It was my six-week checkup and my wonderful midwife was doing her thing, examining me and asking me this and that question. As she was doing a pelvic exam, she paused for a second and said, “So, it looks like you developed a rectocele.”
Color me shocked
Well, that plan worked up until a point
A few years after I was diagnosed with a rectocele, the s— hit the fan (pun definitely intended) and I began to develop some symptoms. First, my period cramps began to include rectal pressure, which is super fun. I also was finding it hard to get all my poop out at times. But the worst was that I was beginning to experience rectal pain and pressure during sex. That was really the straw that broke the camel’s back.
I wallowed about it all for a while, and felt like I’d suddenly aged 100 years, because everything was drooping inside me. But soon enough my misery about what was going on whipped me into shape and I decided I needed to do something about it.
It turns out there are several exercise programs out there that can help you get your pelvic floor stronger and can help heal a prolapse. I soon learned that basic abdominal exercises aren’t enough, and some ab exercises can actually make your prolapse worse!
I ended up finding an online program for diastasis recti and prolapses that I liked. It was hard work — you have to do the exercises almost every day and keep up. It took a few months of consistent work before I saw results, and then I didn’t start to feel “normal” till about six months of doing the exercises.
But, they worked
And since then, I’ve been regularly doing exercises to strengthen my pelvic floor. I never want to go back to how things were when my rectocele was bad. I wouldn’t say things are like how they were when I was 20 and hadn’t had babies yet, but my rectocele rarely bothers me, my pelvic floor in general is quite strong, and I feel good.
I know that some folks need more than an online pelvic floor strengthening program. Some more serious cases of rectocele and prolapse require physical therapy or even surgery. But I want anyone who is suffering from a pelvic floor issue to know that help is out there, and it’s possible to feel strong and capable once more.
