uterus falling back on my rectum

welcome to the forum
I only have a few min, but wanted to say hi : )

as for your questions: when new to posture it is normal to have some back pain initially as your muscles stretch and strengthen. just double check that you are in fact, in the correct posture. it took me a long time to get it right. I had trouble learning to lift my abdomen and keep my shoulders down.
the posture should help with repositioning your uterus, but I highly recommend the firebreathing (I believe its in the book) and nauli (you can find that one on youtube).
you will know when your uterus is where it should be, you can feel which way your cervix is facing (should be facing towards your back, in the case of a retroverted uterus is will face forward). I think I have that right, its been a long time since I read up on all this.
you do sound hopeful, and you have good reason to be : )

Hi hopeful and welcome. You know that you are lucky to have found this site, but you can’t possibly know just how lucky you really are! Whole Woman is the best-kept secret in women’s health, and it is not for lack of a massive effort to spread the good word. There is simply no incentive for organized medicine to get involved in women taking care of themselves naturally, and avoiding damaging surgeries that make other people rich. I guess that’s oversimplifying a bit, but not much. Anyway, you’re here.

Work on posture. It takes time. I’m coming up on my third anniversary and still seeing changes. My best improvements started to happen in my second year, by which time I had buckled down and done whatever it took to make this posture something second-nature that I didn’t have to keep reminding myself to do. Take a look at your little girl and see how she carries herself. That is WW posture, our natural posture that we should not have ever lost. But we did, because someone told us that “good” posture meant sucking in your belly.

With regard to splinting (using finger to help pass stool) can I make a suggestion? Splint through the vagina instead. Less messy and probably more effective because you are simply pressing on the bulge to give the stool a clear path. I have never splinted but I have certainly read enough about it here. With time, the posture should take care of this problem for you, as the organs respond and put less pressure and obstruction where you don’t want them.

If you go to PT, you will most likely be advised to do Kegels. I did Kegels for years religiously. They didn’t prevent my prolapse and now that I’ve learned what I’ve learned here about them, I know they actually contributed to the problem. Christine has some good articles on the blog about this.

Glad you are here. You are in excellent company. I can’t even project where I’d be today without Christine and the work of Whole Woman. - Surviving

retroverted just means that instead of leaning forward, the uterus is leaning back. normally, the uterus should be leaning forward towards your belly, resting on the pubic bone. before it can slip down into the vaginal canal, its got to lose some of that angle and straighten up some. so to some degree, I think any prolapsed uterus has a bit of retroversion going on. I dont know what angle is officially considered 'retroversion' in the medical community and I'm not sure it matters.
prolapse, btw, just means its moving into the vaginal canal where it can press on the bladder or the rectum, depending on the angle.
very often, women have more than one prolapse going on at a time. it kinda happens all together because when that optimal angle of the uterus (and bladder) is lost, and something moves into the vaginal canal, there is now room for other organs to follow. the vaginal canal should be a flattened tube without any space in it. but once your uterus, for example, moves in, it is no longer flat. if the bladder has lost its optimal angle as well, its just that much easier for it to move into the vagina along with the cervix.
at least that is my understanding.
it sounds pretty bad, but it isnt really. the whole woman posture and exercises are designed to bring the uterus and bladder back up and forward. forward is key here, once they are forward and leaning on the pubic bone rather than dangling over an open vagina, everything is more stable.
now here's another thing, which you may have already picked up here but if not the book describes it much better than I ever could: your pelvic floor is not supposed to be a floor at all. it is the back door. think of a cat, ever catch a glimpse of its backside? you can see the anus, vagina and urethra all in a row along the back. that is the pelvic 'floor'. the real pelvic floor is the pubic symphisis, which is a nice solid bone. makes for a better floor than muscles with holes.
the urinary incontinence you talk about is common among women with prolapse. again, the bladder and the urethra should be at an angle to each other, creating some pressure to help keep the urine in. when that angle is lost, its harder to hold a full bladder especially when you have an increase in pressure from above (ie coughing, sneezing, etc, or a uterus sitting on the bladder). sometimes keeping an empty rectum can help, if you've got a prolapsed rectum pressing on the bladder that will make the problem worse too.

no harm in trying one. I've not used a pessary, some women here like them, others less so. you dont want to leave it in forever as it can cause irritation, so if you do go that route be sure you are comfortable inserting/removing it.

Hi, I thought I had a prolapsed uterus, but I went to a great OB on Friday and he did an ultrasound and said I have a retroverted uterus that has almost folded and is resting on my rectum. My symptoms are exactly what you are describing and I am also having a hard time having a bowel movement. I am 8 weeks pregnant and my OB said that it should move up in 4 weeks or so as baby gets bigger. Let me know how things are going for you and if you have found anything that helps.

I see this post was active back in 2013, but I'm hoping some of you wise women might have gotten further in your recovery than I have. I am concerned because things continue to get worse for me rather than better. If anyone can give me some insight I'd much appreciate it!

Hi and welcome, Mommy,

It looks like you've been a member for about 4 months now. Can you tell us more about your symptoms and what you've been doing to reverse them?

There really is no cure for prolapse, only the slow and sometimes frustrating work of moving the organs forward with posture, breathing, and exercise.

If you aren't already using it, I would suggest Whole Woman Wisdom for the Childbearing Years to help you get started with this life-long work. http://www.wholewomanstore.com/Whole-Woman-Wisdom-for-the-Childbearing-Y...

Christine

Hi Christine,
Thank you for responding. To be quite honest, I now believe I've had some slight prolapse most of my life, but the conditions worsened after the birth of my first and then second child. My gynecologist has diagnosed me with rectocele and some uterine prolapse as well as cysteole (is that how it's spelled?). The part that bothers me most is during bowel movements. I haven't had a normal bowel movement in 5 years. The stool gets stuck pretty high up in my rectum/colon and I have to manually pull it down. I have tried splinting through the vagina but it does not help as I believe my uterus is resting on my colon and blocking the passage of stool. It's very uncomfortable and painful at times. I'd like to be able to just pass stool the normal way.
I've gone to an obgyn, a gastroenterologist, as well as a physical therapist. Not one could really pinpoint why the stool is blocked so it's been frustrating. Some days I'd like to take out all of my female organs hoping I could eventually just have a normal bowel movement, but I have two young kids at home and would rather not risk surgery as things can go wrong.
I understand this isn't the answer, but it's very hard to have to manually extract stool from ones anus multiple times a week. Not to mention that it's very time consuming and I believe it's getting worse.
Help!

Hi mommywithprolapse,
Yes, the retroverted uterus can be a big pain when it comes to bowel movements, but that is why this work is so very important. I myself had years of constipation and this stuck feeling preventing a nice smooth bowel movement.
Really throw yourself into this work: posture, jiggling and firebreathing, and the exercises are what help pull the uterus off the back wall and forward into the lower belly. It takes time, but I can tell you from my own personal experience that this does work.

Thank you aging gracefully. I'm trying to hold posture as much as possible during the day. I do think I've got it down but it just needs to become habit. What is jiggling?

Jiggling is just bending over and jiggling or bouncing your organs forward into the lower belly; follow this up with a good round of firebreathing several times a day. This combination is so very helpful in getting that retroverted uterus to start moving away from the back wall of the vagina.

Is it done standing up?

So many women have uterine prolapse without having to manually evacuate their rectum. Yet, what you describe sounds like classic symptoms of intussusception, where the lining of the rectum peels off its foundation and telescopes down the canal. There is no surgical correction for either without severe risks.

Aging gracefully is spot on. Whether it is uterine or rectal prolapse, these are signs of abnormal internal pressures blowing organs toward the pelvic outlet, rather than pinning them at the front of the body where they belong. What is there to do but move things forward? It takes time and patience.

..you can do this sitting, standing, or on all fours, but standing seems most forceful.

Yea, You can bend over completely touching the floor, or a chair, stairs, back of the tub, whatever works for you, and just jiggle or bounce. I actually do a fair amount of jumping when I do it, but you don't have to be that aggressive.

You can find a really good demonstration of firebreathing in The First Aid for Prolapse DVD.

Thank you so much! I will be working diligently on the tools you've given me. I think it just all can get to be a bit frustrating and overwhelming. I'm hopeful that I can post to this thread a year from now saying things have improved for me. I really do appreciate your support and responses.

We seem to be getting a lot of posts on this general subject - and some of those who have this condition have become convinced by their doctors that it is somehow more likely to be resolved through surgery than other forms of prolapse. Or that this condition is one that ONLY responds to surgery. I hope everyone takes Christine's words to heart. Avoid the knife. - Surviving

Thanks much, Surviving. I will be writing much more in the near future about intussusception, but I’d like to at least throw the idea out there that this condition must also have a nutritional component. It is the ground substance of the body that holds the lining in place. That substance is uniquely subject to malnutrition, causing havoc throughout the deepest areas of the body. It’s easy to visualize habitual straining blowing the lining off the inner aspect of the rectum, but maybe harder to see that the lining wouldn’t give way so easily if it weren’t nutritionally compromised.

I am starting to get frustrated trying to scroll through the different videos. I love all the information but it is hard to quickly find something without an index of some sort.

It's in the dictionary of movements section. On the menu, scroll to the bottom right.

I have considered intussusception but my symptoms are not the same. I do truly believe that there is an obstruction on my rectum/colon rather than my colon collapsing in on itself.
Either way, I'm very interested in the nutritional component of healing this or any bowel prolapse issues.
As for surgery, it's never my first choice, and yes most doctors push it. I think for me, it's just something I tend to look to on the days I'm most uncomfortable and frustrated by my symptoms and the way they interfere with my every day life.

thanks again for replying. I'll look for it there.

The uterus can also become retroflexed, or bent backward under the sacrum - squishing the rectum in between. I would think your doctor would’ve found this if it were the case. The problem today is that so many of these conditions are considered to be static instead of dynamic, so surgery becomes the primary treatment. There are accounts in the old medical literature of physicians inserting a “sound”, or wand through the cervical os and flipping the uterus into its anteverted position. The uterus is extremely mobile and if it is just retroverted or prolapsed, you can easily push it all the way forward manually

Hi Christine,
Thanks for replying. I really am lucky to have found this group and your teachings.
You are absolutely correct, the doctor should have found out what's going on by now. My Gynocologist did diagnose me with rectocele, cysteole, but she didn't do much of an exam to get that. She immediately recommended me for a hysterectomy at age 36. This is when I started my journey elsewhere to find a non surgical solution. I tried physical therapy and 3k dollars later nothing had changed. I've done Mayan massage as well but that did not help. I did go to a gastroenterologist but she could not see anything wrong. So I think these types of issues are hard for modern day medicine to find and understand. Just like hopeful38 the original person who started this post, she could not find an answer either. I think part of me would just like to understand exactly what's going on with my body.
At this point all I can do is throw myself into the whole woman posture and breathing and hope for some relief. Thanks for your support and understanding.

There is something deeply disturbing about a woman gyno giving out the worst possible advice to a prolapsed woman (hysterectomy as a cure for 'celes, at ANY age, let alone 36 - in my opinion this doctor shouldn't be practicing). Instinctively we tend to assume that a woman doctor might do a better job of looking out for our bodies, and our welfare, and our womanhood, than a male doctor would. This may sound awful to say, but I suspect this doctor was talked out of her own uterus for a similar reason. Those inside the medical profession are as apt to TAKE bad advice as they are to give it. - Surviving

I am still reeling from a session this morning with a healthy 64-year-old woman who was hysterectomized last November by a female gynecologist who practices just a few blocks up the street from the Whole Woman Center. The indication for the hysterectomy was uterine prolapse. This poor woman was also implanted with a polypropylene sub-urethral sling.

What is so aggravating (it’s all beyond aggravating) is that this particular gyn used to send me clients. However, the WW work works too well and, you know, we can’t have that!

I can only hope she is able to have the mesh removed before it shrinks, migrates, and erodes through her urethra, bladder, or bowel.

She is going back to her doctor with eyes wide open. Please send her, and all the countless women like her, your prayers.

It is time for women to stand up and take responsibility for their decision to have surgery. Where was this woman 8 months ago? Why did she wait until AFTER the surgery to do her homework and find Whole Woman?

I don't blame any woman who had something done to her 20 years ago. But I'm frustrated and puzzled about the women who come here with problems from procedures they had done last year. It is time for women to say "no" and there are far too many of them still blindly accepting their doctor's recommendations without doing any of their own research until it is too late. - Surviving

Women are still being snagged left and right because medical hypnosis remains extremely strong. Many women seek out women doctors because they believe they can be trusted. However, just as in the greater society women can be some of the worst actors in our power-over culture. This particular woman voiced her concerns about the mesh sling, to which the doctor replied that all the patients she has implanted them in are doing just fine. How many times have we heard that?

After my first son (2008) I had a terrible time having bowel movements. I felt with it for a while until it was so bad I went a month without pooping. I went to the doctor, they did a CT scan and said I was literally full of it. Said take miralax 2x day for 6 months and you will feel better. 6 months later, I had a colonoscopy. They found an aggressive polyp, but no cause for the constipation. I had my thyroid checked about 5x. I told the doctors repeatedly that I felt like my uterus was pressing into my intestines. They said that wasn't possible. I had 2 more babies taking miralax daily. Out of the blue my problems I've been dealing with for 9 years with laxatives got so much worse. I've had to go to the bathroom and strain to pass gas for years and my bladder empties. This felt like I was pooping glass, and I was bleeding. I woke up in the middle of the night in horrible pain and I couldn't pass anything at all. By this time part of my intestines are sticking out. I went to the doctor, she said relax, play video games on the toilet. You are just rushing. Take heavy laxatives until you get better. The next day, I'm relaxing, playing video games, and I feel something really strange vaginally, but I finally pooped. My cervex was sticking out along with part of my uterus. Oddly, I felt better. I went to the ONGYN, at this time my uterus was pressing so hard on my rectim I wanted an epidural. The sonogram showed what I've been saying for 9 years. Doctor said I need a hysterectomy. I would welcome one now. Apparently, my surgery will be complicated and I need a specialist. I'm waiting for 6 weeks for an office appointment praying every day that my intestines don't explode while I wait

Hi and welcome to the forum. You have had a difficult time of it, but with the exception of Christine herself, we of the forum are not really qualified to offer an opinion on what's going on there. That being said, you haven't asked for any guidance in coming here. So I would direct your attention back to the guidelines and mission of the forum (link above left near the top of this screen) which is basically that we are here to help and guide women to manage their prolapse safely without surgery, using proven Whole Woman techniques and tools.

Every woman needs her uterus throughout life. The foundation of Christine's work was an effort to save her own uterus following a surgically-induced severe prolapse. The uterus serves many vital functions even after menopause. Hysterectomy is sure to worsen your rectal situation as the organ moves into the empty space. Since you have come to our site and forum, I can only hope you will take the opportunity to absorb some of the wisdom here. - Surviving

I did find out that my uterus was covered in endometriosis and since it was resting on my colon for so many years, so was my colon. The endometriosis have all been destroyed and I've never felt better.

Did you ever get to writing more about this topic, Christine?

I came across this message of yours (while thirstily browsing the forum for messages written by you - your approach and general perspective has influenced me in so many ways, or so I like to flatter myself) about the link between intussusception and malnutrition and my heart jumped. I gave birth (lovely home birth - and surprise breech, - a product of my time spent on this forum and in doing WW work) to a boy in the summer of 2015. He didn't pass any meconium and after the first 24 hours he passed a clot of jellied blood. After some testing at the hospital, they found that his colon was perforated and an emergency laparotomy performed. They found that Noah had intussusception in the ileum (iirc), which the surgeon said was extremely rare in utero, something he'd never heard about, much less seen. He removed about 12 cm of colon and the appendix.

Fast forward to today and I still have that curiosity as to why it happened, what was the cause. He's also quite delayed in many ways and I realize now that he probably has some underlying genetic syndrome going on (I can't get myself to get the MRI yet which the neurologists need for diagnosis). He's 26 months old now and just beginning to walk. He reminds me a lot of his siblings when they were each 12 to 15 months old. It's like a he stalled for a complete year of his life.

Just curious if you wrote anything more. I spent about a year picking Google apart for info about intussusception. This is the first time I ever read anything about a link btwn nutrition and intussusception.

Hi Chickaboom,

I’m always so happy to hear from you, and often tell my clients how we helped your mother’s prolapse by changing her alignment when she kneels to pray.

Sorry to hear of your little boy’s troubles. Yes, it may be part of a genetic sequela, and perhaps impossible to ever figure out. I know very little on the subject, because pediatric intussusception and intussusception of the small bowel in adults are very different from the “rectal prolapse” type we are familiar with here.

Intussusception of the small bowel is common in children, and because it is the species of microorganisms found in breast milk that help mature the infant gut, one has to wonder how many of these children were bottle fed. Anyway, not pertinent to your son’s case.

This doesn’t fit your situation either, but it’s just another reminder how important maternal nutrition is during pregnancy, since new information is clear that the gut begins to be seeded with bacteria in utero, the source for which is the maternal bloodstream.

Sending lots of love to you and your family!

Christine