Coping with symptoms of prolapse

[beansprout55]

I have a posterior prolapse / rectocele.
I'm 12 weeks PP so don't expect my symptoms to improve much now. I've seen a womens health physio at 6 weeks PP and have been on a kegal programme. Seeing her again soon.
Prolapse is grade 1/2, so mild/mod. I can't see it, but I have that annoying sensation of a tampon or air being stuck up my, you know.
It's just a constant annoyance. When standing/sitting/walking. Will this ever go away?
Any tips on easing symptoms?
Cannot bear the thought of living like this and physio said it's not bad enough for other treatment.

What's your experience post birth and now? Tips?

A desperate bump

Hi OP, I have this too and also had that annoying tampon feeling. DD is 19 months now, and it is a lot better, but it has been a slow process! You've got to be diligent with pelvic floor exercises, and any time you lift anything up, squeeze that pelvic floor in. I can feel mine occasionally now (more so recently as I've had a horrible cough) but it's nowhere near as noticeable as it was. It will take time though. I also saw two women's health physios, whose advice really helped. One of them gave me an exercise 'prescription' to follow. I've stuck to it, and I do think it has made a difference. Mine is always worse round my period, as it is affected by hormones. Breastfeeding can make prolapses feel worse too, so once I stopped that I did notice a difference. I feel for you, women's healthcare post partum is awful in this country. You're just left to it!

Thanks for replying! Feeling particularly down about it this morning as it's constant today. Can feel it even sitting down now.

I've been doing 5 sets of x10 long and x10 quick a day pretty much since 3 weeks PP. No improvement on prolapse sensation despite my pelvic floor getting stronger.

Can I ask what your prescription/regime is/was? And how bad was your prolapse initially for it to get to this stage?
do you still have the tampon stuck feeling?
Sorry for the bombardment!
Xxxxx

I would get a second opinion on what the physio said to you re not bad enough for further treatment. You need to see someone like a colorectal surgeon and your GP should refer you.

Hi OP

I was in exactly the same boat 3 years go - my symptoms didn’t rectify with pelvic floor exercises (I think they made them slightly worse!) I used a stim device recommended to me by my physio and it changed my life. The NHS doesn’t not offer them on prescription so I had to buy it myself and it took a few months but now I’m asymptomatic (and have a pelvic floor stronger than before kids)

@Movealong14 that's super! You know I think it's making my symptoms worse, and I'm deffo doing them correctly as she's checked.
Can I ask what stim device you use? So did you have the same feeling I have like something is stuck, and now you don't?
Also can I ask how made your prolapse was to begin with? Sorry and thank you xx

I know sometimes who had good success using an Emsella chair for pelvic floor strength. I’m afraid I don’t know the details/ severity of her prolapse but I think it was mild. There’s an interesting article about it on getthegloss.

@beansprout55 I used the neutrotrac continence - takes a while to get used to and feels very strange to begin with. I’m not sure what grade I was but I was the same as you - felt like a air bubble stuck there all the time. I could only walk for ten minutes until I got a horrible dull ache down there. Now I can walk for miles no issue 😊 best of luck!

Search for FPOPS UK on Facebook nearly 6k UK ladies going through all these issues. Lots of support and advice available and information. Your not alone hun Love and hugs xxxx

@Mrstiggywinkle44 you're a sweetie. Thanks x

@Movealong14 what stim device did you use?x

Just jumping on to say first of all I'm sorry you're going through this. If you can afford it I would really recommend seeing a private physio, or if not, press the GP and say you want a second opinion as it is affecting your quality of life. I saw someone about 16 weeks PP and she told me pelvic recovery takes months rather than weeks after birth - so although 12 weeks seems like ages for you, you are at a very early stage in terms of recovery post birth. However that is not to fob you off and you certainly should be pushing for more help on this. To echo what others have said, in terms of what you personally can do, pelvic floor exercises helped me, but as well as this so did strengthening my core - as a stronger core helps to support the whole pelvic floor. I hope you get the support and treatment you need.

@Movealong14 I would also love to know what device you use please!

sorry for the late reply! It was the neurotrac contience neurotrac.com/product/neurotrac-continence/

this is the link

Retired doctor here. I've done a lot of women's and sexual health stuff over the years (but I'm not a surgeon).

TBH there is not really any visible prolapse in the photo above. That doesn't mean that you don't have a prolapse, and things may well change when you're upright and gravity is working. But a prolapse describes the situation where the vaginal walls and/or roof sort of collapse downwards (when you're upright, though with a full on prolapse that will be often be obvious on lying down as well). "Descent" is the word that's used, and there's no visible descent in your photo.

You've maybe got a bit of laxity in the walls and opening of the vagina but that's not the same as a prolapse. You say "it's very open", but that's the normal state of the vaginal opening after you've had a baby.

Like I say, things may appear differently if you were to be examined, and especially if you strained down. But the way that you look, I'd be saying that PFEs are what you need to try to tighten things up a little. I don't know how much "fixing" you feel that you need -- but I'm afraid that you might have to come to terms with the fact that having a baby does cause changes in the body!

@mauvish thankyou for taking the time to speak to me. I can see a big lump at the bottom where the opening is? This was never there before. My physio did confirm I had a prolapse but I had never looked before I looked tonight and it made me cry. Surely a normal vagina shouldn’t be open on its own like that? All my friends have said there’s have gone straight back after children: I don’t know how I’ll ever let a male go near me again :(. I hope exercises work but I have been doing them for a long time. My cervix is also low. Does this photo look normal to you? For someone in their 20s

Look, as I said, a photo is never going to compensate for someone actually examining you, and if the physio who has seen you says you have a prolapse, then she is able to pass better judgement than I can from a photo.

But honestly, it really doesn't look that awful! Yes, it looks pretty much par for the course for someone who's had a baby! Now that you've seen the physio, hopefully she's given you some more targeted exercises that should help you feel more comfortable.

Part of the problem is that most women don't know what the normal range of women's genitalia looks like. Men can see other men's dangly bits whenever they're in the gym changing room, or communal showers after a match, or or or. Most women can only see other women's bodies by looking at porn, and the vaginas and vulvae that you see there are a very artificial representation of women's bodies. They show what's fashionable in porn at that time, not what the real range is., and some (many?) will have been surgically altered just like the boobs have. I mean, you say that your friends say there bodies "have gone straight back after children" but this sounds like something of a miracle to me! And I'll bet you haven't actually been able to compare before-and-afters in the flesh, so to speak, have you? If you did, you'd probably find they are all different --

If this really starts to rule your life, then I'd wonder if you're subconsciously displacing some of your anxiety about other problems onto this too. Please think about speaking to someone about your mood if you're feeling bad, quite seperately from the questions about prolapse.