tipped uterus result of crunches?

workout junkie

Cathlete
I have a weird question that I've been wanting to ask and finally have the guts to ask it.

Does anyone think it's possible that lots of crunches, ab work, etc. could cause a tipped uterus? Does anyone else have this "problem"?

I was told a few years ago, after years of going to the gyno, that I have a tipped uterus. Why all of a sudden? Perhaps this particular gyno was the only one that noticed it or chose to tell me. But I was wondering if anyone thought it was possible that a bunch of pelvic tilts and years of contracting the abs during crunches could couse an internal change like this.

Just curious...

Melissa
 
My best educated guess would be no. I have a tipped uterus, and didn't find out until a few years back when I was undergoing fertility treatments to try and get pregnant with my first son. My gyno's before this never mentioned it. My doctors stated that it really wasn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things (but it did make us a bit more "creative" when trying to get pregnant ;-) ;-) ). When I found out my uterus was tipped crunches weren't even a part of my vocabulary much less my daily routine :D .

You're other gyno's probably didn't mention it that's all. It's strange but many don't. Even my current gyno didn't mention it to me when I saw him for the first time, nor did either of my OB/GYN's. I'm not sure why they don't feel compelled to share info like that with us??? You're uterus is so small that I would find it difficult for moves such as those to have a significant impact on it's shape...but again I'm not a doctor and I don't play one on tv :D :D .

Deni
 
Melissa, I believe a tipped uterus is a fairly common thing. Unless you have endometriosis, adhesions, fibroids, etc., a tipped uterus is considered a natural variation. I don't think crunches can affect the position of you uterus.

Michele
 
Hey ladies,

No you are born that way. When I had my first gyno visit ohhhhhhhhh so many years ago he told me I had one as well. It means nothing.
 
I have a tipped uterus I have known for many years. I had quite an experience in order to get pregnant. If I wouldn't have known I would have taken a long time. Got pregnant first try and twins. I do not think anything to do with crunches. If it is a new doctor they may have figured you already knew.

beth6395
 
Thanks everyone for the fast replies! I'm glad I finally asked. Now I don't have to worry that when I'm doing ab work, I'm tipping my uterus more. ;-) Glad to know it's not such an uncommon thing either - just wish I was told earlier.
 
As someone who has done many, many pelvic exams, I am confident that exercise has nothing to do with it. My uterus is retroflexed (so it flexes back onto itself) and has been since I began having exams in my teens. The usual position (i avoid the term normal) is anterior (toward the naval). My mother was also retroflexed (maybe only retroverted) and I don't believe her abs ever met a crunch. ;)

Oh, and I just want to add that a "tipped" uterus is no longer believed to cause infertility though an underlying pathology causing the malposition (ie., endometeriosis) can certainly make conceiving difficult.

Happy crunches.

Autumn
 
Who knows if it causes infertility or not...but it definately had me doing things (not by doctors orders) that I wouldn't have done otherwise...think standing on your head...heehee!!

I finally conceived my son on our third try at insemination (2 years of drugs overall) and I have no clue whether or not this was the cause for our success but the fertility specialist (first time being at a new clinic) bent the syringe in a way to help circumvent my tipped uterus. Low and behold...my eldest. So not sure if her special technique due to the shape of my uterus helped or not??? I guess we'll never know.

Deni
 
My uterus is tilted and I also have the cervical glands on the outside of my cervix instead of inside. I am from Mars. LOL!

Charlotte~~
 
Mine's tipped backwards as well, and I only found out when I tried to get an IUD. Nobody had ever mentioned it before that.
 
My uterus is "tipped" and I had infertility but it was related to my endometriosis. The "experts" used to tell women this CAUSED inferitility and I have read and heard women and others state this is a cause of infertility. It was even in a maternity nursing book used by the nursing program. But, this is no longer the consensus. It is one of those statments that annoys me since it is not evidence based.

I have seen literally thousands of women who have had multiple children without any help despite the tipped uterus. I would hope they would have reached a conclusion regarding uterine position and conceiving at this point... pretty simple correlation to make.

She bent the syringe! I've inserted various instruments into the uterus... I wonder what she meant. Were you anteflexed? Retroflexed? Retroverted? He or she may not have told you. I always wonder what docs mean when they tell a woman she has a "tipped" uterus, since there are various positios. I get out the model of the pelvis and explain it to women.

Autumn
 
<the cervical glands on the outside of my cervix instead of inside>

Me too! Cervical ectropion or eversion is common especially in women using comibantin contraceptives and post-partum. I have a link to pics that show a cervix with ectopy and one without but thought it would not be appropriate for the forums.:D
 
>My uterus is "tipped" and I had infertility but it was
>related to my endometriosis.

Autumn,

Sorry, I don't mean to hijack this thread. I also have a tipped uterus and Stage I endometriosis. I have been trying to get get pregnant for just over two years now (one miscarriage in between). I have been working with my OBGYN but need to probably start working with an RE. Is the tipped uterus a result of the endo or is the endo a result of the tipped uterus? And if the endo is not severe (i.e. blocked tubes, adhesions, etc) why the difficulty getting pregnant? I know each person's situation is differnt but any insight or recommendations are greatly appreciated.
 
Yes, each person is different and I believe we don't completely understand endo, reproductive health, etc. There is still so much to learn. The endo causes the uterus to tilt. I am getting ready to leave for the afternoon, but will PM or email you more information later.

Take care!
 
Oh I realize my tipped uterus was not the cause of my infertility issues...I had stage 4 endometriosis and just bad hormones all the way around...I didn't ovulate on a regular basis at all. I went to two RE's the first of which was dreadful and eventually left their practice. It was the second practice I went to that curved the syringe. I saw it...she just kind of bent it before she inserted it. My uterus is tilted towards the back...but again I have no idea whether or not the bending of the syringe had any play in my final success or not. She just stated it was something she did because of my uterus...she really didn't explain any further.

I was just stating I took the news of my "tilted" uterus to degrees my doctors didn't lead me to...early on I would contort myself into all kinds of positions after doing "you know what" in hopes that it would help get the little guys to where they needed to be :D .

Deni
 
I have a tipped uterus - have had it that I know of since my first baby - just to let you know, I have had nine more babies since then with a tipped uterus - and have had no problem getting pregnant.

I never had endometriosis - so in my case a tipped uterus did not cause any kind of infertility problem -obviously!

Cheryl
 
I have a tipped uterus also.

I had NO problems getting pregnant with my son the first time we tried, but I was never able to get pregnant again. I haven't used birth control in 20 years now, and no pregnancy. I always assumed it was because of my tipped uterus, but who knows? I did not want a second baby bad enough to go through any kind of tests to determine the cause of my secondary infertility, so I can't be sure.
 
I have a tipped uterus. Doctor told me it was very common. I had absolutely no problem getting pregnant.
 
Hello,

I have the exact same issue. My first one is now almost ten and no pregnancy since than. I am not sure if I have tilted one or not but am kind of giving up for having the second one.
 

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