Time to talk about my dysfunctional pelvic floor

Just over three weeks to go until the wedding! My final dress fitting is on Saturday and I’m where I wanted to be weight wise, which is a good job because my exercise programme needs to change in light of a recent physio appointment about my pelvic floor…

While I have been writing this blog there has been an underlying issue with my pelvic floor. I had intended to talk about it much sooner but it’s proving tough to talk about – partly because it’s quite embarrassing and deeply personal, and partly because I don’t want to get my facts wrong on such an important topic. I need to be very honest – when I say that I pee myself when I do high impact exercise, I literally mean that. Not a trickle, a whole wee. After my first baby, this was enough to stop me doing that kind of exercise, but this time I was on a mission and didn’t care if it meant using tena ladies to catch the drips.  I’m talking about it now because this is a common issue and is an important consideration when taking up exercise after having children – and in hindsight, I haven’t done things the right way round.

I have decided to talk about this because I want people to know that they can ask for help. I only knew to ask to see a physio because I was open about my problem and had a friend who told where to get help. I’ve done quite a bit of reading on this topic, which I wish I’d done months ago,  and I’m saddened and amazed at how common pelvic floor problems are – and how little women are being told about how to improve it. This article and this website took words out of my mouth – there needs to be greater awareness and more access to appropriate after care.

Apparently around 1 in 4 of women suffer from pelvic floor dysfunction after having children. However, from my own experience and sadly that of many others, it seems that the neither the possible extent of the problem or the help available is largely not being highlighted by midwives, doctors, health visitors or fitness professionals. Not having the appropriate after care when you have a baby must be leading to thousands of women putting up with ‘leaking’, (which appears be the polite and standard way of referring to wetting ones knickers), and making it worse by leaving it untreated or doing the wrong type of exercise.

Why am I talking about this now? I have finally had my first gynaecological physiotherapy session, which I requested at my 6 week postnatal check with the GP. I didn’t even know this was a service you could access after my first baby but after talking to a friend about my problems, she advised that I asked for a referral. There was no way the GP would have mentioned this if I had not asked. Private clinics are also available and I was just days away from my first appointment, which was going to cost me £80, when my NHS appointment thankfully came through.

The appointment has taken over 6 months to get but was really useful and has forced me to have a word with myself about my short term v long term fitness goals. I have been booked in for some further checks (I won’t go into detail but use your imagination) to see what exactly is going on, but the upshot – for now – is that I need to stop running and doing any high impact exercise until my pelvic floor muscles are strong enough to handle it. Therefore working on these muscles is a priority.

A few months ago, I was doing the standard pelvic floor exercises (10 x 10 second squeezes, 3 times a day), alongside regular exercise. At first I was really good at doing them then it waned  as I felt I wasn’t progressing. Deep down I knew that some of the exercise I have been doing was probably not a good idea but I was so focused on slimming down that I wanted to do the exercises that would make that happen as quickly as possible and that I enjoyed.  I also felt ready to run and progress the abdominal work I was doing. It’s never felt difficult or painful but it’s obvious really – if you keep putting pressure on something that is already weak it will get worse, like jumping on a bed with loose springs.

So running and anything that makes me wee is off the table until I have strengthened by pelvic floor and core enough to be able to do them without weeing.  Most of the stuff I do in the gym seems to be ok and pilates/yoga is great so I need to adjust my regime. I also have the pleasure of my new friend, the ‘educator,’ which helps  make sure you’re doing pelvic floor exercises correctly – I must admit the first few times I used it, I lay there thinking “fuck my life” but I got used to it. Unfortunately it’s not something you can use while driving (my preferred place to do pelvic floor exercises) or getting on with your household chores!

Somehow setting aside 10 minutes a day to do my pelvic floor exercises seems more difficult than finding 30 minutes or an hour to go for run or to the gym, which is ridiculous and I need to change my mindset to give it the same priority level as ‘normal’ exercise. The reason I’ve found it so difficult to prioritise and stick to the pelvic floor programme is that I can’t see or feel any improvements.  It’s also been quite nice having people notice how I look and complimenting me on my weight loss. I can’t imagine anyone is going to notice or admire my improving pelvic floor muscles! Whereas with running you can quickly see improvements in your speed and distance, helping to keep you motivated.

So anyway, I’ve not helped myself up until now but, as my future brother-in-law would say, “it is what it is” so let’s start with a clean slate – better late than never. I’m prepared for the long haul. I’m not planning on having any more children and I can’t spend my life worrying about where the nearest toilet is or whether I’ll pee myself if I chase the kids around the park. The results won’t be visible to the outside world but will mean the world to me. In a way, I’m glad I’ve only been officially told to lay off the high impact stuff now as I am at a weight I am happy with so maintaining that should be achievable as long as I don’t over indulge.

For now I’ll be continuing with exercise that does not cause me to wee and will keep up the ten repetitions of the pelvic floor exercises three times per day. I’m also going to try and pick up a yoga/pilates class to help with core strength (and relaxation!)

Before I sign off… if this all sounds familiar to you, please don’t suffer in silence. There are programmes available online (although I can’t personally vouch for them) and the first thing you should do is speak to your GP and asked to be referred to the gynaecological physio for a full check-up and advice.

Some useful resources for more info on this topic

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/Pages/your-body-after-childbirth.aspx

http://www.squeezyapp.co.uk/

https://www.pregnancyexercise.co.nz/your-pelvic-floor-muscles-what-you-need-to-know-part-one/

https://health.nataliehodson.com/abs11790639

http://holisticcorerestore.com/holistic-core-restore-explained/holistic-core-restore-4th-trimester/

 

 

 

 

 

Step it up

Last night I went to my first step class in six months. I got myself a new top (nice and loose) and popped in a substantial incontinence pad to catch the drips!

The pelvic floor issue is one I will revisit in more detail another time. Many women suffer from a weakened pelvic floor after having a baby and mine was never very good to start with!  So when I do high impact exercise involving jumping, I need some protection. At first I felt really self-conscious but, just as people with different body shapes worry about what they look like, I realised that it didn’t matter as long as I was doing exercise. It’s always been a massive bug bear of mine when people mock overweight people going for a run or to the gym – better they’re doing something that sitting on the sofa worrying about what some d*ckhead thinks of them! If the ladies that stand behind me have clocked my tena lady then so be it, but the reality is that they’re too busy worrying about getting the routine right to worry about me.

During pregnancy, I carried on going to Les Mills BodyBalance and BodyStep until I was about 32 weeks, then I swapped it for ‘YogaBellies’ – a specialist yoga class for pregnant women – which provided lots of safe alternative options for people with different conditions associated with their pregnancy.  After pregnancy, I feel like yoga is a little too gentle alone. I want to sweat!

One of the problems I’ve encountered with going back to classes after pregnancy is that instructors sometimes aren’t brilliant at offering specific instructions, alternatives or advice regarding exercise post pregnancy. This is really important because our bodies have changed and need easing back in gently and safely. Not all instructors have in depth knowledge postnatal exercise so it’s important to find out a little bit about exercising safely yourself before you throw yourself in. My advice is simply to listen to your body and take it easy – I tried to stick to the low impact options and I had my step on the lowest setting. The only advice I got from the instructor was “you’ll be fine!” To be fair, she was right. I was and I loved it.  The first time I exercised after my first baby, which I had by cesarean section, was a completely different story and I could barely manage some of the exercises.

I was fully expecting to ache like hell today but actually I’m not too bad. My thighs are slightly sore but I can get up and down from the toilet ok – the true test!

In other news I went to playgroup today, which is renowned for its luxury hot chocolate. I didn’t have one. I had a coffee instead, which actually ended up being spilt all over me and my toddler. Lucky it wasn’t the chocolate!