I went to the physical therapist today to discuss my grade 3 uterine prolapse and mild bladder prolapse. I didn't actually have an exam or do anything physical, and in fact canceled my future appointments. I did spend a good amount of time talking with her, though.
She seemed surprised that I don't have discomfort with sex - she said most women do. Well now she has me scared. I've had this for at least 1.5 years, at grade 3, but I haven't had sex since January because he is overseas. I'm trying to convince myself that if it's been fine for this long, and we had plenty of sex last year before he left, it's probably still fine, but...worried.
She told me that if I have mild bladder prolapse when my uterine is at stage 3 that the worst of the "pulling" on the bladder has been done - that normally it would have "come down" with the uterus. She said there must be something about my anatomy that has allowed my uterus to travel so far without bringing the other organs down with it. Mind you, this is without her doing an actual exam on me - this is just our discussion of what my doctor has diagnosed me with. The way I see it is this - if the rest of my organs are indeed about to collapse and fall out of me, do I really need to know? I mean, I'm already doing everything I should be for prolapse, whether it's just one or not, so why get myself all worked up knowing what might be right around the corner if I don't have any symptoms? I'm trusting my Ob-gyn on this one...because I want to.
Anyway, I explained to her about this site and that I have noticed with firebreathing (and now adding Nauli) that I can feel my uterus go up, that my body creates a vacuum, and these past two days it has been noticeably "up", to the point that I have to go searching for it if I want to find it. I'm excited about this! I know it will rise and fall - I've read enough on this site to expect it and won't be let down (pardon the pun) when it happens. But there are two good things with this - the first is - I've been checking myself constantly these past few weeks since I was first diagnosed officially and I was worried that it had all of a sudden gotten worse because it was so visible, all the time. But seeing that it has retreated for some time makes me think that maybe it is not 100% down all the time, that I have just been lower these past few weeks, and maybe it comes and goes like that but I just have only started "watching" at a lower time. The second is - well - it DOES go up! And stays up! How? I keep asking this question, but....HOW? I've been doing firebreathing and following the posture very well, watching what I eat, getting enough rest, etc...But I've really only just started these past few weeks so I don't believe I can really attribute any change to that (can I?) So how can I go from it being very visible outside my vagina to it being to where I can hardly see it if I take a mirror and go digging for it - for days at a time, without having pushed it up with sex or anything? (Though, I admit, I've only looked standing. I haven't worked up the nerve to sit in front of a mirror yet as that seems to exacerbate it as far as it will go.)
I also told the PT today that I can watch with a mirror and actually see my cervix rise and disappear when I do Kegels. She first of all explained that Kegels could make things worse or better, dependent on where my cervix is when I'm doing them. She suggested laying on my stomach, inverted at a 45 degree angle, for about 20 minutes a day (if I can handle it) and then that would be the time to do Kegels - when I have effectively placed my uterus as high as it can possibly go. If I do Kegels otherwise, the clenching might push things in the wrong direction and make the problem worse. What do you think? Should I start being weird and using an inversion table?
And finally, she told me that if I can have such extremes with how far up and down it can go without using my hands to push it up, that my anatomy is made up so that I just must have a very mobile uterus. Um....I don't know how I feel about that.
She was very nice and open to what I've learned here. In fact, I canceled my future appointments because she seemed to think that what I've been doing as a result of Christine's book and DVD is sufficient. Though she hasn't heard of Whole Woman, she agreed with what I've been doing as beneficial and left it to me as to whether I felt I needed to see her for PT.
Also, at work yesterday, a woman was sitting on a ball for a chair - it was a ball set on wheels with a small back to it, which, of course, her back never touched. I asked her about it and she said it was for her posture, to keep her curve and support structure. (I secretly wondered if she has a prolapse.) I sat in it and it felt sooo good! Has anyone used an ergonomic ball chair? Is it good for us? I have a desk job and have been trying my best to maintain posture while sitting, but this was just a no-brainer, it seemed....I was just plain old forced to have good posture sitting in it. Any experience with it?
-Jennifer.
Christine
May 21, 2009 - 11:41am
Permalink
pelvic organ support
Hi Jennifer,
This is wonderful news. The human female pelvic organ support system is one of the strongest designs in nature - we only have to return to it!!
Please don’t worry about the comment regarding painful sex, which is simply not true.
Your bladder is connected to your cervix at the top of your anterior vaginal wall so it is probably in the neighborhood, but because your fascia is still strong, has not yet bulged into your vagina. I was menopausal before I ever felt a bulge in the front wall and it remains small and completely insignificant.
I got such a kick out of your questioning “How” does the uterus stay up!! It stays up just like all the other women walking around without prolapse - because that is the way of our natural anatomy!
Just like I say in the DVD, your body is trying to pin your uterus into position with every breath you take. It has two stays that come off its front end, travel down alongside your abdominal wall, and embed into the labia surrounding your vagina. The uterus is very well anchored to remain positioned toward the front of the body and only changes position when the external environment changes i.e. the skeletal framework and abnormal increases in internal pressure. The uterus in a cycling woman is a large, heavy, muscular organ and its weight alone is also a factor in its own support. Gravity, the natural flow of the breath, the natural shape of the female spine, and the weight of the organs themselves are the elements of pelvic organ support.
The kegel question you can answer for yourself when you look deeply into the problem. Yes, I too can lie down on my back and feel my cervix move up when I kegel. However, it is only moving the slightest bit - the same amount that a piece of turd is squeezed back up when the rest is expelled in a bowel movement. Does that mean you have moved your upper rectum or sigmoid colon one iota? It is the exact same concept. All you are feeling is the closing of the pelvic diaphragm. And because the genital hiatus (opening down the center of the pelvic diaphragm) and the pelvic sphincters have no bearing on prolapse - and gravity most certainly does - I don’t believe kegeling on an inversion table is going to be very productive.
About the chair - any way we can maintain the upper body posture is great.
I am grateful to your PT for her willingness to learn what the medical system could never teach her.
:) Christine
P.S. Try standing up and feeling your cervix move with kegels - you'll get a much better sense of it.