Do you have some strange symptoms “down there?”
If you have problems peeing, you leak urine, or you feel a bulge coming out of your vagina, you may have bladder prolapse.
This is a pelvic disorder that is more common than you may think. Here’s all you need to know about bladder prolapse.
What is Bladder Prolapse?
A bladder prolapse or fallen bladder is also called a cystocele or an anterior vaginal prolapse.
A bladder prolapse happens when the supportive ligaments and muscles around your bladder and vaginal wall — known as the pelvic floor — stretch or weaken. This allows your bladder to sag into your vagina and is one form of pelvic organ prolapse.1
Severity of Bladder Prolapse
If you’re wondering whether a prolapse is serious, it depends on the grade or severity of the cystocele.
Here are the forms of bladder prolapse:1
- Mild: The bladder has dropped only a short way into your vagina.
- Moderate: The bladder drops to the opening or slightly outside of your vagina.
- Severe: The bladder bulges far past the opening of your vagina.
How common is bladder prolapse? It’s estimated that up to 50% of women have some form of cystocele.1
What Are the Symptoms of Bladder Prolapse?
Many women suffer from urinary incontinence, which is when you accidentally leak urine. While you might think this is a normal part of aging (it’s not), or it’s what normally happens after you have a baby (it doesn’t have to), it should be diagnosed and treated. This is one symptom of bladder prolapse and could be a signal that you have a cystocele.
Here are the other symptoms of bladder prolapse:2
- Other problems urinating, like trouble starting a urine stream, feeling that you haven’t completely emptied your bladder after peeing, or feeling a frequent need to urinate.
- A feeling of fullness or pressure in your pelvis and vagina.
- A bulge of tissue in your vagina that you can see or feel.
- Increased pelvic pressure when you strain, cough, bear down or lift.
Once again, symptoms can vary depending on the severity of the prolapse. A mild cystocele may only cause discomfort or mild incontinence. But a severe cystocele may prevent you from being able to pee which can lead to an infection or even kidney damage.1
Complications of Bladder Prolapse
If left untreated, a minor problem can become a bigger problem.
For instance, the cystocele may push on your urethra, or twist your ureters — the tubes that move pee from your kidneys to your bladder. In either instance, this can prevent your bladder from emptying, or cause a buildup of pee in your kidneys that can cause kidney damage.1
That’s why it’s important to seek diagnosis and treatment for any signs of bladder prolapse.
How is Bladder Prolapse Treated?
The first step in treatment of bladder prolapse is to seek a proper diagnosis. You might think you can deal with the discomfort of a prolapsed bladder, but it can cause problems like bladder infections, and it can get worse. It’s important to see a doctor for diagnosis and a treatment plan.
How your prolapse is treated depends on your symptoms as well as the severity of your condition. You may have other related conditions that will impact treatment too, like another organ that has prolapsed.
Here are possible treatments:3
- Pelvic muscle exercises: These important exercises are also known as Kegels. We’ll get into more detail about Kegels later in the article when we discuss prevention, since a strong pelvic floor can help prevent prolapse and be used in a treatment plan.
- A pessary: This supportive device consists of a plastic or rubber ring inserted into your vagina. It does not cure the prolapse, but it supports the bladder and helps relieve symptoms. You will be fitted for the device and learn how to insert it on your own.
- Surgery: In severe cases, surgery may be necessary. The type of surgery will depend on whether another organ such as the uterus has also prolapsed, whether you have other conditions like incontinence, and whether you want to become pregnant in the future.
What Should I Avoid with Bladder Prolapse?
If you’ve been diagnosed with bladder prolapse, your doctor will also advise you on activities you should not be doing. For instance, you should avoid heavy lifting and other activities that put pressure on your pelvic floor muscles.1
Here are other things to avoid with prolapse:
- Chronic coughing: Seek treatment for conditions that cause chronic cough — such as bronchitis — and avoid or quit smoking, which can lead to coughing. That’s because a chronic cough puts pressure on your abdomen, which in turn causes strain on your pelvic floor muscles.1
- Constipation: If you’re constantly having trouble pooping, that strain also puts undue pressure on your pelvic floor which can weaken the pelvic floor muscles. Get advice on a high-fiber diet and drink more water to help relieve constipation.3
- Being overweight: Carrying excess weight also puts strain on the pelvic floor. Get advice from your doctor on your ideal weight as well as weight-loss strategies if you need them.3
Can I Prevent Bladder Prolapse?
A bladder prolapse highlights the importance of the pelvic floor. This hammock-like structure of muscles and ligaments hold your pelvic organs like the bladder in place. It also helps your bladder and rectum contract and relax on demand, assisting with bodily functions like peeing and pooping. It also supports sex, pregnancy, and the delivery of babies.
It’s easy to take the pelvic floor for granted, since we don’t even have to think about the role of these muscles when we pee or poop, for instance.
Problems arise when those muscles become weak, so one way to prevent prolapse is by keeping the pelvic floor muscles “fit.” The best way to do that is by incorporating Kegels or pelvic floor muscles exercises into your daily regime.
Kegel Exercises for Your Pelvic Floor
Kegels are performed by contracting the pelvic muscles, like you would when you prevent gas from passing, creating a “pulling” feeling in your vaginal or rectal area.
To perform them, contract your pelvic floor muscles for 3 seconds, followed by fully relaxing the muscles for 3 seconds.
Work up to 10 to 15 repetitions each time you do Kegels. It’s suggested that you do 3 sessions a day, once sitting, once standing, and once lying down. Using all three positions is the best way to strengthen the muscles. 4
Will Kegels help prevent prolapse? Yes. They are also preventative.
Research has proven that pelvic floor exercises can give you better control over your bladder and bowels, and prevent your pelvic muscles from getting weak. 5
Besides helping to prevent prolapse and other pelvic dysfunction, here are other benefits of a “fit” pelvic floor:6
- longer time between trips to the bathroom
- fewer urine or bowel leaks
- faster recovery from childbirth
- possibly more intense orgasms
It’s important to do Kegels properly, ensuring you are using the correct muscles and the right technique. You can use a tool to help you do Kegels, like the clinically proven Gynesis. Gynesis pelvic floor trainer shorts support women to take control of their pelvic health with a simple, effective, external, and accessible solution. Using advanced technology, Gynesis delivers targeted muscle stimulation with Kegel exercises that helps retrain and rebuild your pelvic floor—so you can achieve stronger bladder control and with confidence.
Don’t wait until you have bladder prolapse to perform Kegels on a regular basis. A strong pelvic floor can help prevent conditions like pelvic organ prolapse. Women of any age can and should include these exercises in their regular routine.
Other Strategies To Prevent Prolapse
Bladder prolapse can affect any woman of any age, but there are certain risk factors. For instance, it’s more likely to happen if your pelvic floor has been weakened, as you age and your pelvic floor muscles naturally weaken, or after menopause when a drop in estrogen weakens the muscles. Vaginal births, a family history of prolapse, having pelvic surgery and being obese are other risk factors.
Other ways to prevent prolapse include maintaining a healthy weight; avoiding constipation, since straining can weaken the muscles; and protecting your pelvic floor muscles during heavy physical activity. For instance, be careful lifting heavy objects, and use proper form when you do lift.1
Seek Diagnosis and Treatment
If you have any of the symptoms of bladder prolapse, see a doctor for proper diagnosis and treatment. Use our Physician Finder to find a doctor near you with expertise in women’s health. Even seemingly minor signs like urinary incontinence can be treated, can impact your lifestyle, and are not something you should just “live with.” Don’t suffer in silence. Medical advice and treatment can help you get back to a healthy, active lifestyle.
