Motorcycling and Uretha Pain...

Hi Susie and welcome. First of all, I’ve never ridden a Harley so I’m not sure what kind of posture it requires of you. Do you tend to sit with your body in a somewhat obtuse angle (greater than 90 degrees) with your lower back sort of collapsed and rounded? If that describes it, then your riding posture is about the worst it could be for your prolapse. So maybe you can tell us, those of us without experience, just what the riding posture is like.

Have you looked around this site and seen Whole Woman posture described as a tool for retraining your body to manage prolapse? You probably still have your uterus since you did not mention this in your history. Yes, the extreme coughing and straining have contributed to this, so I hope you can avoid these things from here on.

Pessary may or may not help; they are hard to fit but if you have a doctor willing to help you try different ones, you might be in luck. Be sure to learn how to take it out and clean it yourself. Pessaries aren’t really part of the postural re-training work, but they might be able to give you some pressure relief when you’re on the road. - Surviving

Hi Susies and welcome to the WW forum. I was wondering if you have any prolapse symptoms when you are not riding the Harley. Are you having symptoms when standing and walking? What is a Air-Hawk seat?? Like Surviving I have no experience riding in a motorcycle. If you haven't already you can go to the top of this page and click on the tabs to gain information regarding the WW Posture, etc. Best of luck to you as you progress on this journey. Also, I'm so glad your Dr. is not recomending surgery because WW absolutely does not recommend it either. POP can be improved in varying degree's with this work.
-Jaylove

Hi Susie
I assume that when you are riding your husband's bike you are riding pillion?

The seat might be good for you but I would put it on your own Harley, not your husband's. If you are riding your own bike you have some control over the way you sit. I suspect that Harleys are really designed for the man's structure. (Why would a woman want to be in front?????)

Harleys seem to be in a box of their own re motor bikes; designed for US interstates, not for winding mountain zigzags. If I understand it correctly it is almost impossible to ride a Harley with an upright sitting posture. Your centre of gravity would be all wrong and the pegs in the wrong place, (and it would look soooo un-cool). Perhaps you could re-position your pegs????

It may be heresy to you, but I would rather see you on a smooth Japanese racing bike, or a road-trail, where you are kind of squatting, and the manoeuvrability of the bike is controlled by the weight shift on your feet as much as the position of your butt on the seat. Feel free to send me a dead fish in the mail if this suggestion offends you. ;-)

But seriously, if any activity that we undertake is not possible in WW posture we have a choice. We can either do the activity differently, find another way of doing the same task, change the environment in which we do it, or give the task to someone else; and find something else to give us that reward that we have just foregone. You could also just do less of it and suffer the consequences. The alternative is to contribute to further POP. Oh, it is so much a matter of what the heart wants to do!

I actually watched the movie Easy Rider for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Somehow I missed it in the 1970's, or maybe I don't remember it. (Whoops, what was I doing?). I was watching all that highway footage with women in mind, and wondering how it would work.

My 'daughter-in-law's' family, male and female, ride Harleys. I must have a deep and meaningful with the girls about it.

You are not the first motorcyclist who has been on the Forums, and you won't be the last. There has to be an optimum solution. I am thinking it is in the pegs. Perhaps you could rig up a lumbar roll device to fit over the back rest, if you have one. I am sure that you could sell heaps of them if you could get it to work. You might even find that men would use them if their pride would let them.

Hey Susie! Look at this!!!!! http://www.hdforums.com/forum/touring-models/509285-ultra-passenger-lowe... . You're not the only one!!!

Have fun on the highway.

Louise

Well, now, Premarin huh? That sounds like a pretty "retro" recommendation. But let's go back to the deformed tailbone. Can you stand/sit in Whole Woman posture without this causing you problems? Belly relaxed, chest pulled up, shoulders down (not back) - this feels weird to just about anyone when they first try it, and they can get a little sore at first until they start to get used to it. Can you do it? - Surviving

Just go to the RESOURCES tab which you will find on the home page of this site. You will see there a few videos and one explains the posture and it should help you. I too like to see it all. It is hard to do from just description. Best wishes to you!

Well, I guess I might be overly optimistic in thinking that doctors are not so quick these days to put a woman on hormone replacement therapy. It’s rather a major decision and you should do your own research to see if you think that’s a good thing for your body. There are lots of discussions on this forum; use the search box to look up hormones, HRT, Premarin (which as you may know is made from the urine of pregnant mares)…..also look for some other less drastic measures to relieve a burning urethra, lots of discussions on that as well, and plenty of women on here who have had it. - surviving

have you tried Christine's new trick of a little tiny dob of raw honey on the entrance to your urethra. Christine usually uses it in her vagina. I don't really think it matters. It is only honey, but apparently it does miracles after a few seconds' stinging

Louise.

There ia a product called a V Brace you may want to try.I don't have any personal experience,but it looks like women's underwear and states it is for used for prolapse.The Woman Care program would probably be best for long term,but this may help you go on a bike ride:) Good Luck!

Hi Susies1955,
V. interesting q & a's... Just a couple of further thoughts. I don't know how tall you are, so this may not be relevant to you and apologies if so. I'm pretty short and now realise that because of that my legs have been stretching in order for my feet to reach things like car pedals, the floor when I'm sitting down etc. This has encouraged me to slump in my seat and inadvertently encourage pelvic organ prolapse. I've found a light weight portable lower back curve shape which can hook over or tuck into the base of most chairs, (bought from Debenhams in the UK) plus a cushion in my case when in the car, solves the problem. It means I am closer to the pedals and therefore not stretching/slumping as I was before.
Another thought is it might be an idea to spend some time in a Harley Davidson/motor bike supermarket/equivalent and just see if any other seats offer better support for WW posture. If you can afford something that does it may be worth the expense to go for it, if you can. That old adage ' health is wealth' really rang true for me when I was in a bad way initially with my prolapse. (Before finding ww angels!)
xwholewomanuk

Hi Susie, we also have a Harley and have done a lot of riding in our own country of NZ but not elsewhere.I have been working on WW posture for some time now, and feel way more comfortable in my body than when I first started.
We own a Heritage Softail . My husband put on a wider seat on that and a taller backrest, which I found helpful. Then he changed that to a tiny sporty backrest on and that is %#@*...you get the drift.
Wow! 700 miles is a heck of a ride, phew, I think we'd say a 340 miles ride, is a long one.
I would encourage you to shuffle around to find a good seating position, as well as possibly getting one of those Airhawk seats fitted.from my experience on a Buell, and a Honda- both totally different positions from the Heritage -and for me they are both far worse too, that I now will not get on either them.
I had a bike accident at 21 and that affected my right side which gets very achy.My hip sort of seizes and locks if we hit a bump and lets face it there are plenty on some roads. I do have to watch not to slump ie sink down into one's posture, on the bike, as that makes the bumps worse and then the pop .I would suggest (dare I...) that your rides become shorter than 500miles. Our maximum per day will be 320 on our trip.Hubby knows I need more stops now and it suits him too, now we are getting older, it does not have to be rip...s..t or bust ;-)
I have sat on my oilskin vest rolled up when having a bad time on a ride one weekend.That and meditation helped me then, but also I had done something before the ride that upset my prolapse something awful.
Most of the time I try to sit upright chest uplifted and keep a curve in my lower back.
I have hyper flexibible hips, plus had a lower scoliosis that affected 1-7, and hurt my tailbone when I was young.So I imagine we share some similarities discomfort wise in that area.I am post meno now, and make my own moisturising balm which I insert twice daily and that takes discomfort away for me most of the time.PS I also wear comfy briefs with a long liner as the moisturiser can leave a bit of a greasy residue.
If you put Bliss Balm in the search box you will find my recipe and others for this and then ask more questions or contact me , there is a process for this to maintain privacy and security :-) I haven't been on here much this year so it was by chance I saw your post tonight,.
It is also very important to wear comfy bike gear and that is my challenge at the moment as we are doing a 2 week ride next month across USA, and my waistband is too tight! You need room in the abdomen to move around on the seat and I found recently that it was very uncomfortable with the extra weight Ive put on.
Starting work on that from tomorrow.
I started a new body awareness class recently and so far have found it works positively with reinforcing WW posture and being mindful which I am apt to forget. Working slower and smarter rather then faster and harder ;-] I will try and check in each day for any more questions you have.keep on biking!
Btw we will be on a Harley Ultra Glide for our touring. Never been on one of those, it's bigger and looks more comfy for those longer stretches. Where we live is more compact and hilly and yes our Harley is not so good on the corners but hubby manages to avoid scraping the pipes now hehe.

Hi Susie

If you would like to make contact with Kiwigirl email me louiseds at wholewoman.com. I have access to both your email addresses so I can send you an email containing Kiwigirl's email address, as she has indicated willingness to correspond with you.

Louise

no probs, but if you want to email privately I can organise it for you. Here is fine. :-)

Hi Susie, great you got the seat already, look forward to your feedback and how it works for you.
Yes I have done okay with riding but not sure how I will handle the USA trip soon, especially as I have not had many opportunities the last few months for regular rides. We will be riding 2700 miles over 13-14 days.
Re; the burning issue....have you tried the honey yet? I also wonder if the balm I make would help.I would be so uncomfortable if I didn't use it everyday now.It makes a heap of difference to my comfort inside.
You can read other's posts re sleeping positions but I think Christine says it doesn't matter when we are lying down in bed.Posture is more important when we stand, as bipedal creatures .
Wishing you all the best in your journey :-)
Louise- thank you for your help re contact details, always appreciate your input :-)
I've been to my new class again today, and we used breath with movement of the lower abdomen except it was opposite of what we do. I told the teacher and she said just do it whatever way works for you.The whole class I needed to be mindful of how I needed to keep the lumbar curve and the breath.Quite a challenge but a step in the right direction, I felt.

Hi Susie , I forgot to say that my Shoie full face helmet did bang against hubby's ocassionally , more when Im tired. But my new helmet , a LS2, although more comfy to wear, tends to knock more.I think it has a longer front bit.So in summary I would think it depends on the helmet , as well as your posture, and also the bike in particular and it's seat. I feel all these come into play, to consider. Hope this is some help.

Morning Susie, actually it's nearly my bedtime lol. Ive been pondering the helmet banging (amdist some family hilarity here) and wondering if perhaps you are focussing on keeping the lower back arch more, which is what a lot of us do when first learning the posture, than actually lifting up the area under your bust, which I think would put your head back a bit more.Well that's what I find on our Harley.But I am unable to do that on say the sports type bikes like the Buell or Honda. I just fall forwards on them,and it's no good for me.Our son has a very racy bike and gets awful back problems at times and that can be to any one particular bike as in when he rode my Suzuki 500 (I think it was a 500).
Not sure how long you have been riding but are you sitting squarely on your "sit" bones? Ive learnt this at some classes .What I do once Im on our bike is lift my butt up , pushing off with my feet,and sit back down pushing my butt out, and that usually gets me sitting in the right position.I still try and lift under my boobs and that in turn lifts my lower abdomen.It takes awhile to get all this working, when new at it.It takes a lot of patience but its worth it .I still have my up and down times but Im not going to stop biking and dancing :-)

I so love this posting thread. I know nothing of biking but the two of you are making me interested and I am learning quite a bit from you both. Best wishes and happy riding!

I think you will find that it takes a bit of time to get your upper back extending properly. I find it much easier these days to raise my chest and allow my upper back to come back further. I am much more comfortable and relaxed in WW posture now than I was a couple of years ago. It used to be hard to keep my chest up, but it just balances now. I think my lumbar curve now starts further up, ie where the convex changes to concave.

Hi Susie

Remembering can be a challenge, when all around us are reasons for not extending our spines. Almost every chair you sit in will conspire to tip your pelvis back and slouch. That's why I have a stool with adjustable height, and a flat top that slopes forward a tiny bit, at my computer desk. Kitchen benches that are just too low. Washing machines that you have to bend from the waist to remove clothes from. Stacking chairs that have a bowl for your bottom, and press into the back of your thighs with the edge, and a back that slopes backwards, giving an obtuse angle at the hips. Comfy arm chairs where you have to crane your neck forwards. The list goes on. I can perch on the edge of almost any chair if I have to. I really feel uncomfortable in a comfy chair now. It just doesn't feel right. When I want to sit in a squishy chair I sit cross legged or put a really fat cushion under my bottom and another behind my waist, or find the sofa that goes with it, and lie down full length.

You just have to work around 'modern, civilised' ways of sitting in particular, to find an antidote for having your uterus and bladder pushed back and down. Repositioning your pelvis and lumbar spine are the keys to it.

It is a little like not watching where you are putting your bare feet on stony ground. You only need to step on a few sharp rocks to teach you to keep an eye on the ground. Once you get some positive reinforcement by stepping on the grassy bits it becomes second nature, and common sense, to look for the grassy bits.

So, "look for the grassy bits wherever you find yourself".

Louise