Exercise vs prolapse?

[BouncingOnATightrope]

Youngest DC is 7, very fast birth, slight prolapse after. I was told this can be from muscle tearing as no time to stretch. Got worse when I had a grapefruit sized ovarian cyst. Gynaecologist said not a lot to do as I'm too young to operate. No jumping, lifting heavy things, jogging.

Had a knee repair last year and am now at the point where they want to put more weight on the knees. Last physio session, he got out the trampoline... after I was less than enthusiastic, it's been postponed for a couple of weeks. But I did have to do squats and lunges with one of those metal bars on my shoulders, the idea being to progress to putting weights on it in the near future.

What the hell do I do? Of course I want to get the use in my knee back, but not necessarily if it means all my internal organs end up on the floor...

How do you choose which body part is more important

Good for you for wanting to get exercising but my advice would be to see a specialist women's health physio as a priority. I'm a quite alarmed though why your current physio didn't take a full medical history...

"Too young to operate?" How old are you? I'm young-ish and had successful prolapse surgery. I was running again at 12 weeks post surgery and have run marathons since. It really can be life-changing.

You do need to see a women’s health physio for advice on managing your prolapse. Mine is mild and as long as when I start a new sort of exercise I increase the load gradually (or distance running slowly) then it stays stable. So you might find that 7 years on you do ok, especially if it was only mild.

Im 37. I had no idea there was such a thing as a women's health physio. Is that usually in a different practice to a standard physio one? Would I need a referral? The Gynae made no mention of anything to do to "manage it" just that it's not uncommon after having children. I understood that they won't operate if you could still potentially have children. We used to take the DC for a run through the woods if they got too over-excited at the weekend and that was enough for a noticeable difference (feeling uncomfortable and having to push bits back in. Oh being a woman is so glamorous!)

I'm a quite alarmed though why your current physio didn't take a full medical history... There weren't any questions about medical history, just what sports I did, how I had the accident and what sports I want to do again and at what level.

I had the repair operation some years ago, and I'm younger than you. Please seek out a women's health physio - you shouldn't have to live like this. I know it's no fun at all - and it can be completely fixed.

If you go to your gp they should be able to refer, but I can imagine the delay to actually seeing someone might be quite long. You could obviously go private and yes there are physio's who solely specialise in what you're currently dealing with.

I find it hard to understand why this approach wasn't discussed before even the word 'surgery' was mentioned. Mummy MOT website or pogp.csp.org.uk are probably your best bets to finding someone local to you.

How a physio is happy to treat without having a full medical history is extraordinary. Not only is it vital for providing the most appropriate management plan but more importantly I would say it is negligent on a safety front. Your body has a 'legacy' that will influence all manner of things in terms of what treatment would be best provided, and just inquiring about your sports injury is ridiculous.

I'm cross on your behalf

How a physio is happy to treat without having a full medical history is extraordinary.
Now you say it, I feel like a bit of an idiot that I never considered this! I suppose for now I'll just have to tell the teenage boy physio that my gynaecologist recommended no jumping/weights.

Don't feel an idiot, it's the physio's responsibility to provide a professional, safe service and to ask the right questions to do so.

Personally I would have no confidence in said physio, and pursue the route of sorting your pelvic health out first, whilst making whoever you see about that aware of your motivations and intentions with regards to your knee and being able to exercise without any worry. That way from the get go expectations can be managed and a plan can be put in place.

Do not go NEAR a trampoline I’d you have a mild or graded prolapse. Massive no-no!!! You can do permanent damage and worsen your existing prolapse.

My prolapse is completely asymptomatic which is great but mistakes wold cause damage.

Sorry I’m posting and running!

Ok, so I've been reading a bit more.
The jury seems out on leg press - does it make a difference if you do a one legged leg press or a two legged leg press?

Squats and lunges also?

A referral to a women's health physio is going to take some time. In the mean time, I have found a website which shows a few of the exercises that I need to do and also tells you what you should be doing when with the pelvic floor muscles.

I'm 50 and have a moderate prolapse. I wanted to avoid surgery. I saw a specialist gynae physio who was herself a distance runner. She told me to lose any excess weight first (I've lost 2.5 stone) and that made a huge difference to my symptoms. She was keen I should keep jogging as long as building up gently and if possible lie down for 20 minutes afterwards to take pressure off pelvic floor. I also got some exercises to do that were tailored to me. It was really worth the time and wait to see her. Hope all goes well for you Op.

See you on Facebook OP? Find a group called “POP Fitness”. Really useful group!! active women all dealing with prolapse.

*are, not “see” sorry!

She told me to lose any excess weight first
If I'm being honest, I could do with losing 5kg. Since I hit 35, it's been creeping higher and higher even though I've been trying to do more exercise and (I think) I'm still eating the same...

if possible lie down for 20 minutes afterwards to take pressure off pelvic floor.
I can try to do this after exercising and when I get home from physio.

Saw the gynaecologist who says it's a grade 2 prolapse and offered me a hysterectomy... and said physio is unlikely to help. I replied that I didn't want to go into a hospital right now! That if it was unlikely then did that mean there was a chance physio would help. He said yes so I have a referral to physio (Monday and my next question is...what do I wear?!?) and is ordering me a pessary to use whilst exercising.