I've been trying to puzzle this out. HOW do pelvic floor exercises help a prolapse? I can understand it holding the prolapse in more when the muscles are clenched, but when they're relaxed, how does that help the prolapse? Is it that 'bulked up muscle' makes the entrance smaller by taking up space, so that stops the prolapse falling down so much? Sorry if this is a stupid question! Something that puzzled me today too - I saw something in a catalogue that was being sold as a pelvic floor strengthener that you gripped between the thighs - trying to fathom out how the thighs would strengthen the pelvic floor! Unless it had all slipped a very long way LOL!
Chris, pelvic floor exercises are conducted to strengthen the pelvic floor that holds up the bladder, uterus, rectal etc. The weaker the pelvic floor gets , the further down your prolapse bladder will fall. So , thats why the ladies are doing pelvic floor exercises, so that the prolapse does not get worse for starters. Hope that helps.
Blessings to you
Lynn
So Lynn, once the prolapse is bulging with the hernia, how does it improve that when the muscles are relaxed as they are for such a large part of the time? I'm sorry if I'm being thick here, but can't quite understand the way it works.
Think of it as doing any other muscle exercise regime. Whether to build muscular arms or a tighter stomach. You work to achieve a look, just because the kegals are on the inside and we dont actually see them it doesnt mean they arent doing what we want to achieve- holding up our innards in this instance. Even if you arent flexing the muscles in your arms at any given time it doesnt mean that any hard work done to get them in the first place is a waste, the muscles are there waiting to accept the weight of for example three shopping bags full of groceries with ease when you decide to lift them into the car.
On a side issue many women find kegals useful with regard to a better orgasm
Also with regard to the catalogue 'exerciser' sit and clench your legs together- you should be able to feel at least some tension higher up if you get my drift lol
I was saying to my husband earlier (wrongly) that I imagined the kegal exercises strengthened the vaginal walls and even when the muscles were relaxed, because they'd bulked out, they prevented the herniated tissues dropping through, but I've got the wrong end of the stick there, haven't I. But unless these muscles are stressed with something like lifting, they aren't going to stop a prolapse dropping down, are they? Ah, but thinking about it - where initially it's a conscious decision to contract those muscles, I am finding more and more that I am contracting them without thinking about it, as I'm walking along, for instance - so is it that you get to the point of contracting automatically, while standing, and that's what supports the prolapses? Is this it?
Oh I'm so sorry, but I'm trying the clenching of thighs together but I'm just not feeling it LOL! I am trying LOL! If I do the kegal thing while doing that it's getting two totally different areas - I think I'm a lost cause on that one.
Was anyone told to do pelvic floor exercises before surgery?
You are not a lost cause. Just keep doing those pelvic floor exercises and the kegals if they are helping you. Walking is one of the best exercises for prolapse believe it or not. Lots of walking and especially walking uphill. As well, the stationary bike, is very good for prolapse as well.
Lynn
The explanation I read went something like this: The fascia and muscles and ligaments are all part of the pelvic flor and work together hold things up. If one part is stretched or weak then it puts more of the work on the other parts. I think cystoceles and rectoceles are both tears in your fascia so if you have them you want to make sure your muscles are as healty and strong as possible... your poor fascia certainly can't pick up the slack if the muscles are weak. It won't undo the tear, but you need the muscles to be healthy and strong and do their job.
One caveat is that if your pelvic floor muscles are in spasm then you should not do Kegels as it will just irritate them more.
I'm not convinced the thigh exercisers work, but I've never tried them. I found a biofeedback device called kgoal marketed to consumers and I thought it looked promising. I've seen it up on amazon and they have been out long enough that there are reviews out there. It won't work just after surgery as it has an internal component but I think I might try it at some point. Just not yet as I was told not to do kegels at this point (in spasm).
When i was first told i had prolapse years ago i was told to do exercises they even talked about an internal thing to clench onto which i suppose would have got smaller rather than bigger as you muscled in around it. Lol guess they are more widely available now!!!! Under a different guise lol
there is a machine on the market which electrically stimulates the muscles internally sold under the kegal name if i remember rightly
Yes two completely different and i know which one i would be doing and its got nothing to do with thighs lol
Doing the exercises would strengthen the muscles over time...the stronger they get the better you would be. My dr just told me they should helpe over time. Am trying to do KEIGEL exercise ... I am so sore with burning pain. Hard to do them for me. But I keep trying.
I have surgery for anterior, posterior and hysterectomy Oct 27.... I started with a physical therapist in reference to strengthening the pelvic floor muscles before surgery. This will continue when alllowed after surgery and will strenghten my pelvic floor to keep things in place and lesson my chances a having surgery later on down the road.
Thanks Lynn:-) Honestly, I have such a lot to thank this group for! I really hadn't realised the importance of pelvic floor exercises after the hysterectomy and prolapse repair. The physio who should have seen me before I left hospital was away that day so emailed me to say 'do pelvic floor exercises' but I really thought it was a short term thing and didn't realise it was a life thing. The post about doing it in three stages was hugely helpful too because that made me realise I wasn't using the muscles nearly as much as I could. Now tv ad time is pelvic floor exercise time - EVERY ad time! (so ITV is better than BBC!). I can feel the difference already, and am noticing that where I was bending over and feeling the prolapse push outwards, now I'm using the pelvic floor muscles to stop that and I was reading that it's a good idea to do that if you want to cough etc. so am doing that too. I'm hoping to avoid surgery for a long long time now! Thank you all! (this sounds like a parting post, but I'm planning on hanging around - we'll perhaps 'hanging around' isn't the right words, but planning on BEING around for a long time yet:-)
I do agree LIsa. I've tried this several times. I suppose the thigh one is good if you need to cross your legs LOL!
Dorry - THANK YOU! That makes absolute sense to me and I can understand how it all works now:-)))))
Ah yes, I've a feeling I saw something like that Lisa. I'll research it I think. I'm a bit anxious about using anything like that in case it damages any sensitive skin, but maybe it's soft rather than hard plastic or whatever. The doctor who looked at the prolapse a couple of weeks ago was so rough that she made me bleed and it was sore for such a long time but I don't suppose for a moment that these machines would be anything like that. Will definitely have a look. I found the TENS so good for pain relief in my spine that I've got quite a positive outlook on this sort of thing.
Oh Pat I'm sorry it's so painful! Yes, I think for you, starting very gently is going to be the way forward. I'm starting to think women weren't designed so well!
Ah - interesting! Was this through the NHS? I'm so glad that someone has got the right advice, anyway, even if I didn't! I hope it all goes really well for you and do let us know how you get on. I didn't have the posterior repair, but had the hysterectomy and the anterior. Mine was done laparoscopically and truly was amazing. The worst pain was the bloating but I spent a day thinking about what I'd take for it - was prepared so had various wind remedies, and by the time I'd decided what to take, the worst of the pain had gone, so I didn't take anything. I did take the pain killers they gave me though. I got a bladder infection (was warned I might) and that knocked me for six a bit, but as soon as the antibiotics worked I was fine. I was very careful not to lift etc. and husband helped me hugely, but the whole thing was much easier than I expected. I wish you a speedy recovery:-) The only thing I wish I'd done was take a cushion to sit on in the car on the way home from hospital because every little bump we went over seemed to jolt my sensitive insides - I can still remember that:-)
Meant to have said Lynn - I'm a bit limited because of bad knee arthritis for walking but do use the treadmill daily on a slight incline and use the exercise bike daily. So hopefully they'll help too! There is so much conflicting information on the net - like some sites saying that Kegel's don't help or can even make it worse, and looking just now some saying that the machine can make it worse, so it's very hard to know what's best, but I can certainly feel an improvement from the Kegel's so that's my experience with that. Has anyone on here used the machine and found it to be good or bad?