Physical Therapy

Submitted by mommi2three on March 3, 2006 - 12:01pm
Body: 

I started doing physical therapy a couple of wks ago. My therapist taught me to lay on my back with my hips and butt elevated on a foam wedge about 45 degreee incline. She told me to exercise the pelvic floor on the wedge which helps the organs slide back into position. The exercises include reps of quick kegles and uses a stretch band around the knees and i would alternate opening and closing my knees with feet flat on bed. The theory is that the pelvic floor muscle will be stretched and lifted to strengthen.

I have not found it too be slightly helpful but b/c of my coughing recently it hasn't seemed to make a difference. The coughing has definitely set me back. DOos anyone else do pt on this board? Has it helped?

mermaidsd

March 3, 2006 - 1:40pm

I just commented on the slant board question, as intuitively I was thinking that doing strenghtening exercises with the organs in their proper places might help with overall alignment of the pelvic structures.

I am still post fistula repair surgery with a suprapubic catheter in so am not doing pt right now, but at my follow up appointment next week (where the cath will be removed!! YAY!) I will ask for a pelvic floor pt referral. Being a physical therapist myself (but specializing in pediatrics so I don't yet have the knowledge base of a pelvic floor specialist) as well as being 4 months postpartum, I feel like I am in dire need of some rehab for the PF issues as well as for my very weak abdominals that I haven't been able to address while dealing with the postpartum complications that I've been dealing with. So when I start I'll certainly keep you posted!

I can see how the coughing could exacerbate the prolapses so you might not be seeing the benefit of the PT just yet. Have you been bending over at the waist in order to redistribute the intraabdominal pressure while coughing? I find that it's been really helpful when I've had to sneeze.

Best of luck to you, mommi2three!

Peace,
Michele-mermaidsd

mommi2three

March 3, 2006 - 3:56pm

Thanks for ur reply. I have tried bending over at the waist and doing kegel at the same time. Overall, the coughing has just killed me down there. Sometimes I was hacking so much that i couldn't do a kegel quick enough. Doing kegels and coughing is like simultaneously patting your head with one hand and rubbing your tummy with the other I am just not very coordinated! LOL!! :-)

I asked my pt for advice and she just said doing a kegel is fine. So i was really trying. I think therapists are really in the learning phase with the pelvic floor. It is not a hot area like sports rehab. She said that there are seminars that she is going to but the long standing research and followup of therapy results are not there yet. I'd really like to see more studies on therapy. I think the exercises that we learn for the pelvic floor is a life long commitment just like a diabetic diet.

Well, it sounds like you are going thru alot being 4 months PP and recovering from fistula surgery. Good to see you in high spirits. You should feel better once u r healing. As a pt, I am sure you are probably anxious to be back on ur feet. :) Remember to get that rest that you need.

Best wishes and happy healing!!! Update us soon.

kmc55

March 16, 2006 - 12:54pm

Hi there -- I've just started doing physical therapy with a pelvic floor specialist and boy, am I confused! She seems to really understand the concept of everything being connected, i.e., my back hurts, and my left hip hurts, and this is tied in with the prolapse. She does say that posture and how use our bodies is very important in pelvic floor health; but at the same time, I agree with the comment about pelvic floor p.t. being kinda new and so I'm not 100% sure of anything. I'm doing "elevator" kegels, and also lying on my back and just tightening my transverse abdominals, also doing one hip exercise, and that's about it. I feel I need to work with the p.t. because I really don't want surgery. So I do the posture as well as I can (I think I'm doing it right, but not sure), do the p.t. exercises, and then today I went to see a very wholistic body work woman who I liked quite a bit. She thinks I need to strengthen my pelvis without stressing the prolapse, and I agree with that. What I liked about her was that she's very committed to helping people try to get better without surgery. She said that she felt that pelvic floor surgery disempowers women, and I think she's right. I don't know what she'll suggest, we just talked this time.
I don't have a lot of great insights, but just wanted to share that I'm doing p.t. and don't know quite where it will take me. I'd like to hear about other's p.t. experiences, exercises, etc., and I'll be happy to share mine as well.

KathyG

March 16, 2006 - 8:42pm

I love my PT! I think I am doing a lot of what some of the others do when going to PT but I'll list it here so we can compare. I am also interested in seeing how the exercises I do with PT differ from Christine's DVD. I don't have it yet but just as soon as I get the money I plan to order it. I keep thinking the DVD will be much cheaper than surgery (HA!) so I should just go ahead and charge it.

So my PT starts with her checking out my posture with my sacrum and pelvis when I stand in front of her. I started with so much back pain, that the difference is remarkable. I of course attribute the relief of my back pain and dragging feeling to my posture work as well. I will lay down and she will release whatever mucles are tight and the difference is amazing. She says the sacro-something probably got like this because of pregnancies but I have had back pain for years so I don't know. Then I will do internal work with her, she usually releases whatever muscles are tight inside, my levator-something. (Yes I should know these proper names but I keep forgetting!) Then we do a few kegels to check that I am getting stronger. Then I get dressed again and do my floor work in the gym. I do the transverse ab work just lying on my back and doing what they call a "tummy tuck". I do that with about 4-5 different exercises, moving my leg out straight, or bringing my knees up, or not squashing the "egg", etc. I then do some bridge work with and without a ball. Then some work on all 4s, again with the transverse muscle, about 4 different exercises.

She knows how much I want to get back to working out so whatever time we have left she shows me which exercises are safe for me to do, or how I should change them for my new condition. Of course most of the time it's just being aware of the PF and contracting that with whatever movements I am doing...

I hope this made some sense! Anyone else?

Kathy

UKmummy

March 16, 2006 - 9:56pm

My PT so far has been largely centered on the pelvic floor and ensuring that I am using it during different activities. The bio feedback thing has been interesting for me. I also just started some exercises this past week for post partum ladies, not too remarkable but helpful all the same.
I actually went out for a longish walk with a couple of my dogs the other day for the first time and again today! I was terrified at first and imagined everything was collapsing but of course it wasn't! :) The fear of this thing has been making me rather inactive and it really is time for me to get out there and start up again. I am usually so fit, (like many of you out there), and it seems wierd for me to have adapted so quickly to a life of comparative inactivity. So, I know the walking will help the prolapse and it was so fun getting some fresh air with my doggies in the spring sunshine! Sorry to go off on a tangent!

mommi2three

March 16, 2006 - 10:55pm

I am going to ask my pt about the exercises for transverse ab muscle now! My pt seem hesitant to show me more until i was ready for the next step. But I am scared that my insurance will run out by then! Btw, I am having the worse luck with getting viruses. The kids and I all have the flu now. I am just commanding my vagina to get into a kegel mode!!! Brace and brace some more. Can't wait for summer to come!