Exercise that is safe with prolapses

[Osopolar]

Does anyone know what exercise is safe with prolapses? My pelvic floor physio only mentioned walking and swimming, are those the only options? I really miss having a strong toned body but I don't think weights and running are considered to be a good idea? When I saw the physio I wasn't really thinking about exercise at the time so didn't ask more questions but really want to get fit now. I walk lots anyway but I find it doesn't get me as fit as I want to be. Swimming is fine sometimes but it is a bit of a faff and not good for my skin (I was in a club as a child and eventually developed an skin reaction due to overexposure. It has calmed down now but don't want to reactivate it).

[Ipswitch1]

How old is your baby and how severe is your prolapse.
I had what was considered a mild one, after ds. It didn’t seem mild to me though, that whole insides dropping out when walking feeling was awful.
I didn’t excercise at all for about a year, other than some walking and swimming to allow everything to heal.
Then did cycling.
Prolapse issues now much better, bothers me far less ds coming up three.
I avoid high impact but go to the gym and do cycling/rower/cross trainer and light weights.
No sit ups unfortunately I heard these can aggravate things, pressure downwards on your abs.
Sorry your dealing with this it does feel restrictive at first. But now I’m used to things and pleased I didn’t push myself post nasally and focussed on pelvic floors as my prolapse really has improved.

[Osopolar]

Can't claim him as a baby Ipswitch he is 2 The first year after was awful, felt as though there was a permanent bubble of air in my vagina which led to me walking in a waddly fashion. Fortunately it has now calmed down and i have two mild prolapses. I am just worried that if I do normal exercise it will go back to how it was but I am glad to hear it is working well for you. Perhaps it is worth giving the gym a go :) So annoying that running isn't good as it is so convenient and cheap!

[Ipswitch1]

Tasha mulligans habit dvd well worth a look at.
Ask you’re physio but I’m sure cycling is generally considered as pretty safe.
Again nothing’s guaranteed and I worry about mine worsening with age and if I decide to have dc2

[Osopolar]

Thanks Ipswitch will take a look :) This has ended any thoughts of DC2 for me and I worry about age too :( Have just emailed our local private hospital as they have a pelvic floor physio and the NHS only wanted to offer me one appointment.

[Ipswitch1]

I was told by my physio (private and worth every penny the nhs, like the rest of post natal care were worse than useless) that the issue of prolapse is so common that most women who have delivered vaginally have a degree of prolapse from very mild to severe.
Yet it seems so rare in real life ive heard no one speak of it. the amount of women who have had a child and look at the amount of responses to your thread, if it was as common as my physio seems to think you would be flooded with advice.
I can only think some women just completely ignore the feeling/incontinence until it becomes that bad they have to go and beg for surgery from the nhs.

[Osopolar]

Yes it is never spoken of! I just checked and one of my prolapses is closer to my vagina entrance than it was before so think it's worth seeing someone privately about it, don't want it coming out! I am fortunate that I don't have incontinence although the gynae mentioned that that could actually be the prolapse. Not sure what she meant exactly but that sometimes prolapses can mask problems with incontinence and treating the prolapse causes incontinence which is worrying!

[Verbena87]

General advice for prolapse safe exercise is to avoid anything that increases intra-abdominal pressure (so yes, probably no sit ups for this reason, or Pilates exercises with both feet off the floor at the same time. Heavy lifting, chin-ups, plank etc also not great), and anything high impact. But the most important thing is to pay attention to what makes your symptoms worse, as intra-abdominal pressure with different movements varies loads from person to person.

It’s also worth talking to your physio about running and lifting if that’s what you want to do - I have a grade 2 cystocele and slight uterine prolapse but used to run to manage anxiety and depression, and gynae and physio are both supportive of aiming to get my pelvic floor strong enough to return to running reasonably comfortably because the whole-person benefits outweigh the prolapse risk. With this in mind, I’m doing Pilates to work my pelvic floor in the context of my whole core/body (instructor is a qualified physio and aware of my prolapse, and lets me know how to modify where needed), electrical stimulation to ‘wake up’ damaged pelvic nerves and strengthen pelvic floor (under supervision of hospital physio), and kegels (4 sets of 10 slow and 10 quick daily using the NHS Squeezy app to nag me). Am also waiting for a pessary fitting in case that helps - can report back if you like?

There are some good prolapse related episodes on ‘the pelvic health podcast’, and some useful workouts if you search ‘femfusion fitness’ on YouTube. Haley Shevener is inspiring if you’re on Instagram (and swings some impressive kettlebells about), as are Pelvic Floor Patrol (lots of info and resources)

Sorry for the essay, and hope at least some of it helps.

Also, my prolapses both go up and down a bit according to my hormones/activity levels/their own nefarious agenda so don’t panic too much unless it’s permanently got lower. Lying down with hips propped up is a very old school treatment, but does give relief of stuff feels really bulgy/draggy).

[Verbena87]

Oh also make sure you engage your core before any effort (lifting, pushing buggy up kerb, moving from sitting to standing etc) and exhale through the effort. This really helps when I remember to do it consistently.

[Tumon]

Verbena87 took all the words out of my mouth! Excellent advice. After discovering my (so called mild but extremely distracting and irritating) prolapses 20 months ago (baby is 22 months now) I did a whole lot of crying and panicking combined with grief and ‘why me’ self blaming. Basically became obsessed with all things pelvic floor related. Saw numerous consultants and pelvic floor Physio’s until I found one that discussed more than just kegels (for some women kegels are enough to rid them of symptoms but for me for whatever reason this wasn’t the case) so along with kegels Pilates is just great. See if you can get some one to ones (more pricey but worth it if you can) with a women’s health Pilates specialist and then join other classes modified when needed. I now hardly need to modify at all!!
It’s been a long journey but I’m finally feeling back to my old self (I mean never quite the same after a baby but much closer than those early pp months)
I’ve learned that regardless of pelvic floor issues that high intensify exercise isn’t that great for you if your core strength isn’t good. So I tell myself These pesky prolapses have helped me in the long term (whatever gets you through eh?) best of luck!

[Verbena87]

Ah Tumon that’s great to hear you’re doing so well. I’m 9 months pp so early days really in the grand scheme of things, and really relate to the total panic feeling when you first realise what’s going on! It’s so good to know that things can continue to get better.

[Tumon]

Yes it does keep getting better. So much so that I’m actually pregnant again! Only 7 weeks so v early days (haven’t told ppl yet so weird to be saying it on here!) Honestly didn’t ever think I would be ready for this as if I’m totally honest I really didn’t want to have sex for a very long time after the birth. So rest assured that also improves with time
9 months post partum I was still very weak and hadn’t even found Pilates yet so verbena87 you are already way ahead of the game. My advice is to keep it up but also don’t let what might feel like set backs upset you too much. I got a bug about 6 months ago and everything seemed to get so much worse and I nearly started spiralling again:( but healing is not linear - there are ups and downs with this stuff but overall it definitely improves over time (and with the right work being put in!) I also paid privately for therapy as there was medical negligence involved in my repair but I didn’t want To drag it all out down the legal route but also did need some closure and to deal with it- so that helped! Sorry for the long post !

[Verbena87]

Long post is very welcome and has brightened up my day . There’s so much doom online that it’s hard to remember there are people living with prolapse and doing just fine - hopefully that’s reassuring for you as well OP.

Congratulations on your pregnancy- part of the reason I’m not even thinking about surgery yet is that I definitely want another baby, but want to get things as strong and functional as possible before I head down that road!

[Verbena87]

The improved sex thing is good to hear as well. I am VERY scarred up from tearing and extended episiotomy, plus have nerve damage so sex is still a bit numb and sad here, but living in hope!

[Worsethingshappenatsea]

I had prolapse repair op last year and can recommended a book called Inside Out by Michelle Kenway a women's health physio.
Tells you what exercises to avoid and which ones are safe and loads of other info.
I'm currently doing combination of Pilates any body balance with modifications, swimming and spin classes but no standing up.
I've given up high impact stuff as too scared will undo everything !

[Tumon]

Yes it is all doom and gloom out there, I felt like I had aged long before my 33 years and was just really shocked about it all. It just made no sense as I was so fit (an avid runner!) and healthy which I thought meant I wouldn’t tear badly. I also had extensive nerve damage and was in tears at 9 months at one attempt because could barely feel anything and just thought I would have to live with it. I started using the kegel 8 in Jan this year as well as all of the previously mentioned and think that would have helped with sensation maybe? Not sure what it was but things did gradually get better. I’m so happy to be the positive person reassuring Those earlier on their journey as I really lived for any positive posts I could find for such a very long time! I should also mention I did get back to running but used a Contam pessary (it’s like a double tampon that supports your urethra while you run) and it was fine! Have stopped now due to pregnancy but plan to get back into it at some point and found this good. I was fitted with a ring pessary but it didn’t work for me unfortunately but can be a game changer for many

[Verbena87]

Tumon thanks so much for all your kind words, the big dose of hope, and the info about the contam - will give that a shot if the ring pessary is a non-starter.

Honestly, you’ve really given me such a boost.

OP sorry to slightly hijack your thread - really hope this is helpful for you too. I agree that people in real life don’t talk about prolapse nearly enough and it’s rubbish because you end up feeling so alone with it all. Thanks for an opportunity to share tips and experiences, and hope your own recovery works out really well.

[olicat]

I'm 7 weeks pp and this is definitely uplifting as I think I have a similar problem. In the system already for physio and looking into getting some one to one women's health Pilates sessions once I have a proper diagnosis. I absolutely feel the grief/panic/why me thing and there is so much worrying stuff online so it's really nice to know that things can improve with careful intervention. I know it's super early days for me so hoping things will improve as my bits continue to recover!

[Redgreencoverplant]

OP here! Sorry I haven't kept up, thank you to all the advice, I will look into the books etc that have been recommended :)

[blinkineckmum]

Thanks for this thread. I have 3 dc close in age, 2 x b2b deliveries, one ventouse and one 3rd degree tear. Diagnosed with very weak pelvic floor and referred for physio. My youngest is now 3 months. I have no idea if I have a prolapse but suspect it. I am scared and worried. Cannot do kegels atm, nothing happens. Was a very avid runner and would hate to give it up for good. Good luck OP.

[Verbena87]

Blinkineck don’t panic! At 3 months I’m pretty sure I still couldn’t really feel my attempts at kegels either - i kept trying to do them anyway (weird: a bit like trying to push under epidural if you know what that feels like?) and very gradually things started to improve. Noticed a real difference around 7 months, and again now I’m using the electric stimulation (9 months pp). If it’s nerve damage that’s part of the problem (my gynae said that’s why I couldn’t really feel anything - explained it as being like my brain sending the muscles a message to contract and the muscle not being able to receive the message properly), nerves regrow really slowly so you might carry on seeing improvement for up to 2 years.

It’s really fab you’ve got a physio referral nice and early.

Sending lots of luck.

[blinkineckmum]

Thanks so much for bothering to respond. I will try not to panic!

[Parmo30]

Thanks for all this really useful info. I ended up with a 3rd degree tear and a rectocele prolapse after having my lo last year. To be honest I feel totally deserted by the doctors and consultants. One comment I received was that I was naive not to expect something like a prolapse to happen after giving birth! Dont remember covering that one at prenatal classes! The whole thing just brings me to tears every time I try and talk about it. I have seen a physio once in the last 16 months who basically gave me the squeeze exercises and the nhs app. I do go to Pilates but I don't think anything is improving. The consultant has told me physio won't improve anything in the long run and the surgery option sounds like it could do more harm than good. I really don't know what to do?

[Verbena87]

Oh parmo, that’s so discouraging! I don’t know loads about rectocele as its my bladder that’s decided gravity’s winning, but I’d definitely read around. Gynae told me I’ll pribably need surgery eventually but I’m going to do my best to at least put it off as long as possible.

Maybe worth paying for a private women’s health physio to see if there’s any more you can try?

And also