Pelvic organ prolapse

[Pickles31]

HAs anyone heard of this or had this pp? I think I may have a prolapsed bladder as I can see a pink bulge inside the entrance to my vagina which wasn’t there before. I’ve been suffering with bad Lower back pain, aswell as the feeling of pressure in my bum like the feeling when I ate pushing out a poo ( sorry tmi) I also have white discharge coming out so having to wear pads. Going to call doc tomororw to see if they can take a look, it’s not so much painful but uncomfortable and the feeling of pressure constantly
Isn’t nice at all, I also ache when sit too long or walk to long.

Yep, me. Tell the GP you would like a referral to a urogynaecologist and a women’s health physio.

Need to sleep now but will pop back tomorrow if I get a sec with more possibly-useful waffle. Don’t despair! It’s not great but there’s loads you can do to help and mine has improved a lot (now back to regular running, for example)

Hi Pickles, if you can see a bulge and feel pressure then it sounds like something isn’t where it should be. I went thru this post birth and know far more about POP than I should! Do you ever wet yourself or have difficulties emptying bladder or any issues having complete bowel movement?
Different bits can prolapse and cause different symptoms.
The nhs waiting list to see a gynae in my area was months and I was y prepared to wait that long so I went to a private woman’s health physio who nursed me back to health. Don’t despair! It is possible to make a full recovery with physio and exercise if the prolapse is mild. Ask me anything!

Ok, am back (I felt so shit and hopeless and alone when mine was diagnosed so try and spread a bit of hope for others in the same boat!). I’ve got a grade 2 bladder prolapse and mild uterine prolapse, plus pelvic nerve damage (massive baby who got stuck) and some pretty extensive scarring (extended episiotomy with burst stitch/granular heal, and tears in anterior wall which got infected. Post partum was rubbish!).

Things that helped:-

• Restarting pelvic floor exercises ASAP using nhs Squeezy app to stay on track. This sorted my continence out within weeks but it took 7 months just clenching away daily until I really noticed a difference in my pelvic floor strength so it is bloody sllllllllow but worth keeping going and going. Then had another plateau then more noticeable improvement around 11 and around 14 months.

*post-natal Pilates from 8 weeks post partum with a qualified physio who knew my issues and specialises in pregnant/post-natal bodies so helped me adapt exercises where needed. Also sorted my breastfeeding/baby-rocking back pain as a bonus!

*the free ‘lift’ videos from Femfusion Fitness on YouTube - the lifestyle tips on lifting/breathing/constipation etc are worth watching.

*seeing the specialist nurse at the hospital, and doing electrical stimulation of PF muscles - was given this as the nerve damage meant I couldn’t initially recruit all the muscles with my brain but found it helped loads so after the hospital unit had to go back I bought my own (got this VAT free using a firm from the hospital). Used daily at first, now 3x a week.

*estrogen pessaries to plump up vaginal tissue as I’m still breastfeeding.

*Lori Forner’s pelvic health podcast (the episode with Haley Shevener made me feel so much better)

*once my pelvic floor felt strong enough to think about returning to running the gynae fitted me with a ring pessary just to use for impact exercise and I also got some EVB compression shorts. Have been running 3x a week since October and nurse agrees my prolapse and pelvic floor strength have continued to improve over that time, so I do think it’s a case of listening to your own body over the scary google ‘never do this again!’ lists!

I still have a bulgy front wall and low cervix but no longer have the discomfort/pressure/stuck tampon/insides falling out of my fanny feeling, and I never wee myself even running (did a hard, hilly 8 miles last weekend. Sweaty body but dry knickers - hooray!)

Sorry for the essay! Hope some of it is useful.