Had My 8 Week Post Partum Appt. - Christine, Question

I had to ASK my doc to examine me whilst standing up - Then and only then did he notice what I was feeling - So I would ask you to ask your own dr to do the same thing - As I know they like to do it while you are lying down - But I really feel that this should be done while you are standing - After all - THAT'S when we get the problems..

Good luck :)

Sue

I can relate to that. I felt alot of pain thru the stages that my urethra/bladder dropping. It may be different for other women. But this went on for a couple of months.

Certainly possible, Erin. There are many different forms and degrees of prolapse, an infinite number of differences between women, and only one effective response to loss of organ support: reinstating the normal shape and strength of the human female pelvic organ support system. This includes strong pc muscles, which are conditioned naturally hundreds of times a day as we bend and lift, run and jump - as long as we are in the right shape. If you feel you need additional exercise of these muscles, which do experience some stretching of their nerve fibers during vaginal birth, then take the advice of some of the women here who have signed up for pt. A kegel is a kegel, however, no matter what visualization may be attached to it (i.e. "elevators") and you could probably figure out a program on your own if you can't go to pt. Squeezing like you are stopping the flow of urine is the common instruction, while being careful not to also squeeze your buns together. Sometimes these are done with pillows under the hips and sometimes the abdomen is concurrently drawn in toward the spine. The accessory muscles around the pelvis are also commonly mobilized. Others may have additional advice.

We are unique beings on the planet in that our lower half is horizontal and our upper half vertical. This means we have an L-shaped core that includes our buttocks and thighs. This is true for men as well, but for women it is an even more pronounced reality with critical implications. Now and forevermore there will only be different levels of intensity of proper and effective treatment for prolapse through reinforcing this core organ support. At the core human females are the same, not different.

As difficult as it is for many to accept, prolapse is not a gynecologic problem nor can the answers to prolapse be found in a medical approach.

Christine

Erin...I was including loss of vaginal wall support in my response as well. Your organs may be just where they are supposed to be, but proper posture will still pull your vagina in an anatomically correct direction and may decrease your symptoms.

Well, the people who’ve studied this most tell us it’s not the vagina itself – which has a great, accordion-like ability to stretch – but the underlying basement layers of fascia that get stretched and pulled away during some labors – and loss or diminishment of these layers leaves the vaginal walls unsupported and seemingly thin and droopy. It seems the great majority of postpartum women with prolapse experience a lapse of a few weeks before their symptoms appear. It stands to reason that if the cause of prolapse were simply thinned vaginal walls you would’ve been symptomatic as soon as you stood up after birth, or shortly thereafter (which some women who’ve suffered more severe trauma are.)

I think a more useful way to think about it is that your entire pelvic structure is both stretched and deformed (have a nice day, eh?) so that your organs no longer have their natural support. The normal bladder, by the way, is not leaning into the vagina so that the vaginal wall is the determining factor in whether or not a bulge appears. Stretched and deformed sounds drastic, but your doctor is right that symptoms do almost totally reverse in some young women. If you want my opinion, Erin, jump all you want on the trampoline, but while you are on your feet under the forces of gravity, stretch into the natural shape of your spine and pelvis, which were totally altered during pregnancy.

I think every woman needs the posture (and good diet, comfortable clothing, and exercise), and every woman needs to explore what else they might be drawn to. Some have found mayan massage to be useful, some the kegelmaster, and others pt.