Have not seen this addressed....

I personally don't care to use them and it is because they go in funny and at times they make me feel like I am extra-prolapsed--in fact really I had stopped using them before I knew I had prolapsed because they made me feel funny--I am sure the prolapses I "didn't know about" made them feel uncomfortable. I have not tried the sea sponges but some women like them alot and use them all the time for their prolapses
http://www.pandorapads.com./index.htm
I personally prefer the pads since I just don't want to feel that extra feeling...the prolapses are enough for me to feel...HA!
I am at home now so to me it doesn't matter so much...I can change them and bathe whenever I want...the hot tub thing..I think someone posted on that before and that we do need to be more careful about that sort of thing and to make sure if you have your own that the water is balanced correctly so as not to over chemical the tub etc.
I think there is a certain risk with public waters for everyone and the more sensitive you are will dictact that...I could never use bubble bath etc since I was a little child because I would get infected...mom only bought un-colored toilet paper long before they finally took colored off the market due to problems with infection etc. because we all were too sensitive at our house.
There are natural oils --Christine I think makes her own you can use to help vaginal health--thinning tissues --dryness etc.
Susan wrote about a castor oil pack.
You can search for that on this site...!!

I'm not affected by not using tampons, because I quit using them 25 years ago, when one worked its way out of me while I was skiing! Ewwww! I quit using them forever at that point. I suppose I might have had a bit of prolapse beginning even back then, to cause a tampon to be forced out? Maybe. Anyway, I was utterly grossed out and just use pads now.

since developing the 'celes I have had trouble wih tampons. sometimes its tricky getting them in, and sometimes they start to move around and I don't like that at all. I hate disposable pads so I felt I just had to live with it.
now that I'm gearing up for baby, it occured to me that I can make cloth pads for postpartum and if that works out ok, I may just stick with that.

curious to hear if anyone's been able to use a menstrual cup with a prolapse?

and I know its been asked before but now that membership has grown maybe someone now has an answer.....what about a diaphragm?

hi 9oxford:

i still use tampons -- don't seem to have a problem with them. though at the very end of my period -- like today, i stick to pads. just seems easier somehow.

i have started using castor oil packs, as therese mentioned. i did them just before my period started, and they say you shouldn't use them while bleeding. i suspect my period will be all finished today so will go back to them tomorrow. i plan on doing 4 days on, 3 days off. even with the mere three days i had used them, i felt a, i don't know...juicier quality to my vaginal tissues, if that makes any sense. plumper yet more firm. i know, sounds weird, but it was pretty striking to me. i have read about some interesting essential oils that i'm thinking of experimenting with, too, but i have to order them and haven't yet. but i will start the packs again tomorrow night.

and christine...DO you have a special salve you use? i would certainly be interested in hearing about it. when i was looking through the archives recently, a young woman was doing some really interesting things with herbs and oils and using them vaginally and it sounded like they were very useful to her. maybe i should find that post again and make it. didn't sound too complicated.

xsusan

I was paranoid about not being able to use them but so far I've been able to use them just fine. As things are a bit bulgier around that time I actually find they give me a bit of support during my period. Maybe a little harder getting them in than before, but not much.

Prior to prolapse, I only used the tampons with no applicator. Since prolapse (stage 2 cystocele, rectocele), I'm finding that I can wear tampons if I use the kind that have an applicator. I buy the natural kind with the paper applicator. This method seems to get the tampon seated better for me. Every once in a while (maybe once each period), I'll feel a tampon being slowly pushed out by my body. Then I just stop at a restroom and either push it back up, or start again with a new one.

I can still use tampons without any problems. Since I have both a cystocele and rectocele I don't have any problems with them falling out as I'm sure they both push against it.

My gyno suggested applying ky jelly to the tip of the tampon. I just lube it up a little and it slides right in. Towards the end of my period I put a little ky before entry as well.

- Lilly Anne

Hi All

I would just like to reiterate on Therese's comments about bathing with tampons. It is so long since I have been able to hold a tampon in that I have a laugh just thinking about it. (LOL) Now with Wholewoman posture it may be a different story...

However, I have found that when I am swimming in the ocean or our spa all my pelvic organs rise right up high, kind of floating inside me, so I imagine that if I used a tampon as I have been tempted to do over the last week when it has been over 40 degrees celcius every day, and I just happened to get a period (GRRR!), the tampon would blow up like a balloon with spa water!

Now, we look after the filters and chemistry of our spa pretty carefully, being science-type people, but I don't think I would be happy about any old spa or pool water being sucked up into my tampon along with all the other greeblies that badly done sanitisation and balancing will leave in the water, let alone all the chemicals. For this reason I would strongly advise women who bathe with tampons to change the tampon as soon as you get out of the water so that all the water and greeblies don't hang around in your vagina being absorbed for hours by the mucous membranes. A vagina is a pretty robust piece of engineering, but you don't want to push it too far!!

Now here's a left field thought. How about a new type of pessary? Insert a super-absorbent tampon high into the vagina then lie on your back with your butt up in the air and pour in half a bottle of warm sterile water, just like the ads on TV where they plunge their superabsorbent tampon into a glass of water. FFFWWWHHHHOOOOOPPP!!! Voila, the mother of all pessaries! You might feel a a bit bladder incontinent with the drainage of excess water for a while but, boy, would that uterus stay up high or what? Kids, don't try this at home!

Come to think of it though, it would probably give you an absolutely anatomically perfect shape and size for a sponge pessary. Anyone want to do a prototype? (LOL)

Cheers

Louise

When I first had bub I couldn't use tampons for several months but was determined to keep trying until I could again about six months after her birth. I don't like the 'messiness' of using pads. Sometimes, especially if I've been very active, the tampons slip out a bit (especially by the end of the day) so I'll often revert to pads towards the end of the day when flow is lighter and in the last couple of days of menstruating. Tampons aren't as comfortable for me as they used to be but I still prefer that over pads so use them as much as I can. I hadn't heard of sea sponges?? Might check the website out.

I was reading this post and it hit me that Tampons should be made (Tho there is prolly a reason that eludes me for their shape lol)

But I think they should make some that are say 1/2 to 1 inch tall (More to the half inch end) and wider like a coin shape

They might fall out? Hmmmm I don't think they would tho - The long tampons just annoy me - But this shape sounds mor confortable even though they don't make them this shape - lolol

Am I losing more of my marbles again?

since discovering my prolapse, I only use the OB tampons. they are about an inch long and you can more easily position them (you use your finger instead of an applicator) so they're at a better angle and don't fall out.