Diet and Yoga for Prolapse

Exercise coupled with good nutrition will stimulate the muscles and restore their healthy function

“MY second son had a transverse birth. Only two hours before his birth did the doctor discover this cross position of the baby. The labour had thus been extended and lasted 37 hours. Subsequently, my wife suffered a prolapse of the uterus.

Medical textbooks describe a prolapse as a downward displacement of the uterus due to muscular strain and stretching during childbirth. The muscles that support the uterus are those of the pelvic floor. This is rather like the diaphragm which supports the lungs. The pelvic floor muscles are helped in supporting the uterus by eight ligaments. It is both the muscles of the pelvic floor and the ligaments which are stretched and, in not returning to their previous tension, allow the uterus to hang lower than it should. Sometimes its displacement is so much that it protrudes and has to be pushed back.

“In terms of human experience, prolapse is mostly one of pains in the groin, dragging down pains, backache, headache, and difficulty in walking. These become even more exaggerated if pregnancy occurs again before the situation has been righted. However, in many cases the cure is reasonably simple.

I have already said that it is the lack of elasticity and tone in the muscles and ligaments that is the basic cause of the situation. The cure, therefore, depends upon bringing back the necessary strength, elasticity and quality to the muscles. Fortunately, the recent nutritional discoveries and some of the ancient yoga methods give us very efficient tools to do this.

For instance, the science of nutrition tells us that calcium, working with vitamin C, enables the muscles cells to build strong walls, and to have a healthy tone or shape. If you bruise easily it means you lack sufficient vitamin C because vitamin C strengthens the capillaries that were bleeding and that produces bruising. Calcium, because of its part in strengthening structures, is also used in large quantities by ligaments and tendons. Therefore a lack of strength and shape occur in calcium deficiency.

Protein also plays a major role in giving muscles sufficient strength and elasticity to maintain a healthy posture. The muscles are themselves largely made of protein, and a deficiency causes posture slouch, tiredness and droopiness.

But one of the major nutritional elements that aids enormously in dealing with prolapse is vitamin E. Muscles and connective tissues, such as ligaments, break down when lacking vitamin E. Because the essential fatty acids, which are vital for cell structure, become oxidised and useless, cells begin to disintegrate. As vitamin E also makes it possible to use oxygen more efficiently, muscles can almost have a holiday and recuperate if there is a high level of the vitamin in the system.

Turning to helpful yoga methods, the movements we make stimulate muscular inter-relationship. In simple terms, if our bicep is out of condition, flabby, stretched,  undernourished or over-strained, as the pelvic floor probably is in prolapse, exercise coupled with nourishment will stimulate it to perform again its healthy function.

Exercise of a muscle stimulates the flow of blood to the area, quite apart from encouraging it to perform its function. As the blood carries the oxygen and nutrients the muscles need, and carries away waste products, the recovery can be greatly helped by such proper exercises. The reason yoga methods are particularly helpful is because, unlike keep fit exercises, they can work on the internal organs, not just the voluntary muscles.

The necessary exercises are as follows: Kneel on the floor on all fours. Now drop the head down and rest the head on the hands or arms, i.e., make yourself comfortable head down and bottom in the air. When you are settled, breathe in and out deeply a few times, then breathe right out and hold the breath out.  Without breathing in, expand the chest and pull the tummy in at the same time. This may take some practice, but keep trying as even a little movement is helpful. Move the tummy in and out until you need to breathe, then relax and breathe in. Repeat this for about five minutes, then stay in the same position, relaxing completely, for another few minutes.

This exercise not only directly moves and massages the uterus and pelvic floor, but also causes a vacuum in the pelvis which draws the uterus up. Because of this, you may find that, while relaxed, air is drawn into the rectum. Don’t worry about it, as it acts as a mild and helpful air enema.

In a similar position, but this time on all fours with head up, concentrate your attention on the area of genitals and rectum. Now pull in the rectum and genitals just as if you desperately wanted to go to the toilet, but were holding it back. Maintain’ this for about fifteen seconds, then slowly relax, then repeat for three or four minutes. This exercises the internal organs.

Lastly, lay on the floor, face up. Bring the legs up slowly and arc them over toward the head. Continue the movement to bring the hips off the ground. Bend your knees and bring them near to the head. Now support the hips with the hands, elbows on the floor, and bring legs back to point at the ceiling. This upside-down posture draws the organs back and up. It also drains old blood from the area, so that when you come down fresh blood enters the abdomen. If you are comfortable, hold it for up to four minutes, then slowly come down. But avoid this if you have high blood pressure or a bad heart condition.

As with the tablets, take these exercises every day and await results.

So, after all this, what specific things can be done?

First of all, take 400 i.u. of vitamin E daily. Take also, 500 mg of vitamin C, and a good Calcium and Magnesium tablet daily. Check your protein intake against a table of protein proportions in foods. If you are not getting approximately 70 grams of protein per day, take extra milk, yoghurt, wheat germ to bring up the protein intake. As brewer’s yeast powder is 40 percent protein, this is an excellent aid. If there is no marked benefit from the treatment plus exercises, increase the vitamin E to 400 to 600 i.u. daily. Vegans get plenty of protein especially if the introduce wheat germ into their diet.