Estrogen Cream and Pessary?

Body: 

Hi, Had my surprise visible prolapse a few weeks ago. My Saving the Whole Woman book arrived today and also have the First Aid DVD. Been doing the posture and exercises as best I can. Will be glad to get into the book more to answer a lot of questions. Have been using yam progesterone cream, MSM, cell salts and homeopathic remedy for strengthening and repairing ligaments. Seems like a good idea since there are so many pelvic ligaments. Today a nurse practitioner prescribed estrogen cream and gave me a referral to GYN for a pessary. I read that the estrogen cream can strength vaginal walls. Of course there are a lot of possible side effects. Anyone have input? Also, I tried the sea sponge and didn't like it. Anyone have experience with a pessary? At 65 I still have so much to learn.

Hi Cace and welcome. I’m sure by now you are busy immersing yourself in WW knowledge. You have lots to do and learn, and it’s quite a journey!

There is a search box up and to the left. You can put some of these terms in there, and look for past discussion on these topics. I don’t use any of these things, and I can only speak for myself and from what I have learned from Christine and the wonderful ladies here.

Pessaries don’t improve prolapse, but only alleviate the symptoms in SOME women and they are hard to fit. If you try one, be sure the doctor shows you how to remove and clean it yourself. Some of them think you should leave it for long periods of time between visits, but this is really not good for the tissues. The idea of Whole Woman posture is to get the organs forward into the relaxed lower belly, where they are no longer holding the vagina open. I’ve always thought a pessary really works against that. So try to concentrate on the postural approach as much as you can.

I don’t use hormones as I don’t feel the need to expose myself to the potential risks. I guess if you are considering a pessary, your doc might like for you to build up the vaginal walls in preparation for that. For me, that’s another reason why pessary use should probably be reserved for only certain cases where the benefits outweigh other considerations. It’s just not something I identify with, but you can look for threads and comments from users.

Please check in and let us know how you’re doing. I discovered my ‘celes post-menopause and have been doing this work for going on three years now. I’m thankful every day that I landed here before starting down any other path. This is about prolapse and SO much more (healthy hips, healthy spine, healthy mind and body!!) - Surviving