Question for Christine: Ligaments/Fascia

Body: 

Christine, you've just given me an "aha" moment: are you saying that the broad ligament, cardinal ligament, and uterosacral ligaments aren't true ligaments -- they're actually fascia? I'm asking because being able to visualize what's inside me is really helpful as I do the WW work, and I've had a hard time visualizing those uterine "ligaments." I learned in anatomy and physiology classes that a ligament connects bone to bone, but I know that the uterine "ligaments" sure don't -- they connect the uterus to... I'm still not sure what. Yet in the anatomical drawings I've seen (not super helpful) the uterine "ligaments" look thicker than other fascia -- are they a specialized type? Does this type occur anywhere else in the body?
Thanks in advance if you can take the time to clear up my confusion -- and my mental images!

Forum:

Hi Udara. Just commenting here, in an effort to keep this question visible until the next time Christine jumps on the forum. No way to know when that will be, given her many projects. - Surviving

Thanks, Surviving! I'll keep checking back.

Hi Udara,

This first illustration (click here) is a classic anatomical representation of the pelvic interior. You will find variations of this image throughout anatomy texts and all over the web, but the amazing thing is…it is always represented upside down! I simply flipped the image and it makes so much more sense. We can easily see the true positions of the bladder and uterus, right behind the lower belly in the standing body. Medical obfuscation is a very real phenomenon!

The “uterosacral ligaments” are clearly visible here as circular, white bands of fascia connecting the sides of the bladder, sides of the uterus, and sides of the rectum to the pelvic side walls, or round bony birth canal.

Most representations of the uterosacral ligaments (click here) show them as singular guy wire-like structures, which gives the impression that they could be easily stretched and easily “repaired”. This support structure is thick, like other mesenteries in the abdominal cavity. Nerve vessels, blood vessels, and the ureters are embedded in this connective tissue, and the reason uterine “suspensions” are so risky.

The round ligaments of the uterus are far more important, though. Here, as in other illustrations, they are shown as skimpy things coming off the front of the uterus and feeding into the inguinal canal on either side of the lower abdominal wall. In reality, they are big, ropey structures analogous to the spermatic cords in men. Unlike all other support structures of the uterus, they are made of the same contractile muscle tissue as the uterus itself. It is stated again and again in the gynecologic literature that the round ligaments have “no supportive value”, when in fact it is these structures that by contracting pull the uterus down and forward into its proper position. An anteverted uterus cannot be a prolapsed uterus.

I hope this first image helps you visualize the importance of tipping, or weighting, the pelvic organs forward against the lower belly, and away from the pelvic outlet at the back.

Wishing you well,

Christine

Wow -- the light dawns!
Thank you for this lovely and lucid explanation! And for taking time, when you were on the road. The links to the visuals really help. Your information about the round ligaments -- that they're made of the same contractile muscle tissue as the uterus -- is especially an eye-opener. Now I know what I'm working with. You are so right that medical obfuscation is real.
This gives me what I've needed, as I try to feel my way in to WW ways of sitting, driving, working at my new job (cashier), and doing daily tasks -- all the things that had seemed more complicated than maintaining the posture when walking. (My new mantra is antevert, antevert, antevert.)
I'm sure you've heard this before, but I just want to add my voice: I'm deeply grateful for you, your fine mind, and your incredible work. Hope you never forget how many people's lives you're changing for the better.

You are so welcome, Udara. You will get very used to that wonderful feeling of anteverting your uterus while lifting your chest and tucking your chin. These are all aspects of our natural human female form, which conforms to the same Golden Proportion as seashells, leaf patterns, flowers, and galaxies. Living in WW posture is a lifelong practice that continues to open like a lotus flower.

When the world has failed us and all our best intentions gone awry, *Standing in Our Own Nature* is what there is to be done.

More on this later!

:-) Christine