What if my vagina falls out of my body?

Prolapse. What the heck is it?

To be straight forward, it is essentially when your vagina falls out of your body. Now, this isn’t exactly what is going on. However, a prolapse is when organs can descend down into the vaginal canal. The bladder can fall into the front of the vaginal wall, the rectum can fall into the back of the vaginal wall and the uterus can fall down into the vagina. The rectum can also start to come out of the anus which is called a rectal prolapse. 

While all of these sound bad just from the description I mentioned above, many people have some level of prolapse. Some studies suggest 50% of women have a prolapse. Men can also have a rectal prolapse, however there is not much data on this.

While having children puts you at higher risk for having a prolapse, a 20 year old girl who has had chronic constipation and is a gymnast might have a prolapse even though she has never had any children.

Having a prolapse itself is not necessarily an issue. It is only an issue if you have symptoms. Having a prolapse can cause you to feel a feeling of heaviness or fullness in your pelvis, which is uncomfortable. It might cause you to leak urine or feces. It also could cause some back or hip pain. It might make sex uncomfortable. And it might cause you difficulty to fully empty your bladder or your rectum making you have to go to the bathroom more often.

What do you do if you have a prolapse?

There are several things you can do if you have a prolapse. First, of course I am going to say…SEE A PELVIC FLOOR THERAPIST! Your prolapse might not be that bad, but your symptoms might be bad. If that is the case, seeing a pelvic floor therapist can significantly help reduce your symptoms and might even help decrease the severity of the prolapse. 

Many people think that if you have a prolapse you just have to do a lot of kegels. This is old information. While, yes, you might need to strengthen muscles that are weak to help support the pelvic floor, a lot of the time you actually need to lengthen muscles. If muscles are shortened then they will be pushing on your organs causing them to push into the vaginal wall. Seeing a pelvic floor therapist can help you determine if your muscles are weak, tight, or both. The therapist will then give you things that you can do to help the muscles be as healthy as possible to decrease your symptoms and your prolapse.

If you feel like you have to very very careful and really limit your activities because of the prolapse, you might benefit from getting a pessary. A pessary is like an orthotic for the vagina. It is a hard plastic or silicon piece that you can insert into your vagina. It is important that you are properly fit for one to get the most benefit of it.

What can you do to prevent having a prolapse?

First, don’t strain to have a bowel movement. Make sure you are eating lots of fiber and drinking lots of water so that your poop comes out nice and easy.

Second, pressure management is very important. Making sure that you are coughing, laughing, sneezing, jumping, and lifting with good form and proper body mechanics. This means that when you perform these activities, it is important that you engage your deep stomach muscle called the transverse abdominis muscle.

Third, the first 6 weeks postpartum are so important to help prevent a prolapse. REST. REST. REST. Those first 2 weeks after having a baby are so important for resting and bonding. That is your #1 job those 2 weeks. If you have older kids, try not to pick them up. Have them come to you for snuggles and hugs. Do not try to do chores or active exercise during those first 2 weeks. If you do too much, you are more likely to have a prolapse because your ligaments are loose and they are not able to support your organs.

Last, labor can cause a prolapse. If you are on your back and pushing with all your might, you are more likely to have a prolapse. Also, if your OB needs to use an intervention such as forceps or a vacuum or if you have an episiotomy you are more likely to have a prolapse. Your health and your baby’s health are the #1 priority during delivery. However, if you can avoid having interventions, that is best.