pessary

Hi Tessyellow - glad to hear of your decision. Remember that this work is all about the POSTURE, retraining and strengthening your body to make that posture correction and to hold it all day without having to think about it. That is the goal, to keep the organs forward in the belly. This is not strictly an exercise program, and it is this misconception that slows down progress for many women. Good luck to you! - Surviving

Hi Tessyellow. Just read your forum re removal of your pessary. I am in the same boat, having just had mine removed after 3/4 months of wearing it. UTIs the problem. It obviously controlled the prolapse symptoms and allowed one to lead an active life. I am wondering how you are going. I have been doing the WW work re posture and trying to do the breathing properly but am a bit scared that the prolapse will return when I return to more strenuous activities. My GP wants to put it back in a couple of weeks but I am hoping to avoid that. Have you had any pressure from your doctor to do that?

I can't understand why any doctor would have any reason to pressure a woman to wear a pessary, unless that woman was coming in to the office complaining about her prolapse. Just get busy with the WW work, and stop having these discussions with the doctor. When faced with a distressed prolapsed woman, doctors will suggest solutions, but they don't really have anything good to offer. - Surviving

Heather,
You are the one that is in control of your body, what you do with it and certainly what you put into it! If you are going to the doctor pretty regularly complaining about your prolapse, of course he is going to suggest the Pessary, and if you continue to be dissatisfied, he will probably suggest surgery next.
Where does this end for you?

The Whole Woman work is noninvasive and very therapeutic, and there really are no reasons not to really throw yourself into this work, and give it an honest to goodness try.

Am doing just that! We shall see.

Heather, from your posts, it doesn't seem like you have a clear understanding of what the Whole Woman work is all about. What materials do you have to study from right now? The Saving the Whole Woman book and First Aid for Prolapse DVD are a great place to start.
Getting a good understanding of this work first will go a long way in the success of it.

I have Saving the Whole Woman book plus DVDs First Aid for Prolapse for Elders and Whole Woman Way to Vulva Vaginal Health. I would be the first to admit I don't have a total take on the whole thing yet, but am trying!! Aware of posture and trying regular fire breathing, the latter not that easy to understand and could well be doing it incorrectly!

I believe that the Elders DVD only demonstrates firebreathing on hands and knees. Which of course, is one of the ways you can do it. But unless you have significant physical limitations, the original First Aid for Prolapse DVD is what you should have; it is the best overall reference for the WW work, in addition to the book. I myself did not even tackle firebreathing in the my first year, because I too was afraid of doing it wrong. The breathing was not intuitive to me......I kept reversing it. I only had the book at the time, and this is what prompted me to get my first DVD (I wanted to see a live demo) - and I shouldn't have waited. Firebreathing is just too fundamental of a tool, not to be using it daily. I recommend the Dictionary of Movements section of the First Aid for Prolapse DVD. - Surviving

thank you for that advice.

Does anyone have a view about pelvic floor muscles or are they something we aren't supposed to mention?

Heather,
You need to study Christine's work if you still believe in pelvic floor muscles. That's is the misconception here. We don't have a pelvic floor that our organs sit upon to be tightened so that they don't escape! What we do have though is an outlet out the back, and what keeps our organs in is pulling them into the lower belly with the posture work and breathing, and a strong lumbar curvature. Once there ,the vagina closes onto itself, creating a closed airless space. This is what protects our organs from escaping.
These are the basic fundamentals that the medical world has had wrong all these years.
So as long as you believe you still have a pelvic floor, you don't really have an understanding of this work.
Read the book, study it. Get the First Aid For Prolapse and really go through it. Get a consult if you are still not understanding this work. But it does take the time put into it, and I don't think you are putting that in.

p.s. Have you read this recent post:

https://www.wholewoman.com/forum/node/6908

This is what dedication to this work does for you.

I was reading back on some of your older posts to remind myself of your situation. You are 72 and very fit and active, so I'm not sure why you were taking the Elders approach in the first place, and I think somehow you have missed some important concepts by not delving into the work 100%. A cystocele is not that hard to manage so I hope you'll ramp it up a bit. - Surviving

Have just ordered First Aid for prolapse which I obviously should have ordered in the first place rather than the other stuff! I intend to hang in and hopefully get it right. and keep everyone happy!!

I think there is a tendency on this Forum to make people feel guilty. This is NOT helpful. We are all trying to do our best to handle a physical and psychological problem which has descended, literally, upon us! I am a typical "aussie" and inclined to speak my mind. Mea culpa! All the best to you all.

What choices you make are yours, heather. You seem to think that by ordering the First Aid for prolapse is what is going to make us happy, the same as you feel pressure to wear a pessary from your doctor.
You have to do what is best for you, but don't forget what forum you are on. This forum is only a small part of the whole site. This site serves woman looking into Christine's work. That's what women need to understand when coming here, the whole woman work always comes first.

If you don't agree with this, then maybe it is time for you to move on.

We've been trying to set you on a better path than the one you were on.....If you aren't finding it helpful, then there's no need to keep the conversation going. But as AG said, that is our purpose here. Hopefully you can take it from here, but we're always available if you have questions relating to the WW work. - Surviving