Kegel while lifting?

Submitted by Bonne Maman on January 22, 2013 - 8:57pm
Body: 

Hi all,

so I had my appointment with a physio and, no surprise, she prescribed Kegels. She also wants me to hold a Kegel while lifting anything (eg. the baby), but it feels weird. Anyone have any experience or thoughts on this?

Forum:

chickaboom

January 23, 2013 - 12:13am

I get into very strong WW posture before lifting anything (and bend from the hips if needed) and i think a kegel at that point would be as useful to my pelvic organs as twitching my ears.

Now, in the later months of pregnancy, a strong sneeze can sometimes send something dribbling so I tried a.) kegeling before sneezing b.) getting into exaggerate posture before sneezing and c.) bending from the hips before sneezing - and found that C was what I could count on to stay dry

Surviving60

January 23, 2013 - 5:22am

Hi BonneMaman – If your prolapse strategy is a combination of Whole Woman practice and conventional physical therapy, then I ask that you go back to Christine’s body of work and make sure that you haven’t missed the important points of her message. She has written extensively on why Kegels aren’t helpful for prolapse, and can actually aggravate it by pulling the organs even farther out of their natural positions. Here is some recommended reading for you:

http://wholewoman.com/blog/?p=1497

I consider myself a poster child for what’s wrong with Kegels. I did them religiously for decades. They didn’t prevent my prolapse and I can well believe that they contributed to it. The idea that they could remotely help me now, just gives me a chuckle. - Surviving

wholewomanUK

January 23, 2013 - 5:36am

Hi Bonne Maman,

WW is a holistic approach which works with the whole body sytem and inter-connections. Pelvic organ support is a whole body experience. Kegels focuses on some specific vaginal wall muscles and are of very limited use to polapse organ support. Christine says kegels may enhance the experience of sexual intercourse, and so long as they are performed in a position which supports pelvic organ support, (ie encouraging the pelvic organs forward), won't do any harm.

There are several very useful previous posts re lifting and pelvic organ support. Type in key words in the search box above left. One I found useful was: Submitted by louiseds on September 28, 2012 - 9:15pm

Also check out the ' alternative kegels' utube by Christine. These can be easily fitted into a day.

Good luck. xwholewomanuk

Bonne Maman

January 23, 2013 - 4:55pm

Thanks all! Yes I am skeptical of conventional physio - just trying out different things to see how my body responds. I have never really "clicked" with kegels, despite really giving it a shot, which should tell me something. What I really wanted was to discuss the Whole Woman technique with the physio so she could help me to work within that framework, especially as this is a program specifically designed to help women with prolapse and incontinence, but she was not responsive to the ideas - eg. emphasized lumbar curve in women, etc.
The one thing that was useful was that she let me know that certain muscles on one side of my vagina were not firing as quickly as the other side, probably due to nerve damage from the tear I sustained during the birth. I also know that my rectal muscle was torn, so I thought that might be a good use for kegel practice, to bring tone and circulation back to muscles that had been traumatized - not necessarily for pelvic organ support. However, I will check your links and make sure that I am keeping a good posture while practicing. And of course continue to work on the posture and whole woman exercises :)

Bonne Maman

January 23, 2013 - 4:56pm

lol :) maybe I will try twitching my ears as well.

louiseds

January 26, 2013 - 3:55am

Hi Bonne Maman

OK, butt out the back, strong lumbar curve, firebreathing posture (feet apart, hips turned out, knees bent, hands on knees, back horizontal, relaxed belly between legs. Now Kegel.

What? You can't get the muscles to move? You know why? Because in that posture your pelvic floor is fully stretched, with no organs on top of them, so you can't pull them up, any more than you can pull up the centre of a trampoline mat. They are virtually water tight! See p 15 of Saving the Whole Woman for the explanation.

When you walk, the pelvic floor muscles in the two halves of your pelvis, alternately tighten and relax, as each foot takes a step. When the left side is tightening the other side is relaxing. The tightening happens when the muscles are lengthening. At the same time, on the right side of the pelvis, the muscles on this other side have to shorten, ie Kegel, to keep the pelvis stable. We are so used to the idea that muscles fibres only contract when they are shortening, that we don't stop to think about other ways in which muscles act.

They can contract while lengthening, or shortening, or bracing stationary.

They can relax while lengthening, when their antagonist is doing all the pulling work on the other side of the bone.

They can relax while stationary if their antagonist is holding up the load.

I wonder if they can relax while shortening? Can anyone think of an example of this?

Walking quite fast, but not hurrying, while in WW posture, and leaving the back heel on the ground for as long as you can, with nice long strides, will give your pelvic floor a good work out. Enjoy the scenery.

Louise

Bonne Maman

January 26, 2013 - 10:08am

Wow that is the information I needed. Thanks Louise! It seems silly to think that there would be a group of muscles in the body that would never get worked unless we consciously exercised them. But I guess if I sit in a chair all day and never get active, those muscles do get neglected. My energy is really coming back now so I must get out for walks to feel all these new dynamics happening.
I have been thinking a lot about whether to share all this with the physio and see if she can help me still, or just to stop going. I realize I have some fear about challenging the information given to me by a medical professional. Not all that surprising, but interesting to be in a position to actually confront that fear! And - best case scenario - she might end up learning something new that would help her to help other women with prolapse more effectively. We'll see :)

louiseds

January 27, 2013 - 7:12am

I would encourage you to start a respectful dialog with your physio. If she doesn't want to know about it, then you have tried. If she does want to know about it, then you have kickstarted her learning and can give yourself a pat on the back.

If you sit all day in bad posture, then it will not help. Sitting in WW posture will be better, especially if you can stand and take a few steps and sit down again every now and again. That is called doing half-squats. Make your thighs do the work. Your pelvic floor will benefit.

Also, take a look at the design of the chair that you use. Does it have adjustments for seat height and seat tilt?

Bonne Maman

January 27, 2013 - 9:17pm

Thanks all for your input and I hope you will have patience with me as a newbie. I know that Kegels have a bad rep around here, and I am pretty sure I agree with you! The Whole Woman program immediately "made sense" physically to my body, but it sure is hard to reject everything that medical and exercise professionals have told me over the years all at once. I hope to have your certainty one day, but meanwhile I am trying to find my way through a whole of of information that I don't feel educated enough to understand myself, let alone defend to my physio or MD! I am grateful for your support - reading the stories of others struggling and questioning like myself, and of the words of encouragement, has been invaluable in this tough time.

chickaboom

January 27, 2013 - 11:58pm

Put a finger or two inside your vagina and then get into WW posture, feel for yourself what happens inside your vagina (it won't be easy keeping your fingers inside while in posture). Now tuck your bum in, curve in your upper back, see what happens. Do a few kegels (fingers still inside), see what happens. Bend over from your hips so your uterus and bladder hang into your lower belly, see how your vagina feels. It's all so self evident really.

Bonne Maman

January 29, 2013 - 2:35pm

Thanks chickaboom.
I can definitely feel how my bladder falls forward when I bend forward, and is held more forward in the ww posture, but can't notice much difference in the kegeling. What happens for you?