Aa
Lifestyle adjustments
34 years old, 9 weeks Post vaginal delivery of first child: I have a rectocele and cystocele that are improving with exercises directed by a Physical therapist... (hooray!)
Just wondering, to keep things healing, how should I adjust my behavior other than doing exercises - no lifting of course, and I assume no jarring activites like running, but what else? Will the tissue stretch in a bad way if I'm standing too long, for example? And with no closure to my vagina, is swimming a no-go? Anyone have a way to handle the 'farting' issue during group yoga?
Just wondering, to keep things healing, how should I adjust my behavior other than doing exercises - no lifting of course, and I assume no jarring activites like running, but what else? Will the tissue stretch in a bad way if I'm standing too long, for example? And with no closure to my vagina, is swimming a no-go? Anyone have a way to handle the 'farting' issue during group yoga?
I'm so glad to hear you are actively working on POP treatment/maintenance path! I'm out of town right now but will address your post in detail by Monday!
Sher
Sher
Boy do I owe you an apologie conlapse, I missed this post when I reviewed the forum after I first replied to you.
The most important piece of info I can give you at this point after childbirth is to remember to contract your pc muscle b/4 you pick up your baby! We often realize we are not supposed to lift anything heavy but forget that this includes our children! Since we are so caught up in nuture mode, we don't think of our babies weight wise, we just want to nuture them. Swimming actually should be fine and is a great way to get exercise that w/o creating stress to POP issues. On the farting during yoga, it is so hard to find a reliable way to address this issue. What I can suggest is taking quite a bit of probiotics if you aren't already. (I take 8 a day plus eat an Activia.) If you start to have constipation problems from the rectocele, you might want to add buffered C to see if that helps. It is so hard to control constipation with a rectocele and in all honesty fiber doesn't do squat.
If you have more questions, please send them, again I am sorry for missing this post! Not normally such a space-cadet.
Sher
The most important piece of info I can give you at this point after childbirth is to remember to contract your pc muscle b/4 you pick up your baby! We often realize we are not supposed to lift anything heavy but forget that this includes our children! Since we are so caught up in nuture mode, we don't think of our babies weight wise, we just want to nuture them. Swimming actually should be fine and is a great way to get exercise that w/o creating stress to POP issues. On the farting during yoga, it is so hard to find a reliable way to address this issue. What I can suggest is taking quite a bit of probiotics if you aren't already. (I take 8 a day plus eat an Activia.) If you start to have constipation problems from the rectocele, you might want to add buffered C to see if that helps. It is so hard to control constipation with a rectocele and in all honesty fiber doesn't do squat.
If you have more questions, please send them, again I am sorry for missing this post! Not normally such a space-cadet.
Sher
Sher,
Thanks so much for your response - AND your work to raise awareness and understanding of this issue/epidemic.
Your comments on constipation were helpful and indeed, timely, but actually when I mentioned the "farting" during yoga I meant the way air can get into the vagina in some poses, and then when it gets expelled it sounds like a serious case of flatulence. Is there a temporary pessary that I could use just during a yoga class or anything? Or could I make an announcement ahead of time and how would that be worded exactly... kind of awkward but in some ways it would be a good way to raise awareness I suppose. Any thoughts?
Thanks so much for your response - AND your work to raise awareness and understanding of this issue/epidemic.
Your comments on constipation were helpful and indeed, timely, but actually when I mentioned the "farting" during yoga I meant the way air can get into the vagina in some poses, and then when it gets expelled it sounds like a serious case of flatulence. Is there a temporary pessary that I could use just during a yoga class or anything? Or could I make an announcement ahead of time and how would that be worded exactly... kind of awkward but in some ways it would be a good way to raise awareness I suppose. Any thoughts?
Thanks for the kind words conlapse, actually it is me that should be thanking all the women who are willing to share their info with me; it helps increase awareness and takes us one step closer to taking this out of the closet.
On the vaginal air issues, I don't think a pessary will be of much help on this avenue because the air is probably below that point, but you could try inserting a tampon prior to classes. I use a tampon once a week when I do aerobics to create structural support to the pelvic organs as well as whenever I do any heavy lifting like moving furniture. I think it would be beneficial for this air issue as well simply because of the space utilizing aspects of it.
I think it would be interesting to initiate a dialogue about POP at class and see if anyone else is aware of it and having the same problems with vaginal air being expelled, might be a pretty interesting conversation! And yes, it would be a great way to create some awareness in these women. Please send me feedback on how well the tampon works for this, if it does not do the trick there is another product availavble online that might help. I will contact the inventor as well as a physician friend of mine to get some feedback on this. Thanks for sharing your unique question!
Sher
On the vaginal air issues, I don't think a pessary will be of much help on this avenue because the air is probably below that point, but you could try inserting a tampon prior to classes. I use a tampon once a week when I do aerobics to create structural support to the pelvic organs as well as whenever I do any heavy lifting like moving furniture. I think it would be beneficial for this air issue as well simply because of the space utilizing aspects of it.
I think it would be interesting to initiate a dialogue about POP at class and see if anyone else is aware of it and having the same problems with vaginal air being expelled, might be a pretty interesting conversation! And yes, it would be a great way to create some awareness in these women. Please send me feedback on how well the tampon works for this, if it does not do the trick there is another product availavble online that might help. I will contact the inventor as well as a physician friend of mine to get some feedback on this. Thanks for sharing your unique question!
Sher
Thanks Sherri - I will give the tampon a try, and am also curious about the other product. Is it available on a web site?
Yes it is, I sent a PM to you with some info on how to find out. (We try not to do product endorsements on MedHelp).
Sher
Sher
I did hear back from the woman who has that product available on line, will send you info after e connect. I believe I sent you my e address, if not poke me, some days I go in 6 directions. She mentioned to watch for vaginal irritation from tampon if your tissues are dry but I don't think that will be a problems because of your age. Concentrate on tightening the core muscles throughout the session and change her breathing technique. The breathing has a lot to do with the wrong relaxing and downward force of the muscles and it will be like learning to walk again as you may have picked up bad breathing and holding habits for years. She said she would consider sending you a sample product to use if you are interested.
Sher
Sher
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