Posture and exercises

For a successful hernia self-cure, your abdomen must be helped to tighten up and reduce the outward pressure of sagging internal organs on your inguinal canal. A variety of muscles and body tissues are involved in maintaining the strength and structure of your ‘undercarriage’. Your shoulders, aided by your rib cage, should act like a 'coat hanger' which suspends your abdomen so that it doesn’t sag and weigh down on your pelvic floor and lower abdomen.

Three types of exercises are important:

Those to strengthen your pelvic floor
Those to strengthen your pelvic floor and lower abdomen (transverse abdominal and oblique muscles)
Those to develop the links between your abdomen and your shoulders and rib cage. Strengthening these links will help to pull you up as your pelvic floor and lower abdomen are pushed up.

The following exercises form part of the Pilates technique, and are designed to fulfil these purposes. Pilates is a gentle technique which should never strain your muscles. As with all exercise systems, these exercises are best learned with a registered practitioner (see Links). Once you have had a session or two with a teacher, you can use the descriptions given here to aid your memory as you practise at home.

Walking

Walking (ideally 45 minutes per day) increases the interaction between these three target areas. Hernias are in part caused by our sedentary lifestyle. If a person drives to work and home again they may only walk in brief fragments of a few minutes here and there. Walking reminds the body of what it is designed for. It encourages the harmonious interaction of the whole musculo-skeletal system. The improvements in abdominal and pelvic strength resulting from the exercises are consolidated by walking. For safety, peace of mind and healthy breathing reasons, always try to walk in areas where there is minimal traffic. Walk at a brisk and steady pace, thinking of your posture and breathing with awareness.

LINKS

Herniabible

44 Wellington Square