POP symptom questions

Submitted by josee on December 28, 2008 - 4:21am
Body: 

I've been browsing the forum for over a week now, and decided to post now to ask about a few things I haven't found information on. I'm 26 years old and have never been pregnant, but suspect that I've had a pelvic organ prolapse in the last couple of weeks (probably caused by the GI problem I've been wrestling with for a while now.) It will be some time before I can talk to a gynecologist, since I am uninsured and the hospital clinic can't see me for over a month (especially after the ER doctor decided it wasn't anything urgent), so the best thing I can do until then is research.

I have some of the usual symptoms I see described, like fullness and a tampon-falling-out sensation, especially when I bend over or crouch down, lower back pain, extra discharge, vaginal pain, and a strange looseness around the vaginal opening (almost like the anterior wall has relaxed away from the pubic bone.) These symptoms started one day after I leaned over to look at something, and experienced a burning pain horizontally across my lower abdomen that lasted for several minutes. The next day, weird squishy feeling, aching left lower pelvic region, and bladder control problems (the last of which has since disappeared.) I have a few questions regarding some other symptoms:

1)Is pelvic organ prolapse also accompanied by pressure and prickling/tingling pain over the bladder, or numbness? Is it common to feel like bowel motion is happening as low as the bladder, at the front of the body?

2)Is it usual to feel like the *outside* is sagging? There's a definite difference in the way the labia hangs now...like everything is pulling downward and the sort of fatty part has sagged. Even the area around/behind the clitoris hangs slightly away from the pubic bone. It wouldn't be noticeable to anyone else, but...something's weird there. There's some diminished sensation as well.

3)Does arousal cause pain?

I hope I haven't bothered anyone by posting here without a diagnosis. This is probably the most informative site on POP and pelvic health in general that I've come across, and honestly I'd rather talk to people who aren't going to just tell me, "Well, if there's a problem they can repair it with surgery," as though that's the magical fix for everything.

Christine

December 28, 2008 - 12:14pm

Hi Josee,

Some of your symptoms do not sound typical for POP and I think your hunch that it is more GI related may be in the ballpark. Our guts can prolapse too, and if I had to take a wild guess (I have no way of knowing and am not qualified to diagnose if I did), it sounds more like an abdominal strain situation that may have had far reaching effects on your pelvic fascia. Bending over at the waist is actually protective of pelvic organ support.

Bowel motion does take place at the front of the body, but the intestines are usually well inside the wall of fascial layers so that we do not experience that motion unless the wall is compromised.
Loss of front vaginal wall support is often easily gauged by clinicians with a quick glance of the woman in lithotomy position to see how far the urethral opening has fallen away from the pubic bone, just as you describe. Sexual pain with arousal is not a common symptom of prolapse.

My guess is that you have caused extreme stress by straining against the toilet seat and your symptoms are the result. It is certainly possible for a section of bowel to prolapse down too far in front and become wedged there to form an “anterior enterocele”. The good news is you have very strong fascia protecting from such an occurrence, which is actually common in women who have had hysterectomy.

In any event, the antidote for any and all of these symptoms is the Whole Woman work! The keystones are (1) Learn this posture, which allows for natural organ support; (2) Absolutely no straining on the toilet. Whenever you need to increase pressure - even to push out the last drops of pee - rock slightly up onto your feet so your hips are off the seat; and (3) Make sure you eat a very healthy diet.

I believe our modern lifestyles set women up for these conditions to become symptomatic at younger and younger ages. However, they are largely reversible - particularly in a young, healthy person as yourself. But only you can do the work! Your gynecologist will simply scratch his/her head and tell you not to worry about it unless you press further and then you may be offered surgery, after which the entire game changes - and not for the better. This is not to say you shouldn't see the doctor anyway to be properly diagnosed.

Wishing you well,

Christine

josee

December 29, 2008 - 1:44am

Thank you for the response, Christine.

It is something of a relief to hear someone knowledgeable talk about what I have been suspecting, and I am grateful for your input. I'll certainly be seeing a doctor to get properly diagnosed, but until then I am glad to know that, with whichever injury I've caused, I have future options for improving my condition.

Do you recommend starting the Whole Woman posture sooner, or is it best to hold off until the doctor has seen me?