I have a rectocele....what now??

Welcome to this site. You will find much information here. Most of us on this site have been enormously helped through using what is natural female posture. You can see a short video in the resources tab and in the FAQs. Essentially what you want to do is to relax, pull up your chest, let the crown of your head reach upward, and breath calmly into your relaxed tummy. We need to relax all of those stomach muscles...never pull your tummy in or tuck your tailbone under. these things are often done in pilates, yoga, some forms of dance and sometimes just because we thought we were supposed to. By lifting the chest upward, you will strengthen and elongate those muscles. By relaxing the muscles in the tummy, you will eventually give a place for your pelvic organs to hopefully move back into. All of this takes time. Yes, try not to get constipated and each of us has to do a lot of investigative work on that subject because what works well for some of us, does not work for another. Prolapse is caused by many factors and so many things contribute. Although there are women on this forum who have had surgery, we are very aware here of the risks and there are many frightening ones. Those of us who have not had surgery are striving to never have it. Instead we work on this posture, the exercises to strengthen the real pelvic area, and we walk in what we call WW posture. Over time there are many changes for the better and over time so many of us have success. You will hear back from women with more experience than I have. I can share with you that I have been doing this posture work and working with the Prolapse and Yoga DVD that Christine has produced and sells here on this site, for about seven months now. These things have changed my life for the better and are teaching me that this posture is indeed the posture for me and for all women. I have very few symptoms now and live a beautiful, busy, active, creative life. The DVD work is done little steps at a time and all of the moves are sympathetic to the pelvic organs, the body of the woman, and they strengthen our natural posture which honors the lumbar curve. It is understandable if you are scared, even panicking right now. This is not a life threatening situation although it does feel like it when you first experience it. Try to find your way around this site, order the book and the bundle if you can afford it, and start making your first steps in the area of this posture. Keep posting your questions and concerns. Best wishes to you.

Numake, you have found yourself in a position of unexpected grief. Many women have pelvic organ prolapse or the potential for it, and do not notice it for years. Then suddenly, with a little help from the menopause process, and maybe some constipation or extra straining on the toilet, suddenly their body changes and they have unpleasant symptoms they have never felt before. These unfamiliar sensations and a run away mind can have very profound negative effects on us.

You might feel 'not yourself' for a while, until you can get a new understanding of how your pelvic organs are really supported in your pelvic cavity, and can learn how to use your body's own design to get them back eventually to somewhere near where they are supposed to be. Only then will your feelings start to become less sharp, when you can see that you can effect changes yourself. Your fears will dissipate. To see an example of this, click on MsNightingale's first posts, and compare them with what she has just written! It will be OK. We cannot guarantee the amount of improvement that you will be able to make, but the improvements will be real. They are based on good human anatomy.

What you did to 'get off the toilet' is called splinting. It is a technique that many women discover for straightening out the rectum so that the stool can pass out of the anus, unimpeded by unnecessary twists and turns. I used to have to do it for every bowel motion, but I haven't done it more than once in the last 12 months.

Surgical repairs sound good when you read about them on the websites of gyn clinics or speak to a gyn who does these surgeries about them. However there are some gyns who do not recommend surgery, but will do these procedures if the woman is keen on it. It is quite hard to get any gyn to give you good information about risks and possible complications. They can be very economical with the truth, partly because the whole truth is pretty unpalatable. The risks are reported in many medical journal articles. Christine Kent has devoted a chapter of her book, Saving the Whole Woman, to assessing each of the common surgical repairs and reporting on the potential risks and complications. This chapter is referenced exclusively from peer-reviewed, mainstream medical journals, so this is the real deal. The potential risks and complications are very variable statistically, so you can just cross your fingers and hope for the best, but if you draw the short straw and end up with something unexpected happening you are the one who has to wear it for the rest of your life.

Sometimes women seem to recover well, with no problems, but a thorough reading of these Forums will show you how many of them end up with recurring pelvic organ prolapse, often decades later, which is much more difficult to deal with by Whole Woman methods.

I absolutely recommend reading Saving the Whole Woman if you are contemplating surgery. At least you will have a basic understanding of the language, and of your pelvic anatomy that the gyns use when talking about repairs. I read the book and was making good progress in the first couple of weeks when I went to the gyn to discuss surgery. My mind just went to moosh when he started talking medico-speak about the procedures. I decided that it was time to leave, and that I didn't want to even talk about it unless my POP's worsened, and they didn't. It is now eight years later, and I am fine.

Just don't ever strain against the toilet seat when emptying your bowels. Keep up the water and the fruit and veg. Call back when you have seen the FAQ's and the videos.

Louise