Questions about Postpartum Bladder Prolapse

Hello and welcome, Momof3invwv,

We have many women who have fully recovered from postpartum bladder prolapse. It is an extremely common occurrence and will most likely completely reverse within your first postpartum year.

You can accelerate healing by learning about and beginning to maintain your dynamic pelvic organ support system, which has less to do with kegels and more to do with natural female spinal shape, i.e. a full lumbar curve and an abdominal wall that is pulled up instead of in.

I cannot tell you not to take the advice of your doctor, but can say that flooding the body with excess estrogen is simply the wrong concept.

Wishing you well,

Christine

Hi there. I too had an 8 lb, 8oz baby in November (2 years ago), and discovered a bladder prolapse at 5 weeks pp. I'm almost 34 too. So we have a lot in common. We will also have this in common -- tremendous healing! Someone once said that the only women who don't have a pp cystocele are the ones that don't look, meaning it's often there for a lot of women, but gets so much better that it goes unnoticed. So to answer your questions, yes, it improves greatly. I have a tiny bit of anterior wall "softening," but don't see or feel anything close to a bladder prolapse now. I spend 12 hours a day on my feet as a nursing student. I run, jump, dance, lift, travel, have great sex etc etc. Time, reinstating your lumbar curve, standing tall, sitting the way human beings were meant to have made all the difference. And remember, it can take your body about two years to fully recover from pregnancy and birth, so don't be worried that you are dealing with this after the 6 week pp period. It does get better, I promise. Kegels? Meh. . . Don't do a billion. Maybe 3-4, just to be in tune with that area, but many women report worsening with kegels. They actually can weaken your pelvic " floor" because they shorten the muscles whereas a strong lumbar curve strengthens everything by lengthening them. Estrogen? You'll have plenty as soon as your cycles return, so why expose yourself to the risks of stroke and blood clots just cause your bladder is a bit saggy? Exercise? Listen to your body, if it makes you feel worse, stop. Good? Keep going. I do ballet classes with jumps, and walk a ton. Walking really excellerated my healing. The worst thing to do with a prolapse, IMHO is to sit around all fearful and c-spined. Read what you can on here. Get the DVD if you can. Track my old posts. Don't strain on the toilet. Eat well. Keep asking questions. You'll be just fine

I am 39 years old, 7 months postpartum with my second child (but 1st vaginal delivery), and while my prolapses aren't gone, they are better than they were 6 months ago when I discovered them. My bladder prolapse no longer hangs as low as my vaginal opening anymore, so I guess it does get a little better at least.

I feel worse when I don't exercise, actually. I can't go more than a day without physical activity - I swear it all hangs a little lower if I do. I think we tend to slouch more and get more tired when we don't exercise. That said, I only walked and did very light strength and core training for the first 4 months, and now I do 30-60 minutes of cardio almost every day - either the exercise bike I have at home, the elliptical trainer (at level 12!) or I walk on a treadmill at an 8% incline at 3.5 miles/hr. I also do at least 15 minutes of core exercises, and 45 minutes of strength training 3-4 times/week. It took me 3 months to work up to that, but now I can't live without it or I really do feel worse. I will emphasize that before my last pregnancy, I worked out 6 days a week for 2 hours at a time, so I wasn't really starting from scratch after giving birth. I've never tried the tampon trick for exercise. I did try it once at home just to see if it helped with my urinary urgency, but it didn't, and it hurt like hell to pull it out of a dry vagina!

On the topic of estrogen: I wouldn't discount it too quickly. After some extensive examinations, it was discovered that my urinary urgency was probably due to the scarring on my compressor urethra from surgical instruments following delivery (read my first post to find out why I had so much vaginal trauma). I was told that massaging that muscle (super weird!), along with estrogen cream once a week, would decrease my urgency because the compressor urethra is particularly estrogen-sensitive. So far, I think it has helped with the urgency. I still have quite a bit of aching in my vagina, though, and I'm not sure if that is my prolapsed bladder or my compressor urethra causing that ache.

I think the tendency sometimes is to think a little too anti-conventional medicine. Sometimes medical conditions require medical interventions. Sure, I could wait until I'm done breastfeeding to really get a picture of what my urgency will be like in the long term, but I feel that if there is something that can offer me even a little bit of relief sooner rather than later, why not?

As far as Kegels go: my urogyne said that no amount of Kegels or core training will cure prolapse. He told me they work in terms of not allowing things to get worse. I think Kegels help with incontinence (not one of my issues, so I can't say for sure) and they are good for sex - I do think they tighten things up. Core exercises have helped me be more aware of my body - I just don't slouch as much and since I'm stronger in my core than I was before, I am able to lift things more efficiently, walk taller, etc. I believe that you should really try anything that could possibly work. What have you got to lose?

Prolapse is a drag, but you will definitely be able to work out again. Take is very slowly, work up to it, and you'll figure out what works for you and your prolapse.

A 2003 Cochrane review identified 38 clinical trials evaluating the effectiveness of estrogen for the treatment of incontinence. The largest and longest of those trials demonstrated a significant increased risk of developing incontinence or a worsening of incontinence after the initiation of estrogen cream. Women describe a particular burning and pressure in the urethral area that continues for months after estrogen creams are discontinued. Use caution.

I have gotto run to work but a one second reply to say YES!!!
I had a severe bladder prolapse, grade 3, huge bulge, plus an equally bad recocele and mild uterine prolapse.
they started at week 3, and got worse till about 3 months which seems quite normal so don't be disheartened if things don't just get better right away.

with the fabulous help of WW the bladder prolapse is very mild, and the rectocele is as long as I eat well (like avoiding the cheese i ate yesterday!). by 2 years they were so much better, and last summer i went to see christine and it all got even better as i really improved my posture.
so things can get soooo much better!

i don't know about the particular machine you talk about. i love chrisitne's excercises and DVD and that is my excercise, plus walking a lot. nauli and firebreathing (on the dvd) are great, and really help lift things up so highly recommend that daily, plus the others when you can...

tampons--i use them for support if my rect is not behaving, but i think it stops me from feeling if i overdo it. so i personally i don't use it when i need to listen to my body--like excercising. but that is just me--i want to hear the messages i'm being given and respond instantly to say ok, i'll back off. so that is just me. i think with any of this you ahve to experiment and see what works for you.

not sure about the hormones--never was suggested any, and was told once my periods came back my hormones were pretty settled--and my POP didn't change when i quit feeding (other things had far more influence). So I can't say do or don't do it, but find out more before you do, and see how you are doing then, and then talk to your doctor.

In the UK, the doctors wouldn't now see you again till 1 year PP as they expect a lot of healing even if you do nothing. but with WW, that healing is excentuated and really stays!

ok, gotta run to work now!
but keep asking as you need...
kiki