of my abdomen. I first realized my prolapse at age 80, and my female MD just said "push it in" and that lots of her patients had the problem.

I was lucky in my search on the web to find Whole Woman and promptly ordered the book and DVD for the elderly. It too awhile to learn the posture and exercises as I wasn't strong, so the prolapse got worse for quite awhile although I didn't really realize it.

There are several things that are helping me a lot now. One is remembering to lift the chest at the rib cage, one is learning to sleep on my back because you breathe correctly when you are lying on your back, and one is using oil to lubricate the uterus. I was using olive oil, but have been reading about coconut oil and have bought some for other purposes and will try it for my prolapse problem.

Really, sleeping on my back so I cam breathing correctly for hours is a big help. I try to remember during the day, but doubt if I do it for more than a few minutes at a time. This past year I can slowly see an improvement in being able to manage more comfortably than at first. For awhile both urinating and defecating were quite painful. I think the most to hope for at my age is managing more easily and comfortably, but maybe the sleeping posture will help more than I know, as I have een working on that only a few months.

I am so glad to be able to read all your comments, and so grateful for this forum and this website.

Interesting, AL. I too have started trying to sleep on my back more. My natural tendency is to curl up sideways in a fetal position, but I've been having some shoulder problems the last few months and this position just felt like it was crunching my shoulders in an uncomfortable way. Although sleeping position isn't terribly important when it comes to the pelvic organs themselves, I never thought about the effect it could have on breathing. I know that it's helping my shoulders, not to wake up crunched over to one side. The breathing thing makes good sense to me. - Surviving