Prolapse: What Is It and What Can PT Do About It?
Dr. Jessica Chastka, PT, DPT recently recorded a 3 part Youtube series of pelvic organ prolapse. This video is part 1! Click to listen, or continue on for a summary of “Prolapse: What is it and what can you do about it?”.
What is prolapse?
A prolapse is when a pelvic organ, which can include your bladder, uterus, rectum or small intestine, is falling into your vaginal canal. This occurs because the ligaments that hold the organs in place have been stretched out. This typically occurs because of increased intra-abdominal pressure overtime, which can occur due to vaginal childbirth, constipation or even a chronic cough. This chronic or intense pressure in the abdomen lengthens the ligaments supporting the pelvic organs, causing them to sit lower than they were before the ligaments were stretched. Prolapse is graded on a 1-4 scale, increasing with severity.
Common symptoms associated with prolapse can include:
urinary incontinence
heaviness in the pelvis
constipation
the feeling of a tampon or a ball in the vagina
difficulty emptying the bladder
back pain
What can PT do about prolapse?
Pelvic floor physical therapy has been shown to reduce prolapse by 1 grade and can make a huge impact on symptoms. Though physical therapy may only change your grade by 1, it can help to significantly reduce and in many cases entirely eliminate symptoms associated with prolapse. Prolapse is incredibly common with some estimates ranging as high as 80% of postpartum people having some degree of prolapse, but that does not mean every person with these tissue changes has symptoms. Symptoms associated with prolapse are multifactorial, which is why PT can help eliminate symptoms even if some degree of tissue laxity remains present.
So our recommendation?
Every postpartum person who is able to access care should have a pelvic floor physical therapy appointment to assess their tissue health and create a personalized program to maintain optimal pelvic health across the lifetime.
To learn more about prolapse and working with a PT, call us at 512-766-2649 or contact us here. Follow @jessicachastka_dpt and @ladybirdpt for more pelvic health education!
By Dr. Jessica Chastka, PT, DPT, WCS
Jessica (she/her) earned her Bachelor’s in Exercise Science from the University of Louisiana at Monroe, while playing softball. She received a Doctorate in Physical Therapy from University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston in August 2015. In 2019 she became Board Certified in Women’s Health, through the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialists.
For the last five years she has been working as a pelvic floor physical therapist, treating people who have pelvic pain, leakage, urgency, frequency and constipation. This includes the pregnant and postpartum population as well as people with chronic pain. She is passionate about making her patients feel heard and seen, validating those who feel that their problems are not worth mentioning because everyone has them or because embarrassed to talk about them.