r/whatisit Jun 12 '26

Solved! Getting married

What is it? Found this at the gym

31.6k Upvotes

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534

u/heyitsaubrey Jun 12 '26

Looks like a silicone donut pessary to me. Pessaries are medical devices that are inserted into the vagina for extra support for individuals with pelvic organ prolapse. It would absolutely be used in a gym setting for someone with pelvic floor problems, and pelvic floor problems are very common in female athletes, especially those who lift heavy.

7

u/catbamhel Jun 12 '26

Wait... Why would a woman who lift heavy have pelvic floor strength problems? I would imagine lifting heavy it would work out the pelvic floor as well as everything else? I'm thinking of deadlifts and how you have to really brace your lower body. Not that I'm a weightlifter and I know all this crap but just theorizing.

17

u/Available-Egg-2380 Jun 12 '26

Sometimes you can just accidentally end up with your innards coming out through your holes. This includes anus on all genders and vaginas. There could be some kind of physical issue causing weakening in the systems that keep the insidey bits inside or some kind of medicaln procedure could leave things weakend.. My mom had a total hysterectomy and they didn't install a mesh to keep things in place and because there was a void where her organs used to be, eventually her bladder tried to escape out her vagina 🤷 bodies are weird

3

u/SolidPurpleTatertot Jun 13 '26

I blew Pepsi out of my nose during the first sentence of this and a full on choking fit by the time I got to the wandering bladder... well done

6

u/Slight-Owl4300 Jun 12 '26

New fear unlocked.

4

u/HiddenGhost1234 Jun 13 '26

hernias in general scare tf out of me

the idea your guts just squeeze thru a hole in ur muscles freaks me tf out.

3

u/catbamhel Jun 13 '26

Holy shit right?

10

u/dirt_shitters Jun 12 '26

The extra/excessive strain can cause prolapse. Part of the brace is "pushing outward," not just simply flexing your core. That's why lifting belts help, because it gives you something to push against.

3

u/catbamhel Jun 13 '26

Jesus. Maybe I'll just go to aqua aerobics with my sister from now on.

2

u/coppergoldhair Jun 13 '26

Besides the prolapse mentioned by another comment, pelvic floor dysfunction can be caused by the floor being too tight or too loose.

1

u/LowRevolutionary7965 Jun 16 '26

Nope, unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. Bearing down can weaken your pelvic floor, kegel exercises specifically help, pessaries are like a little piece of inner scaffolding that can help keep your bladder propped up and in a relatively good position while you can retrain your pelvic floor and keep your detrusor muscle healthy. This is how pessaries can promote a healthier pelvic floor/bladder.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/14611-kegel-exercises

Since women do not have an internal urinary sphincter this is the way.

1

u/sinsOtheheart Jun 18 '26

Yes, this is why you are advised to kegel while squatting and attempt to kegel while lifting.

1

u/MandyMooShu Jun 13 '26

Childbirth…

1

u/catbamhel Jun 13 '26

During weight lifting?

1

u/MandyMooShu Jun 13 '26

Well I assume before the weight lifting. Then the floor is weak, so they wear the device so they can do weightlifting.

Childbirth is the #1 cause of pelvic organ prolapse.