pelvic organ prolapse???? help!

i didn't want to be the first to answer since i am new myself, but i didn't want to leave you hanging either. i have bladder prolapse and mine looks like a ball of flesh at the vaginal opening, not pointy however which makes me wonder if yours is your uterus pushing down the cervix??? are you post partum? regardless i would go check it out with the doctor to see what it is.

i just reread my post and had to giggle about the "leave you hanging"....because everyone on this site is hanging in some way or another!!!! j

I does sound like some sort of prolapse to me, and it may be your cervix. When I am having a bad prolapse day I get a little point of cervix right at the entrance, but most of the time now it is tucked well inside.

Prolapse sometimes happens very slowly, for other women it can happen virtually overnight. For me it was gradual, so gradual in fact that I really hardly noticed it until my cervix nearly popped out, but I can see now that it was my bladder descending that brought my cervix down with it. At the worst I have only ever been able to feel my cervix at the entrance when bearing down.

I suggest that you have a feel with your fingers inside your vulva and see if you can identify everythng you can feel. If you are not familiar with your own body this can be quite difficult, but will not harm you in any way. Use lubricant or saliva if you are feeling a bit dry. Having a diagram close by, to refer to, might also be useful.

Your vagina should lead almost straight up but leaning back quite a bit. Your cervix will feel quite firm, a ring, sort of like a thick standup collar about 2-3cm across and about 1-2cm high, depending on the time of the month, with a dimple in the centre (which is actually the entrance to the uterus). It is suppposed to point forwards but can point anywhere, particularly if you have prolapses! ;-) You should be able to feel your bladder through the front vaginal wall just above the pubic bone. If your bladder is in its normal position it will not protrude into your vagina, but if prolapsed it could be lying flat across the entrance and you may only be able to get your fingers past it at the anus end of the vagina. Wherever it is it will feel squishy, just like, um, a bladder, or a balloon filled with water. My cystocele (prolapsed baldder) lies flat just above the vaginal entrance and my cervix lies at the end of it at the anus end of the vagina, facing backwards, so it sometimes feels like it is trying to pop out of the back of my vagina. If you can feel a sausage-like thing through the back vaginal wall that could be a rectocele. You are actually feeling a 'loop' of bowel protruding into the back vaginal wall because the fascia between the rectum and vagina has become damaged. You should be able to push it back into line again with thumb or finger if it protrudes into the vagina, and this can be a useful manoeuvre if you are having difficulty emptying your bowel completely.

It really is useful to know what is happening in your vagina before you go to the doctor, so you can describe what is happening, and so you can understand what s/he is saying about our body. Take a diagram with you so you can discuss it and understand fully.

Other women may describe their prolapses differently. They might not feel the same as mine. One of the good things about this Forum is being able to discuss details of prolapses with others which allows us to make sense of what is happening to our bodies, and to understand how we can live most comfortably and without becoming invalids. It also enables us to help each other avoid the slippery slope of surgery. Hope this is some help.

Go to the website, www.wholewoman.com and check out the FAQ's to find out all about prolapses and what you can do to manage them yourself. Christine Kent's book, Saving the Wholewoman, is a much more detailed work, and has been a life saver to me. If you are considering surgery at any time I suggest to you that this book is a must, as it has detailed descriptions of all the surgical procedures and their risks and potential complications. Surgery is not a cure for any of the prolapses. It also has detailed descriptions of all the methods you can use to minimise further prolapse and the symptoms of existing prolapses. Wholewoman methods will not cure prolapses either, but it is not a life threatening disease, usually just a pain in the bum if you don't look after it.

Cheers

Louise

I usually tellpeople to check like this...
Stay standing...
You feel with one or two fingers inside and if you can feel a 'lump behind a wall' to front - thats cystocele (bladder) prolapse - If you can feel a 'lump behind a wall' to the rear - thats rectocele (bowel) and... If you feel what is like a sausage and you can fun your finger in a complete ring round this 'sausage' type thing then thats uterine.

Whichever it may be (Or even if it's not' Posture is the best route to take for wellbeing :)

Sue

Look into the eyes - They hold the key!
http://www.bringmadeleinehome.com/img/maddy544x150Banner.jpg