Pelvic physical therapy for bladder prolapse: What to know
If you have been diagnosed with bladder prolapse or are wondering if you have a bladder prolapse, know that pelvic floor physical therapy can help you. You may be feeling heaviness, pressure, increased urges for urination, painful bowel movements, leaking, a palpable/visible bulge in your pelvic region, and potentially even back pain.
It's important to know that pelvic therapy can help you determine exactly what is going on, decrease the symptoms you are feeling, and decrease the severity of your prolapse with multiple treatment strategies and options.
What is a prolapse?
A prolapse (or pelvic organ prolapse) is simply when one of the organs that are situated within the pelvis (which would be the bladder, the uterus, and the rectum in a female body) begin to lower further down in the pelvis from where they originally were.
Prolapses come in many variations, both in terms of which organ is affected and also in how much the organ has dropped. In this case, we'll talk about a urinary prolapse, which is a condition where the pelvic floor muscles and tissues that support the bladder and urethra weaken or are affected, causing these organs to drop from their normal position.
There are several specific types of prolapse that are under the umbrella of "urinary prolapse".
Cystocele (bladder prolapse): This occurs when the bladder drops down and pushes against the front wall of the vagina. It's the most common type of prolapse affecting the urinary system.
Urethrocele: This happens when the urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder) drops down.
Cystourethrocele: A combination of both bladder and urethral prolapse.
What are the common causes of a urinary prolapse?
Urinary prolapse, and prolapse in general, develop when the muscles, ligaments, and connective tissues that support and make up the pelvic floor are weakened or stretched extensively due to:
Childbirth
Aging and menopause (decreased estrogen)
Chronic constipation or straining
Chronic coughing
Heavy lifting over time
Previous pelvic surgeries
Genetic factors affecting connective tissue strength
If you look at the list above, you may notice a common theme: most of these reasons have to do with prolonged straining.
Whether it’s straining to have a bowel movement, straining to push a baby out, or straining when lifting, all that straining over and over again puts a lot of pressure on the pelvic floor!
Treatment for urinary prolapse with pelvic floor physical therapy
I understand that when you have any of the symptoms listed above, it can be scary, embarrassing, and hard. You may feel stuck and like this is what you have to deal with forever.
Rest assured that there are treatment options, specifically pelvic floor physical therapy, to help you learn exactly what is going on and what you can do about it.
When you work with a pelvic health physical therapist (like me!), we start with an extensive evaluation that takes into account your entire history and current life status and goals as well as your specific whole-body and pelvic assessments so that we know what specifically is going on for your body and diagnosis.
No two people are the same, which is why this extensive evaluation is so important.
Inside pelvic floor pt, we work on muscle coordination and control and strength so that your pelvic floor muscles are functioning optimally.
We also address the root cause, which is likely a piece of prolonged straining, with ways to manage pressure in effective ways, rather than only utilizing your pelvic floor muscles.
We know that if we can change the way we handle pressure via our core and pelvic floor muscles and the way we displace pressure inside the body, we know that we can decrease the risk for worsening your existing prolapse, improve prolapse symptoms, and even decrease the extensiveness of an existing prolapse.
Where to find a pelvic floor pt for prolapse treatment
If you’re local to Durham, NC or the surrounding areas, I’d highly recommend making an appointment so we can dive deeper into the potential causes (and solutions!) of your specific symptoms and to ensure that we assess your specific pelvic musculature and presence of prolapse.
I’d love to help you live without symptoms as well as discuss the potential for reversing your prolapse severity diagnosis.
You can reach out by completing a contact form here, scheduling a complimentary discovery call here, or by clicking the button below.
