Running with a prolapse.

[ImBrian]

I've started a thread in general health as yesterday a bit of me decided to start hanging out which it hadn't done before! Said bit is no back where it belongs but it lookalike I have some form of prolapse.

The general feeling on that thread is that running is a total no go
I run 5-10k 3 times a week and I've got my first 10k race in less then 2 weeks.

Can anyone give me a glimmer of hope?

Have a look on the Hab-It website.

"We’ll first talk about running because it is an activity that many of us love and want to continue for years to come. I will speak from a personal stand point and I encourage any of you to share your stories as well. I have been running since discovering my prolpase 8 years ago and my pelvic floor is better conditioned today than it has been since discovering my prolapse. That being said, I think I am a different runner than I used to be. I don’t run on consecutive days, instead I cross train every other day. Is this because of my pelvic floor or my knees or my hips…probably for the recovery of all three! My body responds well to rotating impact and non-impact activities. Also, I pay attention to my running style, taking care to limit my heel strike and on hill running days, I now walk back down the hill instead of running down, again to limit heavy heel contact and pounding on my body. What I do get out of running is exceptional cardiovascular conditioning with both endurance runs and high intensity interval training. My personal story is that my pelvic floor is its strongest right at the peak of my triathalon training."
www.hab-it.com/blog/cardio-choices-and-how-they-affect-your-pelvic-floor/

You need to work on strengthening your pelvic floor - this is not just kegels! Have a look at the boards on the Hab-It site - lots of useful stuff there.

Yes, there is a school of thought that says if you have a prolapse you must never mobpve again or your insides will fall out.

There is another school of thought that says while you can't repair overstretched tissue/ligaments exercise will assist you in strengthening your pelvic floor muscles to compensate. Not exercising means the muscles get weaker and weaker.

You may need to cut back the running until you have got some more strength in your pelvic basket muscles though.

Also, if you are going to keep running throughout a tampon and some KY jelly or an incostress could help support things - kind of like a sports bra for your bits - until you get your pelvic floor strength up.

I have a slight prolapse and I've found that as I've got fitter it's got better.
I run, lift and do Pilates and a year ago I couldn't jump on a trampoline or skip without a trickle...now I can.