Many Questions??

So many things going through your mind. (1) I had prolapse before I broke my hip, it was severe already and the bone break meant I was not moving that leg (naturally) and so it was hard to return the prolapsed organs (mostly uterine in my case) to its right position. (2) I took senna for some months after my operation, I don't think it helps the prolapse mainly because its effectiveness was somewhat like a dose of IBS in that it fluctuated from constipation to diarrhea. (3) Yes, not being able to walk in proper posture (as described by WW) certainly does not help the prolapse at all. I found it such a relief once I was getting around in normal posture without being bent forward or propped on a stick. (4) It is more than likely that you had been prolapsing. I know when mine arrived at peri menopause, I had had it early after child birth but other than a few bouts of discomfort over the years for the most part I felt nothing of prolapse after that, and it appeared to suddenly arrive full blown one morning out of the blue. It defies logic that it in fact did so. For a doctor examining you it is easy to miss, because these pelvic organs of ours travel around a bit. But take heart that your GYN thought it mild. If you read around the site, there is lots of information and you might consider trying the WW method while you have a close look at and ponder over the implications of these treatments your doctors are suggesting for you.

do try not to have regrets over pushing yourself too much to get back up and return to walking. Look I was up in four days. There were patients in beds around me who refused to move, used wheel chairs for weeks. You just knew they were going to be in wheel chairs for life and the demoralisation of the PT staff was palpable. Sometimes, and in certain circumstances that old adage is true that you either use it or you lose it. Most certainly the coughs don't help prolapse. Be patient with that weakness in the thigh area, give yourself two years to get it back fully. And do avoid going into the no pain no gain nonsense. If it pains rest it and try again tomorrow. As for walking up hill, I am only talking of a hip operation, but I found it best to avoid uphill walking until the thigh became stronger. Even walking up stairs appeared to make my groin ache more than it should and this directly affected my prolapse which I interpreted as a sign that that particular aspect of rehabilitation can wait. Try the WWposture, then try walking in posture and take it slow, but be consistent.

Hi Bridge Over Troubled Water,
I guess the simple answer to your query; could all/any of those have contributed to your prolapse - is yes it/they could have. On reflection I expect many of us, especially as we become more knowledgeable about what promotes pelvic organ prolapsed (pop), has those 'aha' moments when they think "that may have contributed to my prolapse - and that may have contributed - and that…" For some people it's a mixture of various reasons over a lifetime, for others there's a definite trigger and for others it's a mixture of the two. In any event - for all of us here - this is where we're at now and what we do next makes a significant difference health wise.
The WW approach explains pelvic organ support and pelvic organ prolapse treatment. Armed with this information, women get to know what makes things worse and what makes things better. The pelvic organs inhabit a very fluid part of the body and to some extent can move around - and things can get better or worse, depending on what you do.
The 3 cornerstones of the WW approach are: WW posture, healthy diet and never ever stringing to go to the loo whilst leaning on the toilet seat.
For more info I thoroughly recommend the book as a start and if you're interested int he WW exercises, I found the dvd's a great support.
Best os luck, wholewomanukx

Another member just recently commented about these medications and how women really should do some research into what they are actually taking. Women certainly get offered some great solutions to their problems, huh?

Since gyns and urogyns are all surgeons, I wouldn't look there for non-surgical solutions. PTs for the most part adhere to the medical model and traditional but incorrect concept of the pelvic floor. - Surviving

Hi Bridgeovertroub,
I can't say if having 5 to 6 BMs in a day is normal or not. Are they smaller? And, how long has it been going on? Have you been changing your diet also? What I do know is that I did have constipation before I started the whole woman work, and once I got the bulk of my uterus off my rectum, I ended up having the easiest time having a BM. Makes me wonder if your bowels aren't just reacting from being finally aligned in proper position along with the posture. I know it certainly did for me.
I have the more profound uterine prolapse, and it presented itself very clearly to me at the opening of my vagina. If you are unsure, give it a feel. If it is smooth and has an opening on the end, then it is your cervix. If it is a wrinkly soft spongey bulge coming from the front, it is more likely your bladder.
Hope that helps some. Maybe someone will come on that knows more about bowel movements. I would be interested too.

I definitely have a rectocele and I don't have any problem having BMs, so I would scratch that theory. I also have more (and smaller - 5 or 6 would not be unusual for me) BM's throughout my day than I used to, but I chalk that up to age, not necessarily prolapse or the posture. Can't say for sure but I am fairly certain this changed before I began posture work. If you are having bowel changes, look to your diet or to other aspects of your life that might be changing without you even realizing it....stress, exercise, etc. Menopause brought many subtle changes for me, and I consider myself lucky that they were mostly minor.

As AG says, it is not too hard to tell the difference between 'celes (which are spongy and squishy) and a protruding cervix (which is tough and muscular and has that indentation in the middle). Use the Self Exam in the book or over on the Library page (go to Resources, then Library, then use the search box for Self Exam). As to your 'cele(s), if it seems to be on the front wall, it's your bladder, and on the back wall is your rectum. I personally have not had a formal diagnosis.

As to your foot surgery - Christine might be interested in commenting on that. Everything in the body is so connected to everything else. She stresses this so much in her work, giving special attention to feet and arches. Let's keep the subject going for awhile. - Surviving

Hi Bridge,

I don’t have anything to add to the wonderful responses you’ve received already. I would love to know the indication for your foot/ankle operation, though.

The feet and ankles are foundational to our entire moving self. The WW work encourages lots of arch and toe exercise. A healthy foot arch is the basis of hip health, and is intimately connected to the position of the pelvic organs. The lumbar curve and foot arches develop together, and they degenerate together as well. As Lindy suggested, we are whole-body systems and everything is supportive of everything else. But the lumbar spine-hip-foot arch connection is exceedingly important. Lying on your back for weeks on end would certainly aggravate a developing prolapse condition, as intraabdominal pressure literally pushes the organs backward toward the vaginal opening. Getting around after surgery probably didn’t help either, but my guess is (as others have said in this thread), you’ve probably been courting prolapse all your adult life. We all have, unless through some miracle you had been holding your body naturally.

Christine

P.S. Every year I do this work I become more disgusted and outspoken about the medical system. Gynecologists and urologists (and for Pete’s sake, urogynecologists) have absolutely nothing of healthy value to offer women. All the sonograms, pap smears, mammograms, colonoscopies, urodynamics tests, etc. etc. etc. keep a mammoth medical-pharmaceutical-industrial machine going that has nothing to do with bringing women back to health. It is a goliath that must be continuously fed in order that giant multinational corporations meet their profit margins. And what feeds the monster? Women’s bodies - bit by bit by bit.

Hi, From my interaction with alternative medicines and practitioners, numerous ones are great I have always heard. One practitioner said that cats and dogs do just that. He felt that it was healthier.

Bridge - very similar history here. Horrendous period cramps/codeine in my youth. Was on birth control pills from age 20 to 35. I had big babies and felt bulgy afterwards, but thought little of it, went back to lots of kegeling (sorry to say). Last period at 53, a relatively uneventful menopause, and then WHAM, prolapse at 60. I think this is a very common timeline. I don't have the bone or collagen issues that you have, so you probably can't assume that there is a connection, though in your case, there may be. Prolapse has lots of triggers; most of us have been working on them for decades despite the appearance that they came out of nowhere - Surviving

I don't believe that anything good can come from holding in your urine. And I suppose this is the same doc suggesting medications for overactive bladder....it doesn't take much googling to learn why those are best avoided. All this doctoring isn't getting you anywhere that I can see. Read Christine's P.S. above. We do seem to spend a lot of time on this forum, trying to get women safely away from all that useless and downright harmful meddling. I know that many women simply can't shake off what they have become so accustomed to. - Surviving

Contracting a muscle sounds like a kegel to me, is that what you're talking about? Remember that we are trying to move the organs forward into the belly, which the combination of jiggling and firebreathing is very effective at doing. A kegel tends to pull the organs into the vagina, not away from it. If you feel that one kegel being performed while you are in good posture is providing some benefit, I suppose it can't hurt if you aren't overdoing. My opinion might be biased because I totally avoid anything that even resembles kegeling. I did too much of it for too many years! - Surviving