Post Birth Rehab: Can Hypopressives Help Rectocele?

Repairing Bladder Function: Hypopressives for Cystocele

Contents:

  1. Understanding Rectocele: Causes and Symptoms
  2. Hypopressives: A Low-Pressure Approach to Pelvic Floor Health
  3. How Hypopressives Can Improve Rectocele: Exploring the Benefits
  4. Getting Started With Hypopressives
  5. Frequently Asked Questions

After vaginal childbirth, you may notice some pelvic changes. Things can feel so unfamiliar at first that it may almost feel like you're living in a stranger's body. This is a disorienting experience, but this phase doesn't last forever.

Eventually, the soreness will dissipate and any acute injuries should heal within a few weeks or months. However, sometimes weak pelvic floor symptoms can persist leading to a bigger concern around long-term issues.

The muscles that make up the pelvic floor support the bladder, the uterus, the bowel, and the rectum. When the pelvic floor has become weakened and stretched from pregnancy and childbirth, these internal organs can be prone to prolapse.

One common example of this is rectocele. This is when the rectum bulges into the posterior vaginal wall. If you're wondering if hypopressives can help rectocele, you're in the right place.

Understanding Rectocele: Causes and Symptoms

Although rectocele is commonly thought of as a condition that arises after vaginal childbirth, it can develop in other ways. Men or women can have rectoceles, and a few things heighten the risk of it occurring such as chronic straining to pass stools (frequent constipation), obesity, genetic factors, a history of surgery in the pelvic region, and increased age.

Rectocele can range from relatively benign and symptomless to a serious issue that requires surgery. In all cases, it's important to understand what lifestyle factors can help or harm so it doesn't worsen with time.

Another important reason to address rectocele is because most people with this condition will experience digestive troubles. It makes it difficult to pass a complete bowel movement and may lead to constipation, pelvic pain, and even sexual dysfunction. This means it can impact your everyday comfort and wellbeing in other areas of life. Thankfully, hypopressives can help rectocele.

Hypopressives: A Low-Pressure Approach to Pelvic Floor Health

Hypopressives are an incredible tool to manage rectocele and general pelvic floor health. This novel pelvic floor exercise approach gently restores strength while simultaneously encouraging prolapsed organs to return to their original positioning through low-pressure suctioning in the abdominal cavity.

Traditional exercise approaches can actually make rectocele and other pelvic floor conditions worse by causing excess pressure in the abdomen and encouraging an action of "bearing down". This can injure compromised pelvic floor muscles and exacerbate organ prolapse.

How Hypopressives Can Improve Rectocele: Exploring the Benefits

Hypopressives create positive changes to the pelvic floor and abdomen well beyond improving cases of rectocele. They can help tone the small muscles of the pelvic floor, and this can help prevent organ prolapse from happening in the first place.

More specifically, the levator ani muscle helps to hold the rectum in place, so learning to activate, relax, and slowly strengthen this muscle through hypopressive techniques will provide better internal support.

Hypopressives can also strengthen the abdominal girdle to help recover from diastasis recti, improve posture, and provide functional core strength.

Getting Started With Hypopressives

For the Hypopressives classes it is important that you learn the Breathing/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. And here's the golden rule - for impactful change, Simone recommends at least three 15 to 20-minute workouts per week. Consistency is your best friend on this journey towards wellness.

A stronger core and better postural alignment

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Rectocele can occur with no signs or symptoms, however, for most people, it will feel like pressure in the rectum. There will often be a noticeable bulge pressing into the vaginal wall which in some cases can even come through the opening of the vagina.

Ultimately, rectocele should be diagnosed by a healthcare provider who will perform a physical examination and imaging tests when necessary.

Rectocele can greatly impact digestion, so taking care of both diet and bowel habits can play a big role in making life more comfortable. Straining on the toilet should be avoided, so steering clear of foods that cause constipation can be helpful as well as staying well hydrated to help soften stools.

Rectocele doesn't go away on its own. It requires rehabilitation and in severe cases that don't respond to lifestyle changes and gentle treatment options, surgery may be necessary.

Exercises that involve heavy lifting, jumping, or are generally high impact can all make the rectocele worse. Traditional ab exercises like planks and sit-ups are also not recommended.

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What our members say

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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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