When I first “cracked the code” on stabilizing and reversing prolapse, and wrote and published Saving the Whole Woman, I set up this forum. While I had finally gotten my own severe uterine prolapse under control with the knowledge I had gained, I didn’t actually know if I could teach other women to do for themselves what I had done for my condition.
So I just started teaching women on this forum. Within weeks, the women started writing back, “It’s working! I can feel the difference!”
From that moment on, the forum became the hub of the Whole Woman Community. Unfortunately, spammers also discovered the forum, along with the thousands of women we had been helping. The level of spamming became so intolerable and time-consuming, we regretfully took the forum down.
Technology never sleeps, however, and we have better tools today for controlling spam than we did just a few years ago. So I am very excited and pleased to bring the forum back online.
If you are already a registered user you may now log in and post. If you have lost your password, just click the request new password tab and follow the directions.
Please review and agree to the disclaimer and the forum rules. Our moderators will remove any posts that are promotional or otherwise fail to meet our guidelines and will block repeat offenders.
Remember, the forum is here for two reasons. First, to get your questions answered by other women who have knowledge and experience to share. Second, it is the place to share your results and successes. Your stories will help other women learn that Whole Woman is what they need.
Whether you’re an old friend or a new acquaintance, welcome! The Whole Woman forum is a place where you can make a difference in your own life and the lives of thousands of women around the world!
Best wishes,
Christine Kent
Founder
Whole Woman
Christine
June 25, 2006 - 11:24pm
Permalink
Resisting prolapse
Hi Margi,
In all cases of prolapse and all cases of stress incontinence, the organs (bladder, uterus, and/or sigmoid colon) have pulled away from their natural positions close to the lower abdominal wall. This can initially cause “wheeling” or hypermobility of the urethra and urinary incontinence when you cough or sneeze, until the bladder base moves back far enough to abnormally kink the urethra. This corrects the incontinence, but also leads to inability to empty completely of urine due to the bladder base being lower than the urinary outlet AND, of course, the bulge of cystocele. For some women, it is a hypermobile uterus that has stretched its broad, ligamentous connections to the pelvic sidewalls presenting first at the vaginal opening.
You ask a very logical question and I’m betting you will be able to visualize the answer to your question in short order.
Imagine: every time you take a breath, pressure within your body cavity is actually blowing your pelvic organs down and back. This anatomical reality is very easy to SEE by just looking at the way the urethra/bladder, vagina/uterus, and rectum/colon are positioned within the body. It is no accident that they all look like they are being blown backwards by a powerful wind, like this: 777. The urethra, vagina, and rectum are being forced backward, but something causes the bladder, uterus and sigmoid colon (the top part of the ‘sevens’) to hold their positions near the front of the body. That something is the lumbar curve in our spine, which forms a bony arch above these organs and causes the pathway of intraabdominal pressure to press DOWN on them instead of back, essentially pinning them into place. Sharp right angles are consequently created in all of these organs, adding a significant aspect of pelvic organ support. Loss of this spinal curvature causes the organs and their respective channels (urethra, vagina, and anus/rectum) to become vertically oriented within the pelvis and completely unprotected from internal pressures.
You are right, the vagina has no resistance to descending organs. The fact is, it doesn’t need to in normal anatomy when it is being pulled to the back while potentially-prolapsing organs are simultaneously being pushed to the front. Someday all women will understand their own anatomy and will be able to see the futility of presenting studies on the benefits of traditional kegels as it becomes obvious that skeletal shape and positioning of the organs are all that really matters.
IN ALL CASES OF PROLAPSE the organs have pulled away from their natural positions at the front of the body. Causes of such displacement can be as varied as loss of normal spinal shape or chronic, extreme rises in pressure from straining on the toilet.
Your doctor gave you good advice in one regard. Surgery is a terrible response to prolapse. Generally speaking, the worst wholewoman day cannot even be compared with the best post-reconstructive day. Once you stabilize your prolapse through posture and lifestyle YOU WILL SEE how much control you have over your condition and that it never need progress for the remainder of your active years and will probably improve considerably. We are once again creating the anatomic elements of postural pelvic support so that the organs begin to retract naturally. This is not a total cure, but a way to live very well with these conditions.
Do Nothing is horrible, heartless, cowardly advice. Learn the posture, walk, run, leap, have lots of sex, get fitted for a pessary and enjoy the rest of your life knowing that you have a body perfectly capable of responding to prolapse.
Wishing you well,
Christine