low middle high

Again, I think Christine has commented on this here and in the book. She mentions that the current train of thought is that most "high" rectoceles are actually caused by surgery, and most others are quite low.

I have thought about this too as I get confused about the whole grading thing for rectocele for this very reason.

Mine too is low, but not really bad I don't think. However, by the grading thing it would be classified as more severe because it is right at the opening. Surely if you have a lower rectocele it stands to reason it is going to be right AT the opening, not because it is worse necessarily, but because that is where it is situated? Equally a high one might be severe, but not bulge down as far. Does that make any sense?

Just something I think about which makes me sceptical of the whole "grading" system. "Prolapse grading" always makes me think we deserve some kind of trophy for all this as well! :)

Ha HA!!!!!

Now I am worried! Mine is everywhere! That is, I have a bulge along my whole back vaginal wall. It is as my bowel was just lying on my vagina. And in addition, sometimes I can feel some bits coming through the fascia (I can feel a rip there along the whole vagina again) which cause discomfort. Then I push those bits out...

Does that mean that mine is severe? Doctor said grade 1/2 but I do not trust him anyway as this is partly his fault...

I really want to heal/improve this thing but maybe mine is beyond curable? Symptoms are not bad when I eat sanely...

(a very scared) Rekaxxx

hey reka:

i sort of have that too. that is, it seems as though the bulge opening is higher up and then the bulge part can move downwards almost towards the opening of my vagina. i can push the bulge back in -- sometimes it stays, mostly not. is that what you're feeling?

you know, it gets tricky, too, feeling around up there as i honestly don't know just what it felt like before so sometimes i can really head into panic mode. take a deep breath. try not to worry about this one. you can improve this.

(and i know what you mean about not trusting your doctor as you think the rectocele is connected. me, too, sister!)

you're okay, reka.

xxsusan

Reka,

Try not to compare with others. We are all so different anatomically with all of this I am sure, there is no right or wrong.

Please don't get hung up on all the grading either, the "how far it bulges out" thing. I really think that is all cob wash.

We all have these prolapse things, they all sit differently, and who is to say what is "better", "worse"! I really think how we feel each day needs to be our guide, not what bulges out, when and how far.

These things change so much each day, week, month, anyway. Don't panic. It sounds as though things are getting so much better for you and that you are doing all the right thngs. Let THIS be your guide, not all of the differences between us! OK! :)

Michelle.

I didn't have a good day yesterday - and today it seems that my cervix was hanging even lower out of my vagina, and I have a purple discharge on my sea sponge?!! I feel leaky, uncomfortable like my stomach muscles are being stretched internally from the weight of my cervix .... (I guess that's ridiculous?)

I'm trying to stay aware of how I am sitting, standing all day long. And despite adding 2 treatments with citrucel per day, enzymes AND probiotics, eating raw vegetables and fruits, I still have no urge to eliminate. HOW can that be?? And if I do use the toilet, I'm afraid I'm doing damage (even though I'm in a forward tilt - a trying not to push).

One thing I realized is that downward dog (yoga position) would bring my cervix back up - for at least a little while. I've never been a stomach sleeper, but it seems to me that would be the best sleeping position as well.
I'm going to be driving in the car for 6 hours tomorrow - where normally I don't mind - I just keep thinking about how this is not going to be helpful. I guess I just need a little encouragement from my kindred spirits at WholeWoman....

I have read about the high/low/middle rectocele. haven't given it too much thought. I think mine is low, but whatever. I don't like the grading system for any prolapse, seems like the medical field just had to have numbers to go along with this for the sake of science I guess. but in reality, prolapse changes from day to day, or even during the course of a day, so what good is a number?
and what difference does it make if mine is 'worse' than yours, especially since that doesn't necessarily correlate to my symptoms being worse than yours.

so I agree, you have to find your own benchmark. how is it today? tomorrow you can compare to the day before. and I've really stopped checking to see how far its protruding. I 'grade' based on symptoms.

yogam....good luck on the car trip. I don't have much experience with long travel, last time we travelled it was by plane for 12 hrs but I was pg so miserable all around.

Yes, rectocele can manifest as a soft "pillow" at the back wall or a more localized "walnut" or "grape".

Yogam...keep your eye on the sponge as they can be irritating to the cervix. Also...many of us have described the "discreet forward bend" to shift things forward. :-)

for tomorrow's car trip. And I hope that you will be feeling better soon.

(((HUG)))

Love,
Reka

Just wanted to add to the whole "how bad is your rectocele" thread, I have been musing on it all morning!

Although I don't believe that my prolapses are bad at all, clinically I think they are considered to be quite significant!

I have been "graded" quite high a couple of times, and boy did that make me feel proud!
(And the HUGE RECTOCELE award goes to..............:)

Despite this, I truly have no awareness of ANY of my prolapses, to the point that I would probably not have even thought anything was amiss had I not found my cervix that special day so long ago.

What I am trying to say in my usual long winded way, is that I believe the various prolapses can be considered to be "severe" without symptoms, and equally, one could I suppose have "milder" prolapse WITH symptoms. I like you Granolamom, have stopped looking outwards, and just look towards myself and at how I feel I am doing. At the moment I think I'm doing pretty darn well too!

I think this was for me all part of the process once again of coming to terms with the fact that there are no absolutes. At first this was scarey because I wanted someone to tell me what was going on, and what would happen. Now I kinda like the whole "waxing and waning" idea, and have come to trust what my own body is telling me!

You are all absolutely right! It does not really matter how my rectocele looks like - after all noone sees it.

And I will follow Granolamom's suggestion: I will just check the symptoms. If I am fine I don't care how it looks like. And I have to say that this week I have already had TWO good days when I thought: 'I can do this, I can live with this'.

Of course, I am knackered by the end of the day but I think that it is more due to the posture (that is still very difficult for me as I used to have the exact opposite of every single detail) than my prolapse.

I admit though that after my first post on this thread I started researching surgery again. And this is what I found: http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=1001367
It is just the abstract of an article but it is worth reading. I particularly like the conclusions that it is a safe and effective operation - after stating that it almost always goes wrong...

When I found my prolapse a week after giving birth, I called my midwife in a COMPLETE panic and was told, "push it back, kegel hard, and do downward dog" several times throughout the day"!

Well, I did and it certainly seemed to help for me and my uterus! :) (Probably more down to the position and posture than the kegel though).

...the ubiquitous "More studies are needed...." Enough!!