Can Hypopressives Make Prolapse Worse?

August 24, 2022
Pelvic Floor

Hypopressives Filippa

Whilst we are huge fans of Hypopressives, they are complex to get right, and, sadly, many new MoonRise customers come to us because Hypopressives have made the pelvic floor dysfunction symptoms worse, especially women dealing with pelvic organ prolapse.

As with any technique which is new and increasing in popularity, there is a corresponding increase in free YouTube content for that topic, and this is what we want to warn you about. Whilst there is a lot of great information on YouTube about Hypopressives, having a good foundational understanding of the techniques involved is vital – both for the effectiveness of your healing, but also to ensure you do not make the symptoms you are trying to get relief from worse.

What’s so bad about free YouTube content for Hypopressives?

There are three reasons why hypopressives can make prolapse worse if you do them via follow-along videos on YouTube:

1. Hypopressives are complex, and best done with supervision

First and foremost, you need a teacher to review what you are doing, and make sure your posture, alignment and breathing are being done correctly. In fact, many hypopressives teachers won’t let you attend classes without having this basic foundational knowledge, which can be tricky when there aren’t many hypopressives classes around! However there are digital solutions to this issue – to find out more about this and the solution MoonRise offers, check out this blog post, and video from Certified Hypopressives instructor Filippa Odevall:

2. Take time to understand the practice

You need a good understanding about the basics and theory of the practice before you move on to trying to do the exercises – we can’t stress this enough – and this is where Hypopressives videos on YouTube CAN be helpful – but be smart about it. People that are serious about what they do, and passionate about the experience of the people who watch their content, will monitor and reply to comments, for example. It’s also important to fully research the person who’s content you are watching, to make sure they are qualified to be telling you how to do the exercises. Check out their other videos, look for their website and especially experience relating to hypopressives.

MoonRise is lucky enough to have not 1, but 3 resident Hypopressives experts, all of whom contribute to your healing journey when you are a MoonRise customer! The wonderful Abby Lord is on our practitioner team – Abby is a founding member of The International Hypopressive Council and Director of Hypopressive Scotland. Then there’s the wonderful Filippa Odevall; a certified Hypopressives instructor, who healed herself naturally from prolapse using Hypopressives and a range of techniques found in her Pelvic Floor Dysfunction Program.

Last but not least is the amazing Brianne Grogan. Better known as ‘Dr. Bri’, she is also a big fan of hypopressives, and uses these and other techniques to help hundreds of women heal from pelvic floor dysfunction. Check out her interview here with Trista Zinn, Director and course instructor for Hypopressives Canada.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNRzdxrXeN0For a really great guide to the basics of Hypopressives, we love this video by Trista Zinn:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqOwyKQlLJo

3. Hypopressives are complex

Another issue with follow-along videos for hypopressives is that the temptation may be to run before you can walk. Everyone who has learned recently about the benefits of Hypopressives will have heard of the Apnea – the Holy Grail of Hypopressives perfection. But what is it, and why is it so risky?

Apnea means cessation of breathing and is usually associated with an unintentional rather than intentional cessation of breathing, in sleep, for example. In Hypopressives, it is intentional. A Hypopressive Apnea begins with a full exhalation, the breath is then held, the glottis closed and the intercostal muscles utilised, to create movement of the rib cage while the rectus abdominis muscle remains relaxed. A fake inhale then follows, and is combined with specific postures which creates suction and activates the deep core muscles.

Sounds complicated, right? It is! Hypopressive exercises most definitely don’t begin with A, B and then C – and that’s because A(pnea) creates a suction, and, if done incorrectly, can cause downwards pressure – which is literally the opposite to what we want when healing pelvic dysfunction!

Here, Filippa explains beautifully how tricky the apnea can be – even causing negative emotions, dizziness and pain. If you are struggling, go back a step, and focus on the lateral breath, and just do the apnea for one to two seconds – take your time, be patient and listen to your body. We want to hold the apnea, but not force it – it needs to be smooth and flowing. If you are struggling, always go backwards rather than pushing yourself when something doesn’t feel right – and this goes for all methods and techniques associated with natural healing.

At MoonRise we guide you through Hypopressives exercises starting with the basics. We give you the time and attention needed to get the exercises right. You are guided through the exercises by Master trainer Abby Lord and Filippa Odevall to make sure your alignment, lateral breathing and apnea are being correctly and safely performed.

If you still have questions about Hypopressives or how to get started with them, join our free 1-hour group call.

What will the call cover?