Let's talk about Prolapse

Prolapse can affect women across all ages even before birth or after childbirth so why aren't we talking about it more?

According to NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) more than half of all women will be affected by pelvic organ prolapse. ⁠

1 in 2 postnatal women have some degree of symptomatic or asymptomatic POP (Pelvic Organ Prolapse). (Hagen & Stark, 2011)

1 in every 10 women will require surgical intervention for prolapse by age 80. This may be prevented if diagnosed and treated at an early stage. (Memon & Handa, 2013)

What causes Prolapse?

A number of things increase your chance of developing pelvic organ prolapse.

• pregnancy and childbirth – especially if you had a long, difficult birth, or if you gave birth to a large baby or multiple babies
• age and going through the menopause
• being overweight
• having long-term constipation or a long-term health condition that causes you to cough and strain
• having a hysterectomy

Some health conditions can also cause prolapse.

How would I know I have Pelvic Organ Prolapse?

Pelvic organ prolapse symptoms include:

• a feeling of heaviness around your lower tummy and genitals
• a dragging discomfort inside your vagina
• feeling like there's something coming down into your vagina – it may feel like
• sitting on a small ball
• feeling or seeing a bulge or lump in or coming out of your vagina
• discomfort or numbness during sex
• problems peeing – such as feeling like your bladder is not emptying fully, needing to go to the toilet more often, or leaking a small amount of pee when you cough, sneeze or exercise (stress incontinence).

Sometimes pelvic organ prolapse has no symptoms and is found during an internal examination carried out for another reason.

What treatment is available to avoid surgical intervention?

Exercise

If you are struggling with prolapse symptoms, speak to your GP or seek out your local Mummy MOT practitioner. Many women find that doing pelvic floor exercises and/or using a vaginal pessary is enough to improve the symptoms.

Exercise for prolapse symptoms is centred around movement, breathing, self-massage and external and internal manual therapy to release tension in your pelvis and abdomen. Speak to your Mummy MOT Practitioner to arrange an exercise program for you.

Pessaries

Pessaries do not cure pelvic organ prolapse but help manage and slow the progression of prolapse as they are designed to support areas of pelvic floor. They add support to the vagina and increase the tightness of the tissues and muscles of the pelvis.⁠ Think of it as a ‘sports bra for your pelvic floor’. ⁠

If you have a pessary that is the right size and is in the right position, you won’t  feel it and you’ll be able to do all your normal activities including sex.⁠ ⁠Pessaries are also a safe long-term treatment for prolapse but they do need to be changed every three to six months.

For more information on Pessaries – https://pelvicangel.com/

A New Way of Looking at Prolapse

The traditional way that prolapse is described is a ‘falling’ or ‘slipping down’ of the pelvic organs within the vagina. However, this explanation doesn’t fit with what we now know about how the body works.

Series of Videos on Biotensegrity by Anna Crowle is available

The aim of this short series of videos is to provide some information about biotensegrity: what it is, what the evidence for it is, and how understanding biotensegrity affects our understanding of pelvic organ prolapse.