Ladies: cystocele/bladder prolapse

[maize]

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised after seven children :tongue_smilie:

 

Who here has dealt with a bladder prolapse? If I do a gazillion kegels will that help? What else?

[Okra]

Listening in......

[Laura Corin]

I'm really good at kegels.  No use for me despite diligence. I have a cystocele and a rectocele, neither of them very severe.

 

I saw the specialist and was offered an operation or a pessary.  He asked detailed lifestyle questions and recommended the pessary: the operation is more likely to fail if you are active, and repeated operations can become tricky.  I find the pessary very easy to use.  It's something like this one:

 

https://www.incoshop.co.uk/milex-cube-pessary-675-p.asp

 

Good luck!

 

He also warned against heavy lifting: 'Don't lift with two hands anything that you couldn't lift with one,' was his way of putting it.

Edited January 6, 2018 by Laura Corin

[Chris in VA]

I'm in tbe same boat as Laura. Never heard of a pessary.

Edited January 6, 2018 by Chris in VA

[Laura Corin]

I'm in tbe same boat as Laura. Never heard of a pessary.

They are low tech and cheap. Not much money to be made....

[gardenmom5]

kegels are ONE set of muscles - you have to work all of them.

I had surgery.  no regrets.

 

eta: I looked into pessiaries, et.al.... no thanks.

I had a cystocele and a rectocyle.   the only thing that would repair them was surgery.  exercise might have helped, but I'd still have problems.

Edited January 6, 2018 by gardenmom5

[freesia]

I use a pessary. It works for me for the same reasons as Laura.

[Guest]

My bff went with the surgery. She randomly jumps because she is so excited that she can without leaking.

[mamaraby]

My experience is the same as Laura’s except I had the added component of seeing a PT whose particular area of expertise was pelvic floor issues. In my case that meant that I was absolutely sure I was doing them correctly, had a PT provided set of home exercises, and had bio-feedback which included electrical stimulation. All of that and I still pee my pants when I run. Fun times. It was not cheap.

 

At this point my options are the same as Laura’s - pessary or surgery. My insurance treats them the same coverage wise and I don’t really have the money for the assorted co-pay, deductible, and co-insurance. Here in the US, Poise makes an OTC pessary that comes in three different sizes (they sell a starter kit). It’s relatively inexpensive if you want to try it out. They did not work for me, but that doesn’t mean they won’t work for you. The ones your doctor has available come in not just different sizes, but different shapes and I would assume that means they are more likely to find one that will work. I still consider going the pessary route because not peeing my pants during long runs would be nice. Maybe after I pay off dh’s ER visit from last year.

 

Since the leaking is very minor in daily life and only worse when I’m running, I’ve chosen to do nothing aside from pads. It works and is relatively inexpensive or at the very least requires far less up front cost. I no longer do kegels as after finding they were of no use even after seeing a professional and adding in other supportive exercises it just didn’t seem worth it.

 

I would consider surgery, except my mom had it a little over a decade ago only to have it fail. I suspect in her case it was physical activity related similar to what Laura mentioned. Since high impact exercise is my jam, I figure I’d be doomed to have it fail.

[Butter]

My bladder was so prolapsed it was totally to the right side.  My uterus was hanging out of my vagina so surgery was the only option ultimately.  They had to physically move my bladder to the right spot before tacking it in place.  Kegels would've done nothing in my case simply because it was just so out of place and so movement would put pressure on it totally wrong.

[Laura Corin]

My bff went with the surgery. She randomly jumps because she is so excited that she can without leaking.

 

Just for information, I can also jump and run without leaking when wearing the pessary.

[Selkie]

My understanding is that kegels can actually make prolapses worse.

 

I have a cystocele and a uterine prolapse and am avoiding surgery if at all possible, per the advice of my doctor, who is also a longtime wise and trusted friend. She does not recommend surgery because she has seen so many women have longterm problems as a result - the need for repeated surgeries in the future, scar tissue, etc.

 

Check out the Whole Woman site. Some of it is new-agey and woo woo, but there is a lot of good information there on posture and exercises that can help.

[Sandwalker]

And pelvic floor therapy does help a lot of women, YMMV.