how many of you have been cured of cystocele, and/or prolapse?

Submitted by yestolife on May 3, 2012 - 4:14pm
Body: 

i know Christine was cured after 7 years from prolapse, and i believe cystocele too, but are there others of you cured? or do you just learn to live it? Do most of you use a pessary, or just the exercises that WW do? I am also wondering how Christine took out her pessary every night, and reinserted the next day. unless mine is the wrong size, it hurts like heck to take it out, and put back in. once i take out the pessary i leave it out for days just to heal. During that time i am afraid to do much of anything for fear my cystocele, which is only a stage 2, and my prolapse only a stage 1 will get worse. i do not want surgery period ever, but i feel like my life is very limited. I am afraid to do much exercise, even walking. please give me ideas and hope, and your experience. thank you.

Forum:

Surviving60

May 3, 2012 - 4:44pm

Hi there and welcome. I don't believe anyone is ever "cured" of prolapse. Even in those post-partum cases where it seems to resolve on its own after awhile, it will most surely rear its head again down the road. With time and diligence, many of us do see significant reversal of symptoms. But it is a lifelong process to get to a certain level and keep it there. We learn to live well with what we have. Whole Woman posture is the best way to re-train your body and return your spine to its natural shape with a pronounced lumbar curve. This not only supports the pelvic organs by holding them forward in the relaxed lower belly, but also stabilizes and protects the hip joints.

There are plenty of members here who use pessaries, others do not find much help from them and there is always a chance they will aggravate your prolapse. So try to use a pessary for occasional symptom relief (if you can get that) and don't expect it to fix anything.

Glad you are here, this is a great place to find support. Get to work! - Surviving

allix999

May 25, 2012 - 3:16pm

I have a few questions about pessaries: Are they comfortable? Do they help? How often does one use them? Can they hinder natural strengthening? I've had my uterine prolapse for nearly 2 months now & it seems worse than it was so I don't know what I am doing wrong or am I just impatient? Does it get worse before better? I am still confused about all this. My hips started bothering me this week & I'm not sure if it's from the nauli's or something else. Any help, comments would be appreciated...

Surviving60

May 25, 2012 - 4:42pm

Hi Alix...I would suggest using the search box to look for threads discussing pessaries. There are plenty of them. I'm no expert but it appears to me that the reviews are very mixed and that if you want to use one, it may take a great deal of experimentation to find the right one. You should be able to take it out and clean it, leaving it out whenever you can so that your tissues can breathe (rather than keeping it in all the time and relying on doctor visits for removal and cleaning). Some women get symptom relief but I think it's fair to say that pessary use does not improve prolapse, and in some cases has the potential to worsen it. But....please read some other conversations on here from actual users, which I am not.

Two months is not a long time (my best breakthroughs came in Year #2). It takes both quantity and quality of work to see results. A recurring theme in your forum comments has been not knowing if you are doing the posture correctly, how to tell if the belly is relaxed, and so forth. If you have studied the book and DVDs, and the responses to your questions and other people's questions that you read here. and you do this work every waking moment, you won't be getting worse. There may be something missing in your routine that we can help you sort out. Can you take us through a typical day?

mommajo

May 26, 2012 - 12:44pm

I'm 72 years old and bore 5 children. I had a hysterectomy about 35 years ago.
In answer to how can you tell if your belly is relaxed:
I just received the book and tape a few days ago and skimmed a little.
I feel fortunate to have found a urologist and pelvic floor physical therapist in South Mississippi who are not pushing surgery.
But on my own had started doing some yoga poses---Cat Stretch, Downward facing Dog and Hero Pose. And notice that my "parts" seemed to be higher.
Yesterday while standing in the little room at the pt with the sensor inserted, when the therapist left the room, I curved my back, dropped my shoulders, and breathed into my lower abdomen. The line on the computer went from a jagged 2 inches above to flat on the bottom. The therapist came in and asked wideyed how I did that. It meant my muscles were totally relaxed. This tells me that even if I'm not doing the exercises, etc. correctly, there is benefit.
I will not have surgery.
I look forward to learning more from study and from y'all.

louiseds

May 28, 2012 - 9:52pm

Great to hear this. You have your own feedback experience from your own little research trial! This is good news indeed!!!

Helping women adjust their posture in these small ways during the WW Conference and hearing the woman say, "Oh yes, that is different." made me realise just how much effect these subtle adjustments have.

:-)