How do I sit???

Submitted by mango46 on June 8, 2015 - 3:50pm
Body: 

I am a new member on the forum and it's taken a few weeks to get up the courage to write here and ask my questions. It's been so great to read all the posts and see that I am not alone with this difficult condition.

I am 46 and was first diagnosed with a mild prolapse of the bladder and uterus about 4 years ago, when I noticed a bulging feeling inside and a dragging pain. I saw three Doctors, one examined me and said there was nothing at all wrong. The other two listened to me, didn't examine me, but told me that I would need a hysterectomy. I finally paid to see a private Doctor (I am in the UK) who examined me, told me it was a mild prolapse and sent me to physiotherapy, which didn't help. Luckily, I found the Whole Woman website, ordered the exercise DVD and my prolapse seemed to stabilize and hasn't really bothered me over the last few years. Once it stabilized I forgot about it a bit and probably didn't pay enough attention to my posture.

I started a new, full-time office job about 3.5 months ago, (previous to that I only worked mornings and this is my first full-time job since my daughter was born twelve years ago). I have a comfortable, upright office chair which supports my back. However, about a month ago while sitting at work, I suddenly felt my prolapse symptoms were much worse and every time I stood up from my chair at work, I felt as though I was going to wet myself. I had a much worse bulging feeling and abdominal pain. I started doing the Whole Woman workout every day and try to pull up into Whole Woman posture whenever I am walking, standing or sitting. I feel a little better when I am at home or moving about but not at work.

Sitting at work is really a problem. I try to pull up into whole woman posture on my chair all day, but by lunchtime I have a dragging feeling in my abdomen, pain underneath, bulging and the feeling that I am going to wet myself. I am worried that I am not going to be able to carry on working, but I can't afford not to and with this condition I can't change jobs and do a physical role. I am concerned that sitting could have caused the prolapse to get worse (I think it is now grade 2). But I also wonder if it was a bout of constipation that made it get worse, together with some back exercises that I did about six weeks ago. .

My mum has suggested an ergonomic stool for back pain, which are supposed to be good for posture, but I am not sure whether that will take me out of Whole Woman posture and make things worse?

Will sitting at work cause my prolapse to get worse? I don't know what to think? It took a long time for me to find this job and I don't want to lose it. Can anyone make any suggestions please? I am feeling very upset about having this condition in the first place and the pain and uncomfortable symptoms that I get at work are making me dread going into work each morning, wondering whether I am damaging myself.

Any advice or support would be gratefully received.

Thank you!

Forum:

Surviving60

June 8, 2015 - 5:15pm

Hi Mango. If you are recently getting back into posture, after an extended period of what I will call complacency (I've been there and I know exactly what you are talking about), then it is probably not just the sitting that is a problem as such. I have a desk job, and a fairly decent chair (not the best but not the worst). You haven't mentioned too much about what the rest of your WW routine looks like. Are you successful at maintaining the posture pretty much throughout your day? Do you take care with bending/lifting/carrying? Good toilet habits, constipation under control, healthy whole-foods diet? Firebreathing regularly? As long as you are able to get up and move around, and your chair is not a total disaster, you just might need to tweak your routine a bit. If you can maintain lumbar curvature while sitting, then the sitting alone is probably not the culprit; especially since you are finding your chair to be supportive. Lots of chair discussions on the forum....use the search box and you might find some ideas for how to make yours better. - Surviving

Kittu's Collie

June 9, 2015 - 12:15am

I am a total newbie on this forum, however I have something to share.I sit for extended hours working on the computer. I read Christine on sitting posture and she actually suggests that sitting in the WW posture helps your prolapse disappear for a bit. This indeed has been my actual experience. My prolapse feels worse only if I stand too long even if I am consistent with the WW Posture. I sit without a back rest at the edge of a chair .
I tried jiggling and it does help my prolapse disappear for a bit. I was worried about the vaginal air but I read on one of these threads that it is a natural outcome of moving your pelvic organs where they belong.
I am in a better space this last fortnight with respect to managing my prolapse then I have been since discovering it in March 2014.

Kittu's Collie

June 9, 2015 - 12:22am

I would like some suggestions on sitting in the passenger seat of a car when on long road trips. One is looming up shortly. While I haven't yet suffered from incontinence,I need to empty my bladder every two hours or so. I can stop for that en route so that may not be a problem. Can't really hold the WW posture at the edge of the seat in a car. Sitting slumped against the back seat seems to make the bulge bigger. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Blue-banded Bee

June 9, 2015 - 2:26am

What about a stiff foam wedge to make your seat flatter and parallel to the floor? And small cushions behind your back to keep you upright and your lumbar curve maintained. I'm reminded of long driving holidays as a child when we always stopped every two hours so my father could get out and stretch. I think that would be a good idea for all of us - for pelvic organ 'maintenance', for our hips, for our alertness...

Surviving60

June 9, 2015 - 4:28am

I agree with Blue-banded Bee.....even for shorter car rides it's always a good idea to stuff something behind the small of your back. I just use an old sweatshirt. It helps maintain that lumbar curvature. Car seats are the worst, just do your best and take those breaks when you can. With some car seats you can make adjustments to the angle. - Surviving

Kittu's Collie

June 9, 2015 - 4:43am

I remember to wedge a small cushion in the small of my back before I drive Surviving, taking a cue from something you mentioned earlier. Blue -banded B, I will try a hard pillow and some cushions wedged against my back for maintaining curvature. Thank you both for the suggestions.

Celeae

June 9, 2015 - 7:45am

Mckenzie do a range of products for supporting the lumbar spine in sitting - their inflatable lumbar roll is convenient for travel as you can deflate it for carrying and re-inflate for use.

Kittu's Collie

June 14, 2015 - 4:12am

I did a rather long road trip . Happy to say that i am none the worse for it. I just used two cushions ,rolling the smaller of the two and fitting it into the arch in my back, Was absolutely comfortable and unsymptomatic on reaching destination.Thank you everybody.

mango46

June 27, 2015 - 2:51am

Thank you all for your comments. I have been experimenting with cushions at work, but am not having a lot of success and feel that often, when trying to sit in whole woman posture, I end up with bad back ache. What I have noticed is that I don't seem to have much of a lumbar curve. I have looked in the mirror and seen that when relaxing my belly and pulling up my chest, I don't look like the women in the Christine Kent exercise video. My back really doesn't curve very much. I have spent a lifetime exercising and pulling my stomach in, so maybe this has something to do with it. Has anybody else had experience of this and maybe seen an improvement in their lumbar curve over time? I feel this is really limiting my body from getting my organs back into the correct position. Any advice gratefully received as I really want to deal with this situation in a holistic way, although those around me are pushing me towards surgery. I want to feel that I can cope with this the WW way.

Surviving60

June 27, 2015 - 5:29am

It takes time and effort to restore lumbar curvature, and for some of us, we will FEEL more difference than we will SEE. I started this work 5 years ago at age 60 after a lifetime of horrendous posture. I feel like I have a nice lumbar curvature, but when I look at myself in the mirror, it definitely does not look as pronounced as it feels to me. I've seen improvement over time, but I think at my age there simply are limits to how much I can get back. But I feel it, I visualize this curvature and those organs held forward, I can truly feel my torso being seated correctly over my hip joints, and it feels great. Have faith and patience, and don't compare your body to Christine and Co. in the video. They are the ideals! You can have just as great results. - Surviving

Aging gracefully

June 27, 2015 - 7:28am

I started this work at 50, which is still a little older, but I think I still have a bit more advantage. It was over a year when I first started noticing the lumbar curvature developing on its own, and my hubby noticed too, saying it looked sexy. Men!
When I first started this work, I was always trying to force the curve to happen, but that caused pain, so I just buckled down, worked on the basics of posture, did my exercises from the DVDs, whole woman walking, and the curve started to slowly come on its own.

mango46

July 1, 2015 - 1:15am

thank you! I will just keep at it. I noticed that I am getting more flexible when I do the WW exercise DVD, which is giving me more confidence. I am very conscious at work, when sitting, to try to pull up into the posture and I touch my back to see if it is curved. Even when I think I am doing ok, I still get aching in my abdomen, like a period pain, which I think is bad and shows that my organs are out of place.

Surviving60

July 1, 2015 - 4:03am

You need not force the lumbar curvature, it forms on its own from the relaxed belly and lifited chest. Is it possible you are concentrating too much on the checking for that curvature, instead of on keeping the belly relaxed, and that there is still belly tension that is causing this achiness? - Surviving

Kittu's Collie

July 1, 2015 - 6:22am

I had a relatively good day yesterday. For the first time my prolapse stayed in for several minutes during the course of the day. i had found this happening earlier when I pulled up my upper body while sitting. It normally descends after I move around a bit . Yesterday it went in and stayed in for a good bit of time. This happened recurrently all through the day. I can't visualize what I did different. It has not been the same today. I really am confused.

Kittu's Collie

July 1, 2015 - 7:46am

Earlier I always felt less symptomatic on waking up and my discomfort advanced as the day progressed. Now I feel symptom free on getting up after sitting in the whole woman posture. I am jiggling on all fours like Aging Gracefully suggested and alternating it with sticking my butt in the air again on all four. This seems to help. I probably was less focused yesterday then today. An exercise which really seems to help me (Christine's First Aid For Prolapse CD) is the one where you stretch forward on all fours, place your head on the floor and then using the strength of your arm lift your body ,stretching backwards. That seems to really move everything forward into the lower belly. I am being careful not to over do it this time over.

Aging gracefully

July 1, 2015 - 8:03am

It's a process, for sure. Finding what works for you is always good. I don't jiggle on all fours by the way, what I suggested was trying the firebreathing on all fours and then work up to the standing version. I suppose you could jiggle any way that gets the organs moving forward, but my preferred method is in the down dog position with hands on floor, or hands on a chair, or back of the tub, and really jumping around. That works for my profound uterine prolapse. Others probably wouldn't have to be as forceful.
Keep up the good work!

Kittu's Collie

July 1, 2015 - 9:08pm

Thanks AG. For now I am doing the preliminary exercises on the DVD, jiggling in my adapted fashion and trying to live in the whole woman posture. I can see I am in a better place then I have been in a long time. Thank you Christine Kent and every one else on this forum whose stories and encouragement have made life that much easier for me.