How I Got Back To Running With Prolapse

I get asked this a lot. I get it. Until quite recently, I never would have imagined it either.

When I first discovered my prolapse in 2015 I did what we all do. I read all the guidance that said ‘Don’t run, don’t jump, don’t lift, don’t stand up for too long.’ It was a similar story from the NHS at the time and I took all of that onboard. I was fearful that one wrong move would have me waving goodbye to my pelvic organs for good. And it played on my mind a lot.

I didn’t stop moving completely. I cycled the short distance to work and I did postnatal pilates with a teacher I trusted. But even that felt risky and I held back on every urge to throw my kids around, dance around the kitchen or dig the garden with gusto.

Before kids I enjoyed running. Not in a marathon kind of way but the odd 10K here and there.  Was there a way to get back to that safely? It took me more than three years to do something about it. I knew I wanted to do more than I was doing and more importantly, I didn’t want to feel The Fear or any guilt for doing it. So I decided to go back to the drawing board. And I threw everything at it.

So what did I do? I started off with Holistic Core Restore*. First the Recovery programme with lots of pelvic floor work, stretches and the beginnings of movement. I then progressed to the Every Woman programme for more core, squats and glute work. Then I started working with a trainer doing a mix of low impact HIIT, strength training, pilates and yoga. Eventually, with the sign off from my pelvic health physio, I began Couch to 5K and worked up to running in the local park two or three times a week.

In episode 6 of the Why Mums Don’t Jump podcast, I speak about exactly this with Emma Brockwell, pelvic health physio, author of Why Did No-one Tell Me? and co-host of the At Your Cervix podcast. Her advice? Seek help from a physiotherapist:

Anyone with a prolapse who is fearful of movement, you need to move. You can move. You possibly just need a little bit of guidance as to how to start.

This is not to say that running is for everybody. It isn't. Please do work with a professional to get to where you want to be. But I am sure that a prolapse doesn’t have to mean the end of the road.

You can find current NHS guidance on prolapse here and the latest NICE guidelines on treatment here.

*I have no affiliation with HCR. For other postnatal/pelvic floor focussed exercise programmes please go here

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