pessaries

Hi Heather - If you have Christine's book, Saving the Whole Woman, please read the chapter on pessaries. Many of them can be aggravating to prolapse because they hold the vagina open. We are trying to keep the organs out of that space with gravity and WW posture, which helps keep the space closed off against the encroaching organs. Pessaries can especially aggravate or even trigger a rectocele.

If you are maintaining WW posture, then your symptoms are one of the things that tell you how you're doing. If the pessary masks those symptoms, you don't have that feedback mechanism.

That being said, if you choose to wear one, don't forget about the posture as you move throughout your day (and we aren't just talking about exercising here, but your posture all day long). You should take it out every night for cleaning and to allow the tissues to breathe. - Surviving

Well, doctors are full of bad advice when it comes to prolapse management. If you must use a pessary, it should be removed nightly for cleaning and to let the tissues breathe. And you should go without whenever you can. - Surviving

The surgeon told me I have an inguinal hernia and left it up to me as to when I would want surgery on it. My general doctor says I should have it done soon as I am 70 years old and so my surgery date is for the end of August. I have not done any of the exercises as I am not sure if they are straining my stomach or not, but I have been walking about 40 minutes everyday using the WW posture. I am hoping this surgery will not complicate my prolapse which is a stage 3 cystocele. Any advise would be helpful.

I don't know anything about this, and we certainly aren't giving out any medical advice here on the forum. But if you put "inguinal hernia" into the search box, you will come up with several discussions and you might find someone with experience. Best of luck - Surviving

Probably better to have this done. It is relatively minor surgery and can save you from having a strangulated hernia which is when a section of bowel gets trapped. Strangulated hernia is potentially life-threatening. I have had bowel obstructions elsewhere and it can be very serious. Check out the risks/benefits.

dear Heather,
You may be able to sort this out yourself, unless there are some complications you have not alluded to. I was fitted (painfully)with a pessary almost immediately after discovering uterine prolapse and was told that only a gynaecologist could remove it. I hated it and less than a week later, late at night, looked up the type of pessary on the internet and read the 'instructions for professionals'. It is not a mysterious art, in fact. In the end I just put one foot up on a toilet seat, felt around inside, got hold of the ring (it was a white plastic doughnut ring) and pulled it out myself. Yes, it was slippery and awkward and I yelped but the relief afterwards at having got it out was terrific, both physically and mentally. It is so good to be able to trust ones own body, and be in charge - in a very practical way - of what happens to it.

hi heather,
I did not re-insert it later. In fact I threw it away with relish. I was nervous at first as the gynaecologist had led me to be fearful and think that I 'needed' it. But my body rebelled; it felt like a foreign object that was doing far more harm than good. I did try a sea-sponge for a day or two but that soon landed in the dustbin as well. The slow, subtle shift in the pelvic organs through immersion in this work is what helped. Not an instant result, but far more reliable in the long run. Trusting the intelligence of the body to gradually right itself feels so much more satisfying - if initially a little scary - than having an ugly silicone object propping the uterus up in a rigid way.
The GP may just have been nervous about venturing into unfamiliar specialist territory or perhaps was not wanting to go against a gynaecologist's advice.
But it is your body, after all. Good luck!

I was just fitted with a Gelhorn pessary. I am very happy with it. I was recently diagnosed with a stage four uterine prolapse, a stage four bladder prolapse, stage two rectocele, and a stage two vault prolapse. That's a lot of sagging! I was shown how to insert it and how to remove it. I sometimes take it out to do The Exercises, sometimes not. I think I can do the Posture much better with it in. I take it out at night if I feel like it - or not. It's not perfect, but neither am I. It took me a week of struggle to learn how to put it in. I had to take it really slow and be patient with myself during this time. I took some vacation time to do this. It's a life changer for me! So much better than surgery. I have no pain and no irritation, well a little but the lubricant that I use really helps. I really wish more doctors knew about fitting pessaries. I had to go to a topnotch surgeon to be fitted. I had been to five other docs who kept passing me along. Don't give up! If any one has questions I welcome them.

If I'm not mistaken, I believe what you have is a cystocele. A pessary is (in my opinion) a rather extreme measure to be applying to something that is quite manageable with the Whole Woman work. If the bulge scares you, well, the WW work will soon get you over that! I think that pessary will end up doing more harm than good over time. - Surviving

heather b

Hi, I use Emerita personal lubricant, it's an aloe based gel with no parabens to irritate delicate tissue. It's possible that the pessary has irritated the bladder and caused the UTI. It's also possible that the pessary has misaligned your urethra and you could be retaining urine and that could cause a UTI. When you remove your pessary, make sure everything is clean, and your nails are short and smooth. You need to break the suction of the pessary and your cervix with your finger under it and turn it sideways for removal depending on the type you have. Do you know the style's name? There are over twenty different styles and most of them have at least 10 sizes. It would be easy to have the wrong size or style for your problem.