Rectocele advice anyone?

Pollyanna, are you sure it is rectocele you are feeling?. It sounds more like cystocele to me. My cystocele feels squishy, becuase it does have liquid in it - urine. My rectocele feels much firmer, because it has stool in it when I can feel it. I cannot really feel the cystocele when my rectum is empty.

When you are feeling inside yourself, and maybe using a mirror, it is very easy to get disoriented and think that front is back, and vice versa. At least, that's what it is like for me.

If a doctor tells you that you have rectocele, that is because that is what s/he can feel at the time. But if they can feel a rectocele impinging into your vagina, chances are that there is no room for a cystocele, so it hangs back, and might not be palpable.

I have been given three different diagnoses by three different doctors. I think you are the only person who really knows what is going on in that vagina of yours at any moment in time. In practice, it doesn't really matter which cele/s it is/are. If somebody has felt a rectocele then you have one, likewise if they have identified a cystocele, then you have one of those as well. You might not find them at the same time. The management principles for all of them are the same; reposition the organ and try and keep it there.

Tall posture to keep them forward; keep your clothes loose so there is no extra pressure pushing them back and down; diet that will keep the stool moving; activities and exercises that will reinforce their correct positioning.

Don't be disheartened. It is quite hard brain work figuring out what is really going on.

Louise

When my rectum is empty the rectocele does yield with pressure, but the cystocele yields in a different way. The cystocele really feels like a balloon full of water, which it effectively is. If my bladder is empty (goes off for a pee) it feels more like the rectocele, but it does still have a tiny squishy bit in the middle. With an empty bladder I don't think I would even identify it as a cystocele. It feels quite different.

Have a try yourself. Let as much urine build up in your bladder as you can, feel the cystocele with a finger, then empty your bladder as completely as you can, and feel it again. Before you empty your bladder, note any pressure to pee sensation, or rectal pressure sensations when you press.

I'm not sure about pressure to pee. I think you would only feel pressure to pee if ithere was a substantial amount of urine in it. I am thinking back to having ultrasound examinations during pregnancy, with a full bladder. Now that was pressure to pee! But my bladder would have been very full!!!

You could try the same test with a full rectum, feeling before and after emptying and comparing.

The test of its origin will be to start examining with a finger at the entrance to the vagina on the front wall and go in, following the front wall. If you don't come to the squishy bit, but can feel it on the back of your finger you know it is coming off the back wall, so it must be rectocele. Then reverse the exercise examining the back wall and see where you feel the squishiness, back or front of finger.

Hey, why am I telling you all this? There are instructions for self-examining in Saving the Whole Woman. The aim of this chapter is to familiarise yourself with your body, and get the feel of the lie of the land in there. It is not really self-diagnosing because a good diagnostician will be aware of all the different things that can be detected with vaginal palpation, and come to a diagnosis of POP by eliminating other conditions, whereas all we are doing is examining our own POP, which we basically know we have anyway. We are not medically trained anyway. It is not a substitute for medical diagnosis, but it can show us how our body changes from day to day, and to be less judgemental about doctors who all come up with a different diagnosis.

How's that for diplomacy?

Louise

Just watched those YouTube vids of the Edgar Cayce exercises - wow, what an amazing spot to do your stretching - up in the treetops, all calm and peaceful... I am so envious!

I am new to this site but from what I am reading, it is a very interesting site and just the information I have been looking for. Haven't been officially diagnosed yet but will be talking to my physician in January during my annual about the sporadic symptoms I have been having for a few months. Maybe a couple times a month I will have a pressure sensation after having a couple loose stools that day. This then leads to burning sensation when urinating, which does resolve quickly, but the pressure sensation and like a "tennis ball between my legs" and the need to urinate frequently continues for a couple of days, then subsides, only to return again in a few weeks to a month. I tried to locate what I think may be a cystocele but not sure what I am feeling. It seems to be just at the front of the vagina. Nothing is currently bulging from the vagina. I am 62 years old, have had two pregnancies in my 20s, very large babies, and now am also somewhat overweight. I tried Kegel exercises but can't seem to stop the urine no matter how hard I try. I do have urinary urgency, at times some urgency incontinence, and frequent "drips" for no apparent reason. I tried holding my urine a little longer but can only do this if I sit down. I also do sit quite a bit for my job at a computer. When I experience this full sensation, I find it subsides a bit when I sit but quickly returns when standing. Just trying to get as much information about what may be going on in this postmenopausal woman. Txs much for any input.

Hi Sassysage

It sounds like your bladder doesn't like something that is going on. Adjusting your posture so that your bladder is riding further forward will help make it more comfortable and will stop it from getting squashed and pushed down your vagina by your uterus. In saying that I have just made a giant assumption that your still have your uterus.

Your vagina does not go straight up, but normally points back, then turns 90 degrees at the cervix, and the uterus flops forwards on top of the bladder. If your butt is tucked and your tummy held in, it will push your bladder and uterus backwards, and under your sacrum, where your bladder is susceptible to a lot of intraabdominal pressure, from breathing and moving, and pooing. That's why Wholewoman posture encourages the bladder and uterus forwards, and out of the way.

If it is any comfort to you I have never, ever been able to stop the flow of urine, and I used to do Kegels until the cows came home! After nearly six years of WW I don't have stress incontinence. I do have a little urgency sometimes, I think this is because my bladder is so far forwards that there is no longer a kink in the pipe as a last defence. I am now perfecting the art of standing up, realising I need to pee, and tucking slightly to tip my bladder back slightly and kink my urethra. This seems to be working. Once you get to know your body you will become more comfortable interpreting its signals. I am 57, BTW.

Yes, sitting is fine. It is standing up, with all the transfer of intraabdominal pressure that goes with it, that is the culprit, I think. And the closer I get to the toilet, the more urgent it becomes! Perhaps if I didn't head for the toilet straight away the feeling would go away? That can be today's experiment.

Louise