Hi moms,
I have had very weak pelvic floor muscles since my son was born (he's almost 2, the time really flew I guess). I try to do my kegels when I remember but I'm not very good at it! A couple of days ago I started to have this feeling like pressure in my vagina and rectum, like stuff was falling out, and feeling kind of achy. I thought maybe I was imagining it, but I looked it up, and sure enough, it's a real thing! :( I'm wondering if I'm experiencing pelvic organ prolapse, or maybe just worsening pelvic floor weakness. Has anyone experienced this, and if you did, how did you treat/correct it? Did anyone have success with your own exercises? Physical therapy for pelvic floor dysfunction? Did anyone have to have surgery? I am going to talk to the doc about it, but since it's Saturday night I thought I'd get some advice on here! I saw two old posts about this question, but from years ago. Thanks for your help! I'm on the verge of having a breakdown about it or laughing hysterically and drinking until I fall asleep. ;)
I have two kids, and the youngest is now 7 and I have started to leak before getting to the bathroom. I did the kegals, religiously for maybe a week. About 100 a day, and it really helped. Now, it has been, maybe 6 months, and it is starting again (not as bad), but I think I have to do the exercises again.
My mother had to have a hysterectomy because of this. So I would see your doctor sooner rather than later.
My sister has had some problems like you describe since the birth of her daughter. She spoke with her doctor who gave her several exercises that she HAS to do. It has helped a little and it hasn't gotten worse. Please call your doc Monday!
There are some things you can try yourself. One is called the uterine lift where you actually cup your hands around the uterus and lift up...google the uterine lift, you can probably find instructions.
Also, there is something in yoga called the "legs up the wall" pose where you basically let gravity work in your favor by hanging upside down.
I don't know a lot about this but please make an appointment with your ob. My best friend who is 36 is having her uterus removed next month because of this. She is choosing not to have a full hysterectomy due to the hormone issues but it's definitely a real thing you need to have checked out!
What will totally help you is good posture. Any time you sit or walk straight, you are engaging your pelvic muscles. Bad habits, slouching, sitting in front of the computer a lot weaken the muscles. The absolute best thing you can do is taking a beginning ballet class, or do Pilates. It will fix bad habits and strengthen your core. Also it will be fun. You'll feel like a whole new, very strong person, with great posture, and with amazing muscles all over. Don't treat this as an isolated problem/part of your body. Fix the whole thing at once and you'll feel wonderful.
Unfortunately this is very common for women. Go to your doc soon, if it's that bad, more than likely it will require surgery. Be careful though because just have a hysterectomy isn't always the answer, if you have organs starting to fall they will still need to go in and repair all that, so make sure and ask the doc about that too. Some docs are just "hysterectomy happy" so don't let them make you think that's all you need because more than likely it's not.
Doing keels properly is important and do them at red lights. You aren't doing anything else....and no one knows you are doing them.
Pelvic floor dysfunction happens more with coached pushing...like at the hospital when you have an epidural and you can't feel how hard you are pushing? Well, when they count or tell you to push, push, push....you are actually damaging your PC muscle. The research that I have read is that vaginal births without coached pushing significantly decreases that damage.
I've had 4 babies, the largest being 11 pounds - all without drugs. I tell women, "push to the point of comfort". Kegels are important for women AND men. This PC muscle is also one of the primary muscle in orgasms....so the stronger the muscle is, the stronger the orgasms can be.
The surgery is like any other surgery, it can go well or not. Regardless, you need to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles to hold everything up. They can pin everything back up, but years pass and it usually starts happening again. It's best to strengthen what you've got.
A friend of mine got tons of relief doing kegels, but what helped even more was her chiropractor adjusted her uterus....so she lied her down and a used a special table that drops to gently push the uterus north. This with the exercises made a significant difference.
Nothing worse than the thought of looking behind you to see your'e draggin your uterus.
Many of us mothers will fall prey to it.
My mom had the surgery 3 years ago, removed her uterus but then her bladder decided to prolapse.
It's an uncomfortable situation, she wears a pesary (sp) now to hold things in.
Have the doc check you out, hopefully it's not THAT yet.
I am anxious to hear if you get more advice. I saw a doctor for this and it is so very painful but it was going to very expensive to do a test that could or could not give me infection to test the bladder, etc. The doctor told me you can do surgery and still not fix the problem and the organs can prolapse on each other and it's very complicated sometimes. I really need exercise or something to do to help it so guess I'll try to google something. If anyone knows more please add it on here.
There is a physical therapist in Dallas that has helped many women with this. Her patients even tried to get her on Oprah.
I would search for someone like her before deciding to do surgery.
