Nobody knows your body better than you. Every woman’s body is different, so it is your responsibility to learn what works for you and what doesn’t. Take the time to learn what makes you feel healthy, energetic, and strong. What foods, what exercises, what activities will help you feel good? It will be different for all of us, but developing a confidence in your own ability to take control is the final step in pelvic floor rehab.
You can develop this confidence by 1) Reading more of my blog entries, and asking questions to help you better understand; 2) Self exploration of your own anatomy to truly understand the anatomy you are seeing in books and on the internet; 3) Trying different exercises and deciding for yourself which ones you feel the most and which ones have a positive effect on your pelvic floor symptoms; 4) Staying consistent with what works. If you are consistent, it is easy to identify the variable that may be responsible for a temporary increase in symptoms at any given time.
With this recipe for success you are setting yourself up for a great feeling of control. It’s a wonderful feeling to know that you understand your body. I want to close this blog with a couple links that highlight women who have found this understanding. You can feel the strength and the energy from these women. Take the time to click on the links below and fast forward to the comments following these blogs as great examples.
http://prolapsehealth.com/forums/topic.php?id=1031
http://www.hab-it.com/?topic=great-improvement
Hi Tasha! I am so happy that I have found your website, and your DVD. I am currently 8 weeks postpartum with my 2nd child. During my pregnancy, my abdominal muscles separated, and I began having a lot of trouble with incontinence. At 2 weeks postpartum, I discovered I had a cystocele, which was confirmed by my OB at 6 weeks pp. At only 29 years old, I was devastated. I was no longer having trouble with incontinence, but wanted to do all I could to strengthen my pelvic floor. I immediately purchased your DVD, and have been going the exercises in your workout 1 for one week. I’m already seeing such improvements with the look of my cystocele, and I can’t tell you how elated I am!
My questions for you: I am an RN, and I work in an Adult ICU. I’m on my feet 13 hours a day, 3 times a week. My job requires heavy lifting, turning and pulling, and I’m concerned that I will have trouble once I get back to work. Are there any type of support garments I should look into to use during my work day? Any tips for protecting myself while I turn my patients? Should I engage my TA muscles before pulling and turning?
Also, any other exercises I should focus on to get my abdomen stronger after my muscle separation?
Again, I thank you so much for your website and DVD! I will keep you up to date with my progress!
Karla,
I am so glad that you are working through the exercises and have noticed an improvement already. For you and your job, posture will be the most important thing! Hear me again – Focus on Your Posture!!! Your job is very demanding, but you can do it with strong control of your posture and your lifting habits.
I have several tips for you: the first is that you will probably have to work beyond the Hab It dvd. The dvd will give you a solid base and will help reduce your diastasis recti but because of the demanding nature of your job, you will have to strengthen beyond the Hab It dvd. You can get this from the Advanced Program. This program will have more advanced TA moves that will help to further reduce your diastasis and help build your endurance for the lifting you will be doing and the long hours at work.
Second, you will have to be sure to breath out every time you exert to lift a patient and you are correct, you should engage your TA and draw your pelvic floor up before you lift.
Third, I would recommend wearing compression shorts to improve the “proprioception” of the perineal area. I love Desoto low rise triathalon shorts.
Finally, you will have to be patient and consistent with your posture and exercises. But even with this, you will have to build your bodies endurance when you first return to work.
-Tasha
Hi, Tasha:
I just started the DVD program a week ago. I’m 57, postmenopausal, and have a severe cystocele and moderate uterine prolapse. They pretty much drive me nuts, so I’m hoping this program might help. I have some questions: Some feel that plank exercises are not good for women with prolapses. The same concern is sometimes expressed for Kegels done while lying on the back. I’m wondering if I should skip those parts and concentrate on the ball exercises and other parts of the program. What are your current thoughts on this? Thanks.
Hi there,
I am happy to respond to your concerns about some of the exercises on the Hab It dvd. The fact that the collection of exercises on the dvd are different than what you have heard or seen on other programs is a very positive thing. Physical therapy is constantly evolving as more therapists work with various rehabilitation protocols and learn what muscles synergistically work together and what muslces stabilize etc. For example, I tore my ACL in 1991 and my rehab protocol is completely different than what knee patients are doing today. That is because of the learning process that comes with experience.
So YES, the Hab It dvd is different and that is GREAT! The past programs have lead women to a feeling of hopelessness, as if surgery is their only option. With the Hab It program there are countless stories of how women have now avoided surgery and feel as though they have regained control of their life. This program includes planks because we have learned that the TA is a synergistic muscle working in coordinated fashion with your pelvic floor and multifidi. Without TA work you won’t achieve full recovery of your pelvic floor. Keep in mind your TA can be worked with postural training and on your hands and knees if the plank feels to advanced (Workouts 1-3 have TA work that are not as advanced as the plank). And working your pelvic floor on your back is the easiest position to feel the muscle contraction and coordinated effort of your pelvic floor and TA. It is important to get a strong activation of these two muscles working together to set the base of your program.
Take the time to read through our testimonials and other blogs along with the comments. You will get a good feel for this program and the sense of control it gives back to women. If you have concerns or doubts, I encourage you to try the program and feel for yourself the difference.
Feel free to ask any other questions as they come up!
-Tasha
Thank you for the quick response. I have to say that some of my information comes from a very different program which I tried without success. I will keep doing the Hab-it workout and see how it goes. It certainly “activates” all sorts of leg muscles that could use a little wake-up call! My hamstrings and hip flexors are typically tight, and these exercises are helping with those. Your program seems very thorough and well thought-out. Thanks again.
Absolutely no problem. All questions are good questions because they stir thoughts and questions that many women may have. Hopefully by working through the process, we all come away with a better understanding of our bodies. That is key to a full recovery.
Keep us updated on your progress after you work your way through a couple weeks of the Hab It dvd.
-Tasha
Hi, Tasha:
I’m enjoying the workouts, particularly workout #2. It’s the “clams.” The image makes me smile, and the exercises really stretch some muscles that need it.
Meanwhile, the bulge remains, but last night with a strong 2-part Kegel contraction I believe I felt it move up and seem smaller. I realize this will take a while, but I am hopeful that progress can be made.
By the way, this series of exercises seems like it would be really good for horseback riders. I was riding a lot until sidelined by worsening prolapse symptoms. The adductor squeezes, posture, and TA muscle work can give the whole body stability and strength. I think I have always had weak TA muscles.
If you have some suggestions for upper body strengthening without placing undue stress on the pelvic floor, please point me to them. I am resuming some light dumbbell work in a seated postion, for starters, and trying to convince myself to get back into the swimming pool. Thanks for helping me find my inner bivalve 🙂
Falling up,
You are right, the forward position on the horse and tight adductor squeeze required to stabilize are great. I have never rode a horse beyond recreational outings, but from what I understand, you support your body in the stirrups and don’t bounce on the saddle, right? Any bouncing where you are landing on your pelvis would be tough on your prolapse.
As for arm exercises, I have my favorite arm exercises within our Advanced Workout that you can find on this site. Since you just started the Hab It dvd weeks ago, you are not ready for the advanced core exercises within the program, but if you want to work through the arm exercises that would be fine. I really focus on…you guessed it…postural muscles of the mid to upper back as well as triceps on the BACK of the arms. I really do love extension!!! It is great for you and will maintain your posture for years to come!
Be sure to exhale with every exertion and be aware of drawing your belly button up to set your posture with each exercise. You will hear all my cues for this in the videos!
Good luck,
Tasha
Hi, Tasha:
Well, some horses are bouncier than others. There is definitely some impact on the pelvis. But it is great for the inner thigh muscles. I really miss riding, and I hope that I can at least get back to riding a smooth-gaited horse at some point in the future. I am happy to know that you and others run again, which creates a lot of impact, too. I’d like to do something that vigorous without worrying that my organs will take a dive!
Thanks for the tip on arm exercises. Everything got wimpier when I stopped riding 🙁 I will definitely check these out.
PT’s who have treated me for back and neck issues have emphasized extension. I am a veteran McKenzie back extension patient! Those have been really useful, and I still do a few sets per week. I am really looking forward to strengthening all these muscle groups and reshaping some supportive tissue. Thanks again for all your efforts.
Falling Up
You got it!
-Tasha