Rigid ring pessary

Submitted by Alix on February 24, 2009 - 11:53am
Body: 

I have just collected a ring pessary, as prescribed by my doctor, from the pharmacy. I am rather alarmed to find that it is thick and completely rigid. I had imagined something that would be doubled up for insertion and then spring open once inside. Please has anyone experience of a rigid ring pessary like this, and of inserting / extracting it yourself? One advantage - I certainly wouldn't be able to damage this pessary trying, but I fear I might damage myself! I didn't see the pessary my doctor used to find the correct size, but having it inserted wasn't bad, and once in it didn't bother me at all. However, I am now wondering if what she used was in fact the same as the one I have been prescribed.

louiseds

February 24, 2009 - 9:04pm

Just ask her, or phone the surgery and explain what you want to know. The receptionist may even be able to tell from your record, or because it is the brand she always prescribes. You will never know until you ask. You need to know what you are putting in your vagina.

Cheers

Louise

MeMyselfAndI

February 25, 2009 - 2:04am

The rigid ring pessary will go to an oval - But if i remember rightly it bends in in one direction only and takes some strong fingers to do it...
Try turning it around and press - and keep going until you feel some 'give' in it :-)

Sometimes youre holding someone else's heart in your hands. You can drop that heart & bruise it. You can squash that heart & hurt it. Or you can stomp on it & totally annihalate it. You stomp on that heart or bruise it. It can forever be changed ♥

Alix

February 25, 2009 - 2:23pm

Thanks so much, both of you. I tried squeezing the rigid pessary, and my fingers are not strong enough to affect it more than a little bit, so my chances of removing this thing from inside me are minimal, I think. I tried a sponge today and didn't feel it helped, but it made me realise how much nicer it was to be able to remove it as soon as I wanted to - with the option of trying again whenever I feel like it. Being stuck with something stiff and unyielding inside me without the option to get rid of it doesn't appeal.

I will discuss it all with my doctor tomorrow morning. Maybe I can get referred to a midwife clinic that might have more choice of pessaries. It's so much better to have been able to chew over all this in advance and not be bounced into a maybe bad decision - thank you. Alix.

louiseds

February 25, 2009 - 8:34pm

Rigid? You said it!

I have one that I *thought* was rigid. I can squash mine down to the point where the two sides almost meet, but it is a struggle with one hand. Mine is about 17 years old, was greeny cream in colour when it was new, but is now the colour of cooked salmon. ;-). It is 72mm across and the ring part is 13mm thick. I have never used it for any length of time cos it wouldn't stay in the right orientation, and finally kept falling out, though giving it the final push out was quite uncomfortable. It is a strictly memorabilia item, like the quote I got from my Health Insurance fund for the surgery I didn't have. I think I will frame both of them. I have only held onto the pessary cos I thought it might have some use. I thought I might be able to make it into a hair clip, or a bag handle, or a scarf ring, or to hang a baby in a sling on a wall, or um... (I have a very twisted sense of the inappropriate!) Son't worry, I never actually tried any of these things. ;-)

I don't know why yours is so rigid. There seems little point in it being so rigid, cos everything in your pelvic cavity is so squishy and soft. No wonder the doctor didn't want you trying to remove and reinsert it. Maybe she has an applicator? How big is the pessary? Bigger than a baby's head circumference? Maybe it is designed to be bigger than the hole it has to go in through, and expands when it is in there? One of the big problems with pessaries is that they tend to fall out, so making one so big that it couldn't come out would be one way around the problem, but that would mean that your internal tissues might get squashed while it is inside you. Yuk! It would definitely need mechanical assistance for removal.

I don't want to put you off this pessary but some of the devices that are recommended by doctors can be brutal in use. Thanks Sue for suggesting the one way only squeeze. I think your idea of exploring the alternative designs is a good one, before you go ahead with this one. It is your body. You are an adult capable of deciding for yourself whether or not to use a device to improve a non-life-threatening condition. I find it very hard to believe that in a country the size of UK there is only one pessary design available through NHS. Hopefully you will find something that you are OK with. Maybe in time you won't need it anyway, but it may be a help at first.

Cheers

Louise

Alix

February 26, 2009 - 9:52am

Took my rigid pessary to the doctor for fitting, and explained my objections to it. She is very nice, though surprised I should want to be able to insert and remove it myself. Seemingly people in the UK just go with the flow (also they mostly end up being operated on). She softened it in hot water and was then able to squash it to a more insertable shape. It turned out the size chosen was too large, but even so I was able to remove it myself as you can get a really good grip with a finger hooked under the firm ring. To remove it you don't have to squeeze, just be brave and pull.

We have now ordered 2 more smaller sizes from the pharmacy, and we agreed I could have a go at inserting them myself at home. The doctor was very doubtful I would succeed, but I don't see why not now I know about the hot water - it should be less scary inserting than extracting, as doing the latter I worry about pulling some of me out as well. However, the smaller ones should be easier to get out - may even fall out on their own!

My doctor tried to find alternative designs on her computer, but could only find one which was more of a doughnut, much thicker though more flexible. We both felt a bit doubtful about that, so I am just trying smaller sizes of the original design for now. Luckily for me, in the UK all this comes completely free to pensioners (except through taxes, of course). There may well be more suitable pessaries available through the NHS, but hard to find in the computer. I may be able to find them when I get to see the specialist. The downside of the NHS is that I may have to wait many weeks for that, but I don't mind too much. In a way the delay gives me a chance to live a little with all this and form my own ideas.

One week post prolapse discovery, thanks to all your information and support, I am feeling so much happier and more relaxed. After the doctor, went for a run round the park and was able to concentrate on how fast (slowly, actually) I was going rather than on what was happening between my legs. Of course I did try to hold a good posture, but inevitably forgot sometimes. I'm getting to be more a runner etc who has a prolapse rather than a prolapsed woman who runs (or worse used to run).

See you soon, Alix.

louiseds

February 26, 2009 - 8:53pm

Well done Alix, wonderful news. I can see you are now driving the ship and much more confident about your decision making.

I am surprised that it didn't come with instructions about warm water. Google "Milex pessaries UK". I get the feeling that Mediplus are the UK agents, but I am having difficulty opening the .pdf with the list of pessaries. There may be other manufacturers as well. I'll leave it to you to look further.

Louise

Alix

February 27, 2009 - 2:02pm

Louise, you're a star. What a lot you know! I have found an illustrated page for Milex Pessaries, and there is my ring, but also other shapes. I am intrigued by the one you can inflate after insertion - now there's a user friendly idea. Collected my 2 smaller size rings today but haven't yet tried them. Thanks again, Alix.