Does this sound like a prolapse to any of you?

Body: 

I was diagnosed with a “fallen bladder”. The doctor didn’t say much other then “live with it” and “when it falls out someone might do surgery”. After I fainted in her office she said she would send me to a specialist. I haven’t heard anything back on this. I have not had kids or an injury of any kind that I can think of.

I have recently done some poking around and was wondering if a fallen bladder feels like a hardball? I have read a fallen bladder looks like a balloon. I am also under the impression that a fallen bladder would be soft? My problem doesn’t remind me of a balloon at all. When I touched this ball it didn’t feel like pressure on the bladder. The ball is at the top in the center. It blocks the vaginal opening (very tight). It’s not right at the opening but its close. This hardball ends no more then 1 inch and maybe a ½ in (if that). One day I had a major burning sensation in left ovary area. I’ve been having random sharp shooting pains in the center of lower abdomen / pelvic area and maybe the urethra (or hardball, I don’t think the pain is in the vagina itself) Pain in the perineum area last time I had sex.

When at work today I noticed that I couldn’t stand for long periods of time without back pain. I am not having frequent trips to the bathroom all that much. Last two nights I had to go several times after laying down. Does this sound like a prolapse to any of you?

Yes, it does sound like a prolapse of some sort. POP's manifest in many different ways for different women, and may change several times over the years, as we manage them ourselves. The doctor would have asked for more tests if he was not sure of it. Now it is up to you to familiarise yourself with it and be able to visualise what is happening in your pelvis.

Your bladder shouldn't feel hard when full. Remember that it is only a bag of light muscle and connective tissue that is held closed by its position and the muscles surrounding the urethra, which are tiny. It is not like an inflated balloon. The pressure inside the bladder is only ever equal to air pressure. If it gets any greater it puts pressure on the sphincter muscles, and we have the urge to empty it.

When the urethra is kinked by the bladder rolling backwards and down that could generate more pressure inside the bladder without triggering the urge to empty, but you feel the urge as soon as you change position and allow the bladder to unkink the top of the urethra. Don't worry if you don't understand this concept yet.

If you try and pee upwards you will see how little force there is behind the emptying motion. It is mainly gravity and the size of the opening that gives the urine stream the impression of being forced out.

Go to YouTube and check out Christine Kent's channel, Wholewomaninc, for excerpts of the DVD's. Ifg you like what you see, go to the WW Store via the link at the lefthand side of the purple banner at the top of the page and check out the DVD's and book, which will give you all the information you need to understand your pelvic region and how it is affected by other parts of your body, and how you use your body to support your prolapsed bladder.

Louise

Hello Wonderful Women -

I have uterine prolapse and was recently fitted for a pessary. It helped the bulging feeling in my vagina but I still have horrible groin pain on the right side which sometimes radiates down into my thigh and up around my hip. The only relief I get is when I am in a reclining position which is contradictory to what the WW book recomends for pelvic prolapse. Can the uterine prolapse be the cause of my groin pain and does anyone have suggestions for pain relief?

Marric