prolapse vs. hernia -- difference...

Body: 

i'm interested in understanding the difference here.

i have a rectocele. i really need to understand what this means structurally yet find myself having a difficult time. IS it like a hernia? is there a tear that is creating the bulge into my vagina? or is it, in fact, more of a falling? as i write this, i realize the structural component to this -- yet why, then, when i have to "splint" (which i seem to have to do this week to pass stools) can i feel the thinned wall into my rectum? is that what the structure is like when it's misaligned?

i have had days of real optimism and hope this week, realizing that this is a very livable situation. thought about posture, felt really quite fine, barely a speck of pressure or discomfort. but today... everything has shifted and i feel down and morose. rectal pressure has increased. i want to understand all this better. somehow, i think that will make me visualize its stabilization and improvement more readily.

thanks all. this site is just the best.

susan

I have had a hernia - It is a tear or hole in the miscle or whatever - A prolapse is like a stretching - Kinda like an old hammock that someone real heavy sat on and it stretched it - so the hammock is now lying lower than one would like it to be.

But - With prolapse - Chaging your posture can push internal pressures around and give this hammock a bit of extra support :-)

Ok that sounds weird - lol - But that is how I see it...

If you imagine a wall made of rubber kind of material - You imagine this rubber being stretched - and you can see whatever is leant against the wall on the other side kinda bulging through the wall - THAT is kinda like a rectocele - The bowel is pushing against the wall and it bulges out but not through.

Sue