It’s hard to look after your body when you haven’t got the knowledge or you actually have no idea what you should be looking for. We rely on the professionals to know what our OWN body needs – but your body doesn’t communicate with your doctor, midwife, physiotherapist or wellbeing coach in the same way that it does with you. Our bodies are designed to tell us when something isn’t feeling ‘normal’, and it is our responsibility to listen and understand what is is trying to say. We need to start taking notice of the signs and educate our minds to connect with our body. At the end of the day, it is our very own suit of armour – protecting and helping to prevent long term damage.
This week, in our blog, we are encouraging you to get into a new mind-set, and help you to understand the importance of your pelvic floor health. One of the key issues that we want to discuss with you is Prolapse.I think we all have the ability to switch off from topics that are potentially of a concern and ignore the help that is on offer. We are here to talk you through what prolapse is, what you are looking out for, and ways you can help prevent and manage it. The condition can affect every woman, but is often accelerated in those that have been through childbirth, menopause, gynaecological surgery or if you are putting increased pressure on your abdomen through weight gain or even constipation. We can imagine you right now thinking ‘why me’ and feeling that wave of disappointment, wondering why you bothered eating well and doing the standard daily fitness routine for the last 10 years if you’re still going to end up suffering with your pelvic floor health – ladies, we hate to break it to you, but this alone just isn’t enough.
Let’s start from the top with what prolapse actually is, what does it mean?
When we are talking about prolapse, we are discussing an organ that has moved out of its natural place within the pelvis. This could be your bladder, bowel, cervix, uterus or even your vagina. It causes discomfort, and potential long term damage if not picked up swiftly.There are different types of prolapse {as shown in diagram below} with each one connecting to some of the symptoms you may experience.
Symptoms of prolapse.
It is entirely possible that you could have suffered a prolapse without even knowing about it, so here are some of the common indications and signs to look out for;
A lump or bulge in your vagina
A dragging sensation in your vagina
A sense of heaviness or aching in your lower tummy and pelvis
Lower back pain
Failure to completely evacuate bowels
Pain, discomfort or other unusual sensations during intercourse
Pain or inability to hold in a tampon
Loose or heavy feeling during exercise
There are several ways to help prevent, and treat prolapse – starting with a very simple lifestyle and exercise regime. It’s important that you maintain a healthy weight, eat a diet full of the correct fibres, fats and carbs and drink plenty of water to ensure you do not have problems with your bowels. If you seek advice on an effective way to maintain your pelvic floor health through exercise that will help to tone, strengthen and lift up your pelvic floor and alleviate the pressure on already prolapsed organs. Our pelvic floor has an extremely important role within the body; it maintains the everyday functioning of the bladder and bowel, while supporting all of the pelvic organs. As with any muscle group; exercise it and it becomes stronger. A strong pelvic floor will be more equipped to hold the organs in place, thus reducing the risk of prolapse.
Your pelvic floor has so many life challenges that it goes through, and we must guide it through safely by practicing our Pelvic Health Mind-set to ensure quality of life into our prime years. We want this blog to be informative, and to give you the tools you need to make you aware of the importance of pelvic floor muscle training. It is important that your pelvic floor is correctly activated during your exercises, as a lot of women do it in a way that can sabotage and damage it. There is a large focus on your breathing technique, as breath holding and bearing down when activating your pelvic floor can end up being a hindrance to your journey. You need to consider the importance of your pelvic floor and it’s in-depth connection to your core. All aspects of your core and pelvic floor need to work in synergy, in order for you to reduce the incident of pelvic organ prolapse.
Nina Parnham offers a fantastic Holistic Core Restore® course that gives you the advice and guidance you need to set the path for your Pelvic Floor journey. This programme uses comprehensive methods to improve pelvic floor, core and overall health. We use functional exercises and also work on healing nutrition and lifestyle, plus homework each week to enhance your progress. The course is ideal for women at all stages of life, and targets the re-introduction of your entire core and pelvic floor to the rest of your body. They do not exist in isolation; in order for your for each part of your body to do it’s job, they need to work in unity. The programme is effective, it’s time efficient and thousands of successful and happy women testify that IT GETS RESULTS!
We understand that the thought of discovering you that you have a prolapse could feel completely devastating, but let’s make sure you get to it before your body does. The average woman has no idea how to look after her pelvic floor, so why don’t you stand out from the crowd and respect, look after and train your body and mind.
