Sike! 

Did you think I was serious?

This is the mainstream advice on the internet and often unfortunately, doled out by OB/Gyns too. What else is one to think when the person who is supposed to be the ‘medical expert’ of female down there parts, gives them these guidelines?

Before I get too down on the providers, I try to give them the benefit of the doubt that pelvic floor muscles aren’t exactly what they’re trained to do, i.e. delivering babies and more specific vaginal details. However, where I do take issue is their inability to simply refer to those who do know about the muscles. Instead, they choose to give arbitrary guidelines of weight and movement restrictions, inducing fear and even less movement.

X Don’t lift more than 20lbs, 40lbs… no data backs this up, period.

X Don’t squat or lunge… again, no data on this.

The discourse needs to change to highlight that it’s not WHAT you do, but HOW you do it.

For prolapse, this comes down to controlling pressures. Which ultimately means, the ability to coordinate muscles with the diaphragm and breath during movement to avoid bearing down on the pelvic floor.

Heavy lifting isn’t the problem, but heavy lifting with poor form can be harmful to your prolapse. See the difference?

One provider chooses to eliminate movement. Another wants to teach you HOW TO MOVE BEST to manage prolapse and keep you moving.

As another side note, prolapse is not always due to weakness. There is a lot of theory that tissue tensions are the root cause. Often I have found those with prolapse have significant pelvic floor tension that needs to be reduced first.

But it makes sense right?

Fear of organs “falling out” or actually feeling them descending out of the vagina, pressure and heaviness, anxiety about making an issue worse – all of these NORMAL reactions cause us to clench and hold tighter.

Check out this video and caption where I discuss this theory: click here to view

My advice on navigating prolapse:

• Listen to your body and what exacerbates your prolapse symptoms: temporarily stay away from those and reintroduce slowly as you rehab
• Learn pressure control: not bearing down with movement, or pee/poop, not breath holding
• Achieve connection to diaphragm and pelvic floor: reduce tension that you’re holding and learn to activate the pelvic floor from the bottom up on exhale AND to relax on inhale
• Strengthen surrounding muscles: core, hips, glutes, postural support muscles
• Posture: create flexibility of the upper body and ribs as well as strength rounded posture and overly upright posture both cause misalignment of the diaphragm and pelvic floor = pressure
• As always, find someone in person if you’re unsure. A few visits can go a long way.

Found this blog post useful? I’d love to hear from you! Send me a message and spread the word by sharing it with your friends!

Cheering you on ♥️
– Caroline Packard, DPT