Safe exercises after a hysterectomy, after prolapse surgery or living with a prolapse are essential for avoiding pelvic floor strain and injury.
This exercise video teaches 3 great exercises to help you safely and effectively improve your leg strength and protect your pelvic floor. This video is designed and presented with expert physiotherapist guidance.
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These exercises are ideal if you are looking for safe exercises to strengthen your legs and buttocks. They are specifically modified for women who are looking for safe strength exercises whilst living with pelvic floor dysfunction including pelvic prolapse, incontinence problems and after pelvic surgery (including prolapse surgery and exercise after hysterectomy). You will also learn how to minimise knee pain with leg strength exercises. The exercises demonstrated require very little equipment and can all be performed at home.
Michelle Kenway Physiotherapist and exercise instructor for women guides you step-by-step through the following leg and buttock strength exercises:
1. The ball wall squat using dumbbell weights and fit ball
2. Ball wall lunge using dumbbell weights and fit ball
3. Mini squat using dumbbell weights without a fit ball
If you are living with pelvic floor dysfunction such as pelvic prolapse, after prolapse surgery and after a hysterectomy, you need to be very cautious about the general strength exercises you choose to perform and the techniques that you use.
For expert guidance for your general exercise program to protect your pelvic floor refer to Inside Out – the essential woman’s guide to pelvic support by pelvic floor experts Michelle Kenway (Physiotherapist) & Dr Judith Goh (Urogynaecologist)
Note to ensure the smooth viewing of the video, it is recommended that you press on this play arrow and then when the video starts loading you press the ‘pause’ button until you can see that the entire video has loaded. This will help avoid the video stopping to load while you watch.
Please read our disclaimer regarding this information
This information is provided for general information only and should in no way be considered as a substitute for medical advice and information about your particular condition.
While every effort has been made to ensure that the information is accurate, the author accepts no responsibility and cannot guarantee the consequences if individuals choose to rely upon these contents as their sole source of information about a condition and its rehabilitation.
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Hi Michelle- I was wondering if there are any abdominal exercises/ equipment that are safe to do with vaginal prolapse? I am quite toned and fit, but after the birth of my two children I have a stubborn mummy-tummy I would love to get rid of. I do still have 5+ kilos to lose, but is there any way to tone my tummy without making my symptoms worse?
Many thanks!
Hello – how do I strengthen my legs with bad knees? I can only do the squats slightly but, not the lunge. And how do I stretch my legs if I cannot open my legs due to prolapse ? Plus, I am generally stiff all over. Thank you.
Hi Gina
Yes tricky to strengthen your legs and protect your pelvic floor, but very possible.
Keep squats very small with your hips well above knee height. Keep feet close together and feet well out in front using a fitball or basketball against your spine see this exercise technique on our free video http://www.pelvicexercises.com.au/2010/strengthen-your-legs/ Straight leg raises performed lying down with an ankle weights are excellent for bthigh strength making sure the lifting leg isn’t lifted too high off the ground. You should be able to google these. Calf raises and bridging lying on your back are great leg exercises also protective for the pelvic floor. There are lenty more pelvic-floor-friendly leg strength exercises. Let us know how you go with these. Michelle
I am 8 weeks post op hysterectomy. I just received the OK to proceed with exercising…just no wide stance squats. I would like to know if I will one day be able to all sorts of cardio (running, jump rope, etc.)
Hi Josefa
Re: Safe cardio exercise after hysterectomy
Thanks for your question. There is evidence to suggest that after hysterectomy surgery a woman is at increased risk of pelvic prolapse. We also know that high impact exercises such as running and jumping increase the downward pressure on the pelvic floor. The question is, does your pelvic floor have the capacity to withstand increased pressure? One would think that a woman with good pelvic floor fitness (which means good pelvic floor strength and function) would be able to withstand the pressure associated with these types of exercises and this can really only be properly determined by a pelvic floor physiotherapist. If you are not sure, then I would suggest an appointment with such a physiotherapist in order to help determine your level of risk having had hysterectomy surgery.
Regards
Michelle
I am eight weeks in my recovery for a rectocele and vaginal prolapse surgery. I also have a grade 2 cystocele that was not operated on. My doctor released me from surgery at 6 weeks and told me I could resume normal activity and exercise (including weight lifiting). I have been walking every other day for about an hour and resumed some weightlifting with 5 pounds. I have only done weights (including not very deep squats) and used resistance bands twice with situps done at the end of both sessions. I found your book today and I am worried that I may have made my situation worse. I realized my cystocele felt heavier at the end of each session. Do you think the amount of exercise I have done so far could have done irreparable damage? I am not doing anymore exercises until I read your book.
Thank you!