The dreaded word – prolapse. No woman ever wants to hear this word nor do I wish that any woman experiences it either. Unfortunately though it is a lot more common than what people think it is, but just not talked about.

So let’s start, what is a prolapse you ask? We have pelvic ligaments, connective tissue and fascia that are designed to hold our organs up in place. A prolapse is when the pelvic tissues stretch and the organs descend down into the vagina. A prolapse can happen suddenly or occurs gradually over time. But there are a few types of prolapse and sometimes regretfully some women can have multiple prolapses.

The main symptoms of prolapse, which I am sure everyone has googled are:

So what causes a prolapse one might ask? That differs between each woman but it can be:

So once the ligaments and connective tissues have stretched, there are typically two options of treatment. The conservative or the surgical management. Let’s delve into the surgical part first.

So like any surgery, the goal is to get you into tip top shape before you have your surgery with the aim to optimise your recovery post op. Success rates of surgery will vary between individuals but things like age, weight and other co-morbidities and in this case, the genetic makeup of your tissues can determine the outcome.

I also reiterate to patients as well that having prolapse surgery carries the same risk as any other surgery with risk of infection, possible postoperative pain and the mandatory 6 week period of rest and no heavy lifting. So any woman at that stage in their life, if there are young children or spouses to look after this is something to take into strong consideration.

So if you have knee or hip replacement, the ideal scenario would be to try to get into shape and get as much strength into the knee or hip to help with the recovery. The same principle will apply to your pelvic floor too with prolapse surgery. So what are some of the easiest things to do?

Then post operation is giving yourself the time to recover and slowly and gradually resume your pelvic floor exercises. Speak to your physiotherapist about returning to exercise safely particularly if you enjoy high intensity exercise and ensure the pelvic floor exercise programme is the right one for you.