Whole Woman Village Forum

I have just been diagnosed with a cystoceleand it has come as a complete shock. I am currently exercising on a daily basis and I have order some vaginal cones to strengthen the pelvic floor. Does anyone know if this will help. Also is sex still possible as I was too embarrassed to asked the doctor. I am 55 years old and the problem was caused by heavy lifting and a weak pelvic floor.

Anne

I have read that one of the reasons our bodies are out of whack during & after pregnancy is because our lumbar curve is so pronounced & given the term "swayback." How is that different than The Posture that we *want* to adapt if we are supposed to be arching our lower spine?

Am I just not understanding how it is that our posture tends to become compromised while pregnant?

~Erin

I have had a hysterectomy and I can testify that it was the beginning of my trouble. after 10 years I had surgery for prolapsed rectum and 15 years after that I had the complete pelvic floor repair for cystocele, rectocele and enterocele with grafts last year and have re-prolapsed and I have a recurrent cystocele. Of course the option offered me is another surgery with and a different approach, abdominal this time. Could I still benefit from this posture training or is it too late?

I am 32 years old and I had my second child 10 months ago. Two weeks after he was born I realized something funny was going on with my vagina. Went to the doctor and she conformed my worst fear, and actually even more (I did not know about rectocele and cystocele at that point yet). I have an uterine prolapse with severe rectocele and cystocele.

I am happy I found this page. I've been trying to find information from here and there, but as you all know, it is hard as even the doctors talk in contradiction with each other. (I've been seeing a doctor both in here States and in Europe (I am from Scandinavia), and they essentially say the same: surgery. But for the reasons and everythings else they seem glueless).

Recently ordered the DVD & book and have started some exercises. I'm not sure how or what the connection is, but wondering if others have trouble with sciatic nerve along with prolapse. Having lots of trouble with the nerve all of a sudden, seems like just since I've started the exercises, but maybe it is what has made the prolapse "flare up" again lately. Any comments?
JJ

Thanks to all who have been so supportive of me throughout all of this. I am still having pain in my vagina, it's kinda like a pinching pain. I've been talking to a person who kinda has the same symptoms as me, the frequent urination, swollen skenes glands, pain in vagina and the yeast infections and irritation of the vulva and she seems to think I may have vulvodynia. She thinks it is also a reason why my hormones are off balance as well. I really never heard of it before but I guess it doesn't hurt to do research on it and mention it to my Dr on my next visit. I know with my last baby, she weighed 9 pounds and 1 oz and natural childbirth and it seems like I haven't been myself since childbirth. For the most, guess I will just keep my Advil handy.

Just a quick question....do stairs have an effect on prolapse? I ask because we are purchasing a new home and have to choose between a ranch and a two-story home. I like the two-story a little better, but that means a lot of stair climbing each and every day.

And - I have to say I talked to a urogyn the other day and told her I read that posture had a lot to do with prolapse. She absolutely agreed and said "holding over the pubic bone is very important rather than back against the vaginal wall". I received my Saving the Whole Woman Book yesteray. I've skimmed a lot of it and am now sitting down to READ it word for word. I'll say I've cried a lot, been super scared, and in many ways reassured all in the same breath while reading it thus far.

Yesterday I was diagnosed with a rectocele. About 4 yrs. ago I had a hysterectomy,I've had two vaginal births and I'm 53 yrs. old. According to the statistics I'm a great fit for a rectocele. However, I have always eaten well, taken supplements and exercised. So here I am looking for an answer other than surgery.
Has anyone of you had a rectocele and if so what results have you seen with Christine's suggestions and or any other alternative methods for a rectocele.

Reliv

Hi everyone, hope all of you had a wonderful Mothers' Day!! I go back tomorrow to see the Dr to see if my skenes glands are draining or if anything else needs to be done. I've been on 4 different types on antibiotics before they drained my glands. It's been a week since I had that procedure done on me. Yesterday was kinda bad. I woke up with intense itching and scratched to the point of bleeding. It hurt so bad when I had to urinate. Finally, after a zillion showers and relaxing in a nice warm tub, it doesn't hurt as much. I think I have thrush now due to all of the meds I've been on. I pray that the Dr can finally fix me up and send me on my way. I know I have that 2nd degree prolaspe that he is concerned about. I hopee he doesn't say I need surgery. I just had a baby 5 months ago. I'm praying my body will heal on it's on and that its just taking a long time to get back to normal. It feels weird knowing my uterus is hanging out of me. I want to go swimming so bad but I'm scared I might get an infection. I know that sounds crazy but with everything I have been through lately, I don't want to chance it. My poor husband, I know he is ready for me to get back to normal. I wake up a million times a night to pee and it keeps him awake. I heard that with a prolaspe uterus, this is common. Does anyone else have this?

Hi,
Even though I have joined this forum in March I still have not inroduced myself.
I am a 34 year old woman and I was diagnosed with prolapse two years ago. I had felt the symptoms for many years not knowing what was going on. It all started after my first delivery when I got a routine episiotomy that led to 4th degree tearing. The suture disintegrated the second day after the delivery but I was told that it is OK and that I wouldn't need any repairs on the perineum. I have felt pressure on my perineum, back pain ever since and I had a feeling like I was squishing something in my vagina.When I spoke to the doctor he told me that every woman goes through some degree of a prolaps after giving birth. He said I could live a normal life with it for a while (I was only 22 years old), but I had to ask for surgery when it gets worse. He also mentioned that somebody messed up my labor and it wasn't him! Unfortunately he was my only source of informations since Internet didn't exist at that time. So I lived a normal busy life dealing with my condition like “every woman after a delivery has to”. I have gone to many other doctors but none of them saw anything wrong. Then two years after my first was born I gave birth to my second child. I got another routine episiotomy which worsened my condition a little bit. I felt like this must be some kind of punishment for a woman for having a baby, and I decided not to have anymore babies, although I love babies. Years after this we left our country and came to the USA, temporarily. I started rethinking everything. I knew women here have more options with labor, and that they can have a home birth if they want (which isn't possible in my country), they can have a midwife (which is impossible in my country) they can be supported by their husbands and friends, and close family during the labor (which wasn't possible in my country when my kids where born and isn't very welcome today either), they can chose birth position and refuse episiotomy (which is impossible in my country). I dreamed about a little girl but I was afraid of another episiotomy. So 10 years after my second was born I got pregnant for the third time, here in the USA. I delivered a beautiful little girl just like I dreamed about, without an episiotomy, and with my husband next to me. My prolapse got much worse during the first 4 months of pregnancy but later on during pregnancy it was hardly noticable. During PP it came back. I was devastated but I hoped that my experience with the doctor here would be better than my experience with the doctor from my country, plus I appreciated the access to the Internet. My doctor was very nice and caring, she informed me about the surgeries. She mentioned a hysterectomy but didn't recommend it for me because of my age. She said they have physical therapies at the clinic, but it works only for women with 1. degree of prolapse not for me, she said that my uterine prolapse is much worse and that I also have a cystocele and rectocele. When I asked about details she said she has to sent me to urogynecologist at the clinic who specializes in pelvic disorders and only he can prescribe me a pessary and later perform the surgery, and that the best way is to ask him what exactly I would like to know about the surgery. Before I met with him I researched on the internet, so I would be ready to discuss my concerns and I wrote down all the questions that bothered me. I was shocked when he entered the room and was ironically laughing “something is falling out, ha-ha-ha, and I only guess your doctor is a female, and she for sure thinks you are to young for a hysterectomy, which you are not!”. He was so rude! I wanted to discuss my questions but he didn't answer one! I cried days after the visit. He prescribed me a pessary and gave me a pice of paper with instructions about Keegels exercises. I was told to do at least 100 daily. Soon (after 4-5 months of doing Keegles) I noticed keegels didn't help me and my rectocele got worse. When I met this urogynecologist I was only 3 months of PP and I was breastfeeding. He mentioned that the proplaps might get better in about 3-4 months after I stop breastfeeding.