Anyone have Pelvic Floor Muscle Prolapse?

[twodiffsocks]

i have no problems with passing on mum's details. hope ya'll will enjoy it when i do

Socks

[junemom]

Patricia...what is it and where did you get it? I have heard about women using small weighted bar-type-thingies...is it something like that? If you don't mind elaborating some...

Christine

P.S. Tell me it's not battery operated. KIDDING, kidding.

[SharonNYC]

Originally posted by junemom
Patricia...what is it and where did you get it? I have heard about women using small weighted bar-type-thingies...is it something like that? If you don't mind elaborating some...

Christine

P.S. Tell me it's not battery operated. KIDDING, kidding.

I thought I had noticed something at gaiam.com and I was right. Here's the link:
http://www.gaiam.com/retail/category...5FWomensHealth

I have no idea how effective these things are -- and am amazed by how many there are right now.

[CrazyNanny]

A friend of mine had the surgery. I don't know all the details but she said she's so glad she had it done. The only problem she had is that she did too much when she got home (she's constantly working and cleaning and stuff) and she pull some stitches and recovery took a little longer. Something to keep in mind when you have little ones, you'll probably need some help for a while. She says her husband is thrilled if you get my drift.
I've had this probelm but I've been embarassed to discuss this with my doctor.

Patricia - I've seen that kegelmaster thing and thought about trying it but it looks like it would be hard to use. (I'm kind of a klutz and would hate to have to end of some kind of weird ER story). But since it's worked for you maybe I'll give it a try.
Carolyn

[Connie]

I would really like to find out more about this too. Indications for surgery, how likely that my HMO would agree, and recovery time. Effectiveness of the device(s) and how bad it was when you started using 'em...

It's like you said, Renee, for me: some days I think I've made strides and then some days I've gone backward. I would be afraid to do a high impact class in a gym without some major internal armor.

I had one child, natural, ten years ago. Circuit Max and other jumping jack- bellhop type things are utterly challenging. I take 4 bathroom breaks during the workut! The irony is that now I wish I could keep going without stopping, because cardio-wise it's not a problem.

[gerrie]

My goodness, what a subject to "delurk" on. But I have a LOT to say on this subject. Well, here goes.

Dr. Kegel's patients did pelvic floor exercises against resistance. The "kegels" most usually mentioned by doctors or in advice columns are not true kegels because there is no resistance device. Videofitness members will immediately understand the difference between trying to strengthen the biceps by doing arm curls without a dumbbell as compared to with a dumbbell.

I have several vaginal strenghting tools, because I bought the Kegelmaster2000 last. I have found it to be superior to the vaginal barbell, weighted tampons... You can not compare results from true kegels done against resistance to simple squeezes done against no resistance.

However I still had pelvic floor repair surgery. This surgery is not to be taken lightly. There is a risk of nerve damage in an area where every nerve is precious. The surgery hurts and you will require recovery time where you do nothing (2 weeks for me). But childbirth can cause internal tearing that only surgery is going to fix. I can do high impact again with no problems.

A special note to Janick. Pick a physcian who is not a colleague you work with or a friend you socialize with. A proper exam for pelvic floor prolapse is humiliating. You will stand with one foot elevated. The gyn will kneel on the floor between your feet. She will then do a bimanual examination (i.e. one hand in the vagina and the other inserted rectally). She uses both of her hands to exert pressure on the pelvic floor.

Every woman needs to ask her gyn pointedly who has acess to her gyn records. A few months after the surgery I found my gyn records where they did not belong. I was in a new internist's office for an "establishment" visit. The internist's office was in a different city from the gynecologist's office. While waiting for the internist to enter the examining room, I picked up my medical file to kill some time. I was shocked to find my gyn records there. Included were the results of the post-op visit. The post-op record had such details as how many of the gyn's fingers now fit into my vagina. I was now in tears. I had never authorized, neither orally or in writing this transfer of files. The story becomes even longer at this point with lawyers, HMO administrators, etc... I urge everyone reading this to think about your medical privacy and who has access to such personal information about you.

[Carouge]

After my second pregnancy a little over 2 years ago (a difficult and lengthy birth that resulted in an emergency caesarean), I pretty much had the same problems you describe.

A physical therapist at the hospital had given me a handout describing pelvic floor execises along with a lecture on how important it is to work that area after pregnancy, but I wasn't very consistent and 6 months after the birth of my child, I avoided high impact and dreaded coughing fits.

When I complained to my mid-wife and my OB Gyn, both immediately asked whether I had been doing the exercises.
So I began to do them regularly and have seen great improvement since. However, it did take at least a year of nearly daily exercise before I saw (felt ) major results.

I think anyone can see results with exercise alone, but you have to be consistent and it does take (according to my OB Gyn and the physio) anywhere from 6 months to 2 years for good results. So you might want to give it a year and then you can always consider surgery if you don't see any improvement. If you don't have a physical therapist or mid-wife who can help, there are lots of books on the subject.

Fran

[sandym]

(three kids delivered vaginally) but no "leakage" more pain and pressure. I hava found several sure things that bring on pain and discomfort a) lifting weights over 10 lbs. b) Traditional ab work (crunches etc). I have read that this increases the intra abdominal pressure causing pressure on the pelvic area. Here is a good website specifically about prolapse. I think it is an Australian site http://groups.msn.com/ChoiceforProla...pgmarket=en-au

Also a thing to consider: I read on some medical sites that even if you have the surgery you are advised never to lift anything over 20 lbs. or you could be right back where you started.

[junemom]

After posting last night I immediately did a search for the kegelmaster 2000 and bought one. I have been doing kegels, like I said, not with much regularity but there was at least a full year to 18 months in the past couple of years that I was doing them, alot. I can say that it didn't really help much, and I have high hopes for starting again with a resistance device. I will defintely let you all know how it goes.

I would hate to have the surgery to be able to do my high impact cardio and then find out I can no longer lift heavy. Frankly, at that point, I'd rather wear a pad.

If anyone has any other book reccomendations, I'd love to hear them,

Christine

[Motivatedbusymo]

I know I don't want to consult yet, because I plan on having another child sometime within the next year. Any surgical procedure would be futile in my case.

I looked into the Kegelmaster a few months back, but since I didn't know of anyone who had used it, I wasn't sure that it would be helpful... Now, I'm willing to try it.