Not a prolapse, but.....

[fooffailure]

Not a prolapse apparently, but I have a very lax vagina . I finally saw the GP this morning who has told me the walls are very very lax, and options are a ring (which needs to be changed every 2 months, by her description), or surgery. Regular changes of a ring will not at all work for at least the next year, so not possible. I'm not that fussed that I want to consider surgery. However, i can't hold a tampon in , i need to press against my vagina/perineum if I have a stiff stool (which fortunately i usually don't), and for some reason, wiping seems to take an aeon as if poo just keeps magically reappearing.

Please mumsnetters.... what should i be doing? what other options are there that may help improve things. Ideally options that are portable as i move around a lot and am rarely anywhere for longer than about 3 weeks.

There are vaginal cones or electronic pelvic floor exercisers which both get good results apparently.

I have no idea but could a specialist physio work with you to improve muscle tone?

I would ask for a referral to a specialist gynaecologist (?) and not just take your GPs advice as final.

I am now much more knowledgable about probes than I think I ever thought I wanted to be!

I think i'm going to invest in a kegel8 pelvic floor exerciser. I have actually been doing pelvic floor exercises because I also have diastisis recti, and I thought that the electronic probes were more if you had continence issues, but here's hoping it will help a bit more. If it doesn't do the job, I'll look into a specialist physio, it's just a bit difficult when you have not so much opportunity to go back for follow up.

Thanks, ladies!

Check out the website of Oz physio Michelle Kenway for exercises and tips for this (she's a women's physio.)

Also look at the youtube and info of Gussie Grips.(Another physio.)

Meanwhile stop lifting! Nothing over about 5kgs max. Don't run or jog.

You might get some improvement from PFE but they will take 6 months of very hard work- 30 lifts daily.

If this doesn't work, surgery is the answer.

ps If you find it hard to pass a stool you def do have prolapse! That's a rectocele. I think you ought to see a gynae because GPs are not experts and what may look 'normal' to them may not be.

I saw 3 drs before the final one- gynae- agreed I did have prolapse and I had an op.

I have exactly the same symptoms! I have thought my vagina has just gotten bigger... I don't know now if I should visit gp.

Oh the joys of giving birth. I had umbilical hernia surgery last year for the hernia that appeared after childbirth.

From what you have described it's a prolapse, gps often miss these things. Try and find a good women's health Physio as they can work wonders!

Maybe what your GP meant was it wasn't a prolapse of your uterus. There are 3 types of prolapse- womb, front wall (bladder) and back wall (rectum.) You can have any or all 3 if lucky!

I had physio for some weeks but it wasn't enough. Everyone is different but you need to change your lifestyle- lifting etc- to stop it getting worse. PFE can stop it getting worse but won't necessarily make it back to how it was.

Yes it's definitely a prolapse. Which is basically just the bladder and/or rectum bulges into the vagina walls causing a soft 'lump' there on one or both sides. I had your exact symptoms, also a feeling of incomplete emptying after a bowel movement. When you stand up you feel you have to go again. I have had surgery since (a simple repair, no mesh) and it's greatly improved all my symptoms.
I couldn't keep a tampon in either, the bulge just pushed it back out. Seek help from a women's physio as others have said. She will show you how to do the exercises properly then check your progress a few weeks after that. I had the surgery just after menopause (at age 48) so didn't need any tampons since anyway.

Not likely I'm going to be able to stop lifting - I've a 2 year old, plus 4 x 23kg suitcases that move house every few weeks... but on the plus side, I haven't run/jogged since my boobs came in . My diastisis recti definitely worsened significantly when i was pushing a heavy child about in a buggy up steep hills... all related, i guess.

Sounds like it might be worth finding a women's health physio while i'm here ('home') for a few weeks; the kegel8 can wait until i'm ready to travel.

anyone have experience with a mooncup / prolapse? I'm trying to figure options for not leaving my children to drown in the pool while I drink gin on the patio....

I found that Pilates has improved my core strength and corrected my posture. I have a prolapse and because my core strength is better, the prolapse bothers me far less.

I have similar symptoms to this and was wondering about getting a kegal8 thing. Would that help or not do you think? (Money is tight, but am willing to spend if it works).

I've got a rectocele and use a mooncup fine. Much better than tampons for me.

You really need to think about the lifting- really, it will make things worse. why are you moving every few weeks? Can no one else help you with these things?

I had a full prolapse repair when my DC was 2. I had to stop lifting her for ever. You can adapt. They are walking at that age and can climb into car seats, buggies etc. It's amazing what they can do if you let them!

Polly, those sites look good from a brief glimpse (waiting for a moment without nosy children watching over my shoulder); they seem to say a lot of the things that I started focusing on with my diastisis recti, but obviously a slightly different bias ... thankyou. I did stop carrying things a lot after that issue flared, but I've lapsed back again. We are moving by choice; we are one of those families who travel the world and instagram wonderful shots and write blogs but without any instagram or blogs and with webchat much less interesting to the general, non prolapse, public

Leo, I suspect that I've been not as affected by the prolapse as much as I may have, because i do have a long history of pilates based purely on my interpretation of how 'bad' it is and what Dr Google has to say from other people with similar symptoms and my sheer good luck that I have relatively good muscle memory without having to exercise too much

I went to Pilates classes for my posture, and found that the prolapse was much improved. I had a bloody great pelvic floor muscles pre-kids, and I reckon muscle memory has helped me greatly as well at this stage of my life: but have needed to work at it! Good luck with getting the problems sorted.

You could try an applicator tampon? Easier to get it passed any bulges.

Thanks for the suggestion, Livin, but I'm afraid that's not the issue. I can get it with no problems, it's the keeping it in that's more challenging...

What you're describing definitely sounds like a prolapse. I'd go back to your GP (I take it was them who declared that it wasn't a prolapse?) and ask for a referral to a gynae and/or a women's health physio.

Honestly, the things women are expected to put up with after childbirth! Not being able to keep a tampon in really isn't normal. Poor you.

Sympathies re. the diastasis recti. Pilates is great for that. It may not close the gap entirely, but it will strengthen the muscle you have.

I would also check with a physio/HCP regarding starting pilates. I have just had repairs for my multi-compartment prolapse (I have also never had children so a more complicated cause and medical history) but was advised not to continue with my pilates before the repair and certainly not now as engaging the pelvic floor actually is counter-intuitive. There is a bit of a fine line between it being able to help, or whether if everything has gone too far then the downward force can actually make things worse.

Have a really good read of this physio's site

www.pelvicexercises.com.au/about-michelle-kenway/

Pilates can actually make PF worse. In this site it shows which exercises are safe and which are not.

It's a misunderstanding that Pilates is ok for PF- it's not!!! It might help stop prolapse but once you have one, you need to be careful.

Luckily, I'm old enough to have learned pilates when you used to have to do it like ballet lessons - really really basic stuff repeated over until you got it right, then you could graduate to the 'next' class (when you were expected to have done the full contents of the first classes as a warm up before you even "started")... stuff like hundreds, etc, is long in the past, but all the basics that most people don't really learn these days are perfect for my aging body

It's not that you could do damage by poor technique Foof, it's that the actual correct technique of engaging/lifting your pelvic floor and then the exercises themselves cause a downward force that can actually make your prolapse worse. My colorectal surgeon and urogynaecologist have said not to do any pilates (nor high intensity exercise/heavy lifting) as I will jeopardise the repairs - is such a shame as like you I have done pilates and ballet for all my adult life.

Pilates is said to be great for pelvic floor, but not necessarily for women who have prolapses/pelvic floor laxity and that's why I would urge you to get a correct diagnosis by a urogynaecologist/colorectal after diagnostic imaging to understand what's going on. Similarly, no matter how many kegels I did, it would have never have improved my prolapses as I was just too far gone - hopefully that is not the case for you but just make sure that you are not wasting your time and money. Very best of luck!

I have an electronic pelvic floor exerciser which worked brilliantly after the birth of dd1. I wanted to use it after DD2's birth but I think I have a small prolapse too and the instructions state not to use it if you have a prolapse so I'd check the instructions thoroughly!