Your doctor may order a dynamic pelvic MRI scan, which uses magnetic waves to create images of the pelvis, to confirm the diagnosis and determine the extent of the prolapse.
For this you'll need to undress from the waist down and lie back on the examination bed. Your doctor will then feel for any lumps in your pelvic area and inside your vagina. They may gently put an instrument called a speculum into your vagina to hold the walls of it open so they can see if there's a prolapse.
The most common disorders that pelvic organ prolapse is mistakenly diagnosed as include urinary and fecal incontinence, constipation, and irritable bowel disease.
Stage I – the uterus is in the upper half of the vagina. Stage II – the uterus has descended nearly to the opening of the vagina. Stage III – the uterus protrudes out of the vagina. Stage IV – the uterus is completely out of the vagina.
An obstetrician–gynecologist (ob-gyn) or other health care professional may discover a prolapse during a physical exam. When POP is mild, sometimes a bulge can be felt inside the vagina. For severe cases of POP, organs may push out of the vaginal opening.
Prolapse can feel different for each woman. Some women say it feels like they're sitting on a ball all the time. Other women feel fullness or pressure around their vagina, bladder, or pelvic area. The most obvious way to tell if you have prolapse is if you feel a bump or “bulge” at the bottom of your vagina.
[3] Pelvic prolapse is a clinical diagnosis. However, the dynamic MRI and translabial ultrasound are valuable tools for complicated multicompartment pelvic prolapse when the physical examination is often difficult.
An untreated prolapse can cause sores on the cervix (opening to the uterus) and increase chances of infection or injury to other pelvic organs.
It is generally safe to leave prolapse untreated unless the prolapse is very large or causes difficulty with bowel or bladder emptying.
Consider surgery if the prolapse is causing pain, if you are having problems with your bladder and bowels, or if the prolapse is making it hard for you to do activities you enjoy. An organ can prolapse again after surgery. Surgery in one part of your pelvis can make a prolapse in another part worse.
What type of exercise is best for pelvic organ prolapse? Aerobic exercises three to five times a week (walking, cycling, swimming etc). Aerobic exercise helps your cardiovascular system, muscles, tendons and ligaments to stay strong and will also help you maintain to the correct weight (BMI) for your height and age.
With a grade 2 or 3 level prolapse, you may be able to feel a small bulge in the vagina or at the vaginal opening, or may even be able to see the bulge coming out of your vagina when looking with a mirror.
Prolapse may be noted incidentally during a vaginal examination by a healthcare professional e.g. during a routine cervical smear. If the prolapse is small or not causing any problems, no intervention is required.
Some women with a pelvic organ prolapse don't have any symptoms at all. The condition may only discovered during an internal examination for another reason. For example, during a cervical screening test (smear test).
At present, the cost of female genital surgery (also known as labiaplasty or vulvoplasty), which involves the changing of the size and shape of the vagina, are only reimbursed under Medicare if a doctor deems it a medical necessity.
How can I feel a prolapsed uterus with my finger? Insert 1 or 2 fingers and place them over the front vaginal wall (facing the bladder) to feel any bulging under your fingers, first with strong coughing and then with sustained bearing down.
A prolapsed vagina is more likely to happen after menopause and after multiple vaginal childbirths. This is more likely to occur if you're older than 50, but it can happen at any age.
For anterior prolapse associated with a prolapsed uterus, your doctor may recommend removing the uterus (hysterectomy) in addition to repairing the damaged pelvic floor muscles, ligaments and other tissues.
Diagnosis. Your gynecologist may order an array of tests to determine the stage of your prolapse and its effects on your bladder and other organs. Cystoscopy, pelvic ultrasound, urodynamic (urine) testing, and computed topography (CT) scans are all common tests to diagnose POP.
A severe prolapse looks like a red ball protruding from the vagina.
In some cases, the prolapse can be treated at home. Follow your provider's instructions on how to do this. The rectum must be pushed back inside manually. A soft, warm, wet cloth is used to apply gentle pressure to the mass to push it back through the anal opening.
The longer you sit during the day, the more pressure you exert on the “hammock,” causing damage to your pelvic floor. This can lead to: Pelvic floor dysfunction. Pelvic organ prolapse.
Deep squat poses – avoid poses involving deep squats to reduce pressure on the pelvic floor including Garland Pose and Noose Pose. Forward bends with wide legs – avoid or modify wide leg forward bends which increase downward pressure in a vulnerable wide leg position such as Forward Bend with V-Legs.
seeing a doctor for any condition that causes coughing and sneezing, such as asthma, chest infections and hay fever, as repetitive sneezing and coughing may cause or worsen a bladder prolapse. keeping within a healthy weight range. Being overweight is known to make symptoms worse.
Up to 1/3 of these women will undergo repeat surgery. The incidence of surgery for prolapse seems to increase with age. The peak age group for women undergoing urinary incontinence surgery is the 40-50 year old group. Increasingly we are seeing younger women who are unwilling to “put up with” these problems.