Cystocele and Flying Long Distance

Submitted by Bella18 on January 3, 2019 - 2:14pm
Body: 

Hi, Happy New Year to you all!

I have a cystocele (grade 2), which was diagnosed about six months ago. I practice the WW posture as much as possible, and try to do the exercises regularly. Things are going pretty much ok, although some days are better than others. But, that's fine. I'm optimistic, and determined to improve my condition.

My question is about long distance flying. Next month, I'll be flying from Scandinavia to Australia, and then back home again three weeks later ( a 26 hour flight each way). It'll be the first time I've flown since I developed a prolapse, and I can't quite remember what plane seats are like. I think they're pretty flat? Should I take a small cushion or a towel or something to sit on if I need to sit flat?

Does any one have some good advice?

Thanks!

Best wishes,
Bella18

Forum:

Christine

January 4, 2019 - 10:34am

Hi Bella,

How great that you get to travel to Australia! Yes, take a small lumbar cushion for comfort.

Also, you can always breathe into your midriff no matter what. Focus on that and don't worry about the rest. As soon as you land, pull back up into WW posture and enjoy your trip immensely!

:-) Christine

Typicalme

January 4, 2019 - 3:52pm

Hi Bella, I've flown a few times now with prolapse (all flights were under 5 hours tho!) but I didn't notice any ill effects.
I did find the seats more comfortable now, sitting in WW posture, than I did back when I'd try to relax into them.
What I did was push my butt alllll the way back into the spot where the seat meets the seatback and then the rest of my back didn't touch the seat at all. Sat tall, legs straight ahead, I did alternate between crossing my ankles and just feet flat on the floor. Now you can't sit like that for 20-some odd hours though.
What I'd try (if you're travelling with family or if you have no seat neighbors) raise the elbow rests up and try to sit cross legged some of the time.
and if all else fails, just try to relax as much as possible but keep lumbar curve, so maybe roll something up at your lower back and sit back over it. and practice breathing while you fly (sounds like you'll have plenty of time to really focus on breathing).
You're probably not going to be able to be in posture the whole time on that long of a flight - but that's ok. Just try to get into posture as much as possible and once you land.
Also you could do some firebreathing in the bathroom every time you're up...

what I've found is that landing is awesome for prolapsed organs. I sit up in strong posture and as the plane zooms to a halt i literally feel everything being pulled forward into my lower belly :)
(just more anatomical proof that prolapse isn't anything falling down, as much as it's falling backward)

Your trip sounds amazing - have a great time!

Bella18

January 6, 2019 - 3:24pm

Hi Christine,

Thanks so much for your reply!

Yes, I'm looking forward to going to Australia. And I'll take a small lumbar cushion with me:)

Thanks for reminding me to breathe into my midriff. It's taken me a while to get all the elements of WW posture synchronised, and it's only lately that I've started to really focus on my breathing as well as my posture.

While I'm here, I just want to say that I'll never forget the enormous relief I felt when I discovered your website six months ago. I felt I'd been saved:) Thank you so much for your wonderful work, and for showing us how to take charge of our own pelvic health ourselves!

A big hug to you
from Bella 18

Bella18

January 7, 2019 - 2:47pm

Hi Typicalme,

Thanks so much for your reply. I'm feeling encouraged about the flight now, after reading what you and Christine have to say. I think it'll be fine:)

I like sitting in the way you describe, too, with my butt touching the spot where the seat meets the seatback. I try to sit in this position as much as possible, so I'll do that on the plane, too.

I love what you said about landing:) I'll have three landings on the trip to Australia, and three landings on the way back, so with any luck, my uterus will be in its rightful place when I get home:)

I'll follow your other suggestions too.....getting back into WW posture whenever I can on the trip, and doing firebreathing in the toilet. Will be a fun trip:)

Thanks so much again!

My warmest wishes to you
from Bella18

namow

January 18, 2019 - 12:24pm

Hi everyone,
I'm having a cold right now and the coughing and nose blowing seem to push the pelvic organs in the wrong direction. Does anyone have experience how to prevent the organs coming out more during a cold?

Thank you and best wishes,
Namow

hhpop

January 19, 2019 - 8:50am

Namow,
I've had similar concerns recently, with a lingering bad cold. I resorted to bending down toward my feet, beyond 90 degrees, when coughing and blowing my nose. I also took the day off from work, on the day that I was most congested. I remember reading a study that said that jumping and coughing cause the highest spikes in intraabdominal pressure. And I kept reminding myself about WW breathing, posture, and walking. The cold seemed to make that more challenging, but I knew that it was all the more important to do everything I could to manage intraabdominal pressure in a prolapse friendly way.
This worked for me for the most part. It becomes more challenging, the more coughing and nose blowing there is. Good luck, and take good care!

hhpop

January 19, 2019 - 11:04am

Namow,
I tried to make of point of doing more firebreathing, to counteract the effect of coughing.
I'm lucky at work to have easy access to a large individual staff bathroom, where I go do this undisturbed. Though my job is in it's understaffed overly busy stressful phase again, I just didn't give myself any choice about taking the time, because coughing, though necessary, is not prolapse friendly. Taking Guaifenesin helped clear my chest congestion, which cut back on the coughing, even though initially it increased the nose blowing.

Typicalme

January 21, 2019 - 11:29am

There's a ton of info on the site about both but I can tell you my experience - I actually put my hand on my crotch when I was coughing and I felt everything bouncing around... this was back at the beginning of this work. it freaked me out....
and so I'd kegel when coughing or sneezing - and while it wasn't ideal, nothing was bouncing/reverberating. Once I got more understanding of the posture over time, I then started exaggerating the posture when coughing. I actually just try to stick my butt as far out as possible and lift my chest as far up as possible making myself really tall (sometimes hard to cough in that position). Sitting, even at work, this is easy because I really just tilt my butt/hips in the seat and push my pubic bone down into the seat, chest up and out. If I'm at home or somewhere private I'll lean forward standing up and try to stretch out from my butt to my ribs. sometimes crossing your legs can help too - as it closes the vagina side to side which is better than trying to kegel it closed.

someone on here said about how, with time, they're able to redirect pressure from a sneeze of a nose blow into the lower belly and I've been trying to do that.
I've also tried to cough as shallowly as possible - so I'll kind of breathe out and cough multiple times with the out breath.
just try your best i'd say - experiment - and then get back to posture as soon as you can...

Surviving60

January 21, 2019 - 12:35pm

If possible, I try to just do these things while sitting in good WW posture. The organs are pinned pretty well over the pubic bones. Not so easy to predict with a sneeze, but a good knowledge of posture principles will often enable you to strike a good position in time (as Typicalme describes). - Surviving