In today's video, I'm gonna talk all about a prolapsed uterus. If you've never
heard of this before, you're not alone. It's something that typically is more
common with women who are menopausal or who have already had a vaginal birth, but
the good news is that if you do have a prolapsed uterus, there are some options
that can help you get things back in place and I'll go over all kinds of
information regarding it now. First you might be wondering what a prolapsed
uterus is. The uterus is a muscular structure that is held in place by
pelvic muscles and ligaments, and if these ligaments or muscles become weak
then it causes the uterus to slip down. The definition of prolapse is slipping
or moving downward. In the event of uterine prolapse, the uterus slips down
into the vaginal canal. A prolapsed uterus may be labeled incomplete or
complete and there are also four stages that define the prolapsed uterus. I'm
going to read them off to you. Whenever I'm going over medical terms or medical
definitions I like to read them to make sure that I am accurate. So, the first
degree is when the cervix drops into the vagina, the second degree the cervix
drops into the vagina just before the opening, the third degree the cervix is
outside of the vagina and fourth-degree is the entire uterus is outside the
vagina. This condition is also called procidentia. This is caused by a
weakness in all of the supporting muscles. So, now you're probably wondering
what can cause prolapse? As mentioned before, prolapse means
slipping or moving downward, so this can actually happen with any organ in the
pelvic region, but there are a couple of different things that contribute to
causing a prolapsed uterus to happen. Some of those reasons are pregnancy or
childbirth with normal or complicated delivery through the vagina.
This happens because childbirth is probably the biggest strain known
ever for the pelvic region so the straining can cause the prolapsed uterus
to happen. Also weakness in the pelvic muscles weakening and loss of tissue
tone after menopause and loss of natural estrogen. Conditions leading to increased
pressure in the abdomen such as chronic cough with bronchitis or asthma or
straining, being overweight with its additional strain on pelvic muscles,
major surgery in the pelvic area leading to loss of external support. Basically
it's all about the muscle ligaments becoming weak and not being able to hold
that uterus into place so these are the most common factors that can cause the
prolapse to happen. Now I'm going to go over all the symptoms of a prolapsed
uterus, keep in mind that their ranges vary from mild to severe and there are a
couple different symptoms. So if you have any of the symptoms make sure to check
with your doctor. The first one is you feel like you're sitting on a golf ball.
All of our bodies are different, so if you do feel like you're sitting on a
golf ball this can mean that you're in the stage or degree 3 or 4 where the
uterus is emerging from the vagina. Number two is difficulty urinating. Number
three is constant cramping or pulling in the pelvic region. Number four is bowel
issues, straining constipation, things that don't
feel quite right. Number five is painful sex. Six is seeing your cervix physically
birthing from the vagina. At this point it's inevitable that you have a
prolapsed uterus and this is when it's come all the way out of the vagina and
you need to see your doctor at this point. A couple of ways you can prevent a
prolapsed uterus from happening are exercises for the pelvic floor, just
really strengthening those muscles and keeping them tight and strengthened so
they can hold the uterus in place. Kegel exercises, which is when you tighten all
the muscles in the pelvic region and release. You can do 3 sets of 10 of these
each day just for some maintenance. If you're postmenopausal you could look
into hormones. As you do go through menopause, estrogen levels drop low and
that has been linked to weakening in the pelvic region. So, your doctor could
suggest an estrogen cream or suppository to help you out.
Again this is if you are
low on hormones or if you are postmenopausal. The next option is a
vaginal pessary. I hope I'm saying this right.
It's a vaginal device that is used to support the uterus and keep everything
in position. You want to make sure that you read the instructions and use
this correctly and discuss it with your doctor. And last but not least, you can
get surgery on the prolapsed uterus. This is the last option and it typically is
only needed if you are in stages three or four of the prolapsed uterus.
Even with prolapse, many women have said that using a menstrual cup has worked
out great for them. It's important that you measure your cervix first so you
know the space that you're working with, but a lot of women have reported that
using the Pixie Cup Luxe, which sits lower in your vaginal canal, has worked out for
them. I do want to note that if you suspect that you have prolapse occurring
we do encourage you to go talk to your doctor, we are in no way doctors and we
can't give any medical advice. These are just simple suggestions, but again if you
have any of the symptoms make sure you get it checked out with your doctor, just
to make sure that everything is okay. I want to end a video on a couple
questions. Have you ever experienced a prolapsed uterus? How did you bounce back?
How did a menstrual cup work if you did experience that? And again we want to
urge you to check out our different sizes of menstrual cups. We have
different shapes, sizes, stem lengths. We have anything that you can really think
of and there is hopefully something that can work out for your prolapsed uterus.