Can Hypopressives Make Prolapse Worse

Simone Muller

Contents:

  1. When Hypopressives is Effective
  2. What could be going wrong with your Hypopressive technique to exacerbate your prolapse symptoms
  3. Getting Started
  4. FAQs

Many women experience pelvic organ prolapse, a condition that affects not only physical comfort but also mental health and self-esteem. The good news is that these symptoms are treatable. Effective exercises for a prolapse are an important part of treatment and regaining a healthy pelvic floor.

When Hypopressives is Effective

Hypopressives serve as a highly effective way to counteract and reverse the symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse. This technique combines a unique breathing approach with specialised postural adjustments to trigger deep core muscles, including the pelvic floor. Hypopressives create an "internal vacuum" within the abdominal cavity, boosting muscle tone while reducing pelvic organ pressure. It's an effective strategy and set of unique exercises for prolapse.

What could be going wrong with your Hypopressive technique to exacerbate your prolapse symptoms


Incorrect execution of the Apnea/breathing technique

The foundation of Hypopressives is what we call the Apnea or Hypopressive breathing technique. The most crucial and challenging aspect of hypopressive exercises is the apnea breath. If the Apnea is done incorrectly or perhaps you are over exhaling on the exhale before the breath hold, this can create too much pressure on the pelvic floor rather than reducing it, and this can make your prolapse symptoms worse.

Improper Posture and Alignment

Hypopressives uniquely focus on activating the deep core muscles, including the transverse abdominal muscles and pelvic floor. This targeted engagement strengthens the posterior chain or the back of your body, which encompasses the muscles along the spine, contributing to better postural alignment. However, if you are executing your Hypopressives with an incorrect posture this can mean that the exercises you are doing are ineffective and can lead to increased intra-abdominal pressure, which could make your prolapse symptoms worse.

Not Getting Enough one-to-one guidance

To begin with it is essential you learn the technique from a qualified teacher and do a one-to-one session to ensure you are doing the Apnea technique correctly. Once you are doing the Apena technique correctly it is vitally important that your teacher checks that you are also doing the basic postures in the right way. Without proper guidance you do run the risk of misunderstanding the exercises. This can lead to incorrect postures and breathing which can potentially exacerbate your symptoms.

Getting Started

To get started on re-centre it is important that you learn the Apnea technique properly so that you can get the most out of the classes and the time you invest in yourself.

Each week Simone runs Fundamentals sessions on Zoom where she explains the technique and guides you through all the steps. She will also give you feedback to make sure that you're doing it correctly. For some, the technique may come more quickly than others.

Some of her clients, who are tighter in the ribs and thoracic spine do tend to take a little longer. For the technique to make an impactful change she recommends doing a minimum of 3 workouts a week for 15 to 20 minutes.

As a member of re-centre you can also always schedule a 15-minute one-to-one check-in with Simone to run through your technique to make sure you are doing them correctly.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Pilates is an excellent technique for bringing stability back to a destabilised postpartum body, but a lot of the traditional Pilates exercises, specifically curl ups (used often in mat-work repertoire) can be detrimental if pelvic floor dysfunction and diastasis recti are present. Unfortunately, at the 6-week postnatal checkup these issues are not properly assessed, and many women may not even realise they themselves are affected by these concerns.

There is a general acceptance of pelvic floor dysfunction with mothers often accepting that they may leak when running, sneezing or coughing. Also, the term “mum-tum” leads many women to unwillingly accept their new relationship with their bodies. LPF is a completely safe way of working a postnatal body and many of the women I work with have managed to reverse prolapse and drastically improve a diastasis.

I did the LPF training before having my second child and started practising postpartum after my second child. The difference in my recovery after my first labour where I only did Pilates was markedly different to when I practised LPF with my second. Within a few weeks my core was stronger than it had been before being pregnant with my second, and my pelvic floor was as strong as it was pre-kids!! If I hadn't seen the change with my own eyes or felt it in my body, I wouldn’t have believed it. It literally felt like the more I practised the more internal strength I developed. This was something I hadn’t felt since I was a professional dancer. I also loved that the technique doesn’t require hours of training. Only 10-20 minutes, three times a week will get visible results.

It is recommended at least 6-8 weeks after a vaginal delivery and 12 weeks after a c-section.

You will start to see results by practising 2-3 weekly sessions of 10-20 minutes. It is safe to practise daily once your body has adjusted to the practice which will take around 2-4 weeks.

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What our members say

Learn the technique and get started

Hypopressives is an effective technique toward relieving symptoms related to Pelvic Organ Prolapse, Diastasis Recti and Urinary Incontinence. Hypopressives also improves poor posture, pelvic floor weakness and back pain. I offer a flexible approach to memberships and a 14-day free trial.

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About the Author

Simone Muller is the founder of re-centre and has over 22 years of teaching experience across Pilates, Low Pressure Fitness and Yoga.

She launched the online platform to make Low Pressure Fitness and Hypopressives more accessible to more women around the world so that they can become the strongest and most functional versions of themselves.

Originally from South Africa, Simone's dance and Pilates career evolved when she faced post-childbirth challenges, prompting her to explore Low Pressure Fitness in Spain.

As the first level 3 instructor in London, she has witnessed transformative postnatal rehabilitation results in clients, addressing issues like Diastasis Recti, prolapse and incontinence.

Simone has written articles for the re-centre blog 'Kegels not Working?', 'The connection between menstruation and prolapse symptoms' and 'Why I love teaching postnatal rehabilitation?'.

Simone has also written guest posts for The Shala 'What is Low Pressure Fitness', Yana Active 'Prioritising your Pelvic Floor Health After Giving Birth and Nurturing the Core' and for The Pelvic Academy 'Empowering Women's Health - The Power of Collaboration Between Hypopressives, Physiotherapists and Osteopaths'.

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