Can Pelvic Floor Therapy Fix Prolapse?

Can Pelvic Floor Therapy Fix Prolapse Symptoms and Help You Avoid Surgery? 

So many of our patients have been diagnosed with pelvic organ prolapse and reach out to us wondering if pelvic floor therapy can help fix their prolapse, help them avoid surgery and help them reduce their uncomfortable prolapse symptoms such as pelvic pressure, pelvic pain, urinary and bowel issues.   The answer is, yes, indeed pelvic PT offers you the opportunity to reduce your prolapse symptoms, improve your pelvic organ support, learn what to do and what to avoid and may help you avoid surgery.   

If you have a pelvic organ prolapse and would like to learn more about our specialized physical therapy to help reduce your prolapse symptoms, so you can stop worrying about your prolapse and end related pelvic pressure, pain, bladder and bowel problems and intimacy issues, give us a call at 616-516-4334 or contact us here and we will reach out to you! Our prolapse specialist PTs can help your prolapse and improve your ability to function and enjoy life.

Pelvic floor physical therapy can alleviate prolapse symptoms and provide relief from bothersome heaviness, bowel, and bladder issues related to prolapse! 

Pelvic organ prolapse is a common condition that many women experience. In the literature, prolapse incidence have been found to be upto 65% of women having a prolapse.   However, across our lifetime, only about 12-19% of women need prolapse surgery. This means that the vast majority of women are living with prolapse and can benefit from pelvic PT to help their prolapse and avoid surgery.  Our licensed physical therapists specialize in pelvic floor therapy help fix prolapse symptoms and avoid surgeries, while educating you on what to do, over the course of your lifespan, to reduce worsening your prolapse and to optimize your pelvic organ support.  Our physical therapy methods for treating pelvic organ prolapse are safe, natural and help you fix prolapse symptoms, without surgery.

Our patients report to us that their bothersome symptoms of prolapse, such as pelvic heaviness, a feeling of bulge in the vagina or incontinence, pulling pain in their sacrum are resolved with our PT. If you are experiencing prolapse symptoms, please call (616)516-4334 to work privately with our prolapse pelvic PT and begin feeling like yourself again!  Below we provide a typical patient’s experience with our PT:

This patient is post-menopausal and came to us frustrated with her pain related to pelvic organ prolapse (uterine, rectocele and cystocele). In addition to pain, which was often a pulling in her tailbone and lower abdomen, she felt pressure in the vagina, difficulty with rectocele discomfort, pelvic floor weakness, fecal urgency, urinary urgency, stress incontinence, low back pain, hip pain and bilateral jaw tension and pain.  She attributed the development of prolapse to vaginal labor and delivery more than 3 decades ago, during which a forceps was used and extensive tearing occurred.  However, since menopause the prolapse symptoms have worsened.  Her prolapse is causing both bladder and bowel problems including loss of sensation of needing to defecate until fecal urgency presents, constipation (for which she avoids straining) and incomplete bowel emptying.   Her bladder does not empty fully, she must shift positions to empty and she has urinary urgency as well as abdominal pain with urinating.  She experiences stress urinary incontinence with laughing and sneezing.  Her sacrum and tailbone cause her pain, feel pulling and everyday activities like walking for exercise, climbing stairs, traveling on a plane are things she avoids because they worsen pain and prolapse pressure.   She does not want surgery and has tried a pessary, with mixed success, and sometimes has to remove it due to it causing more discomfort.   

When it comes to treating pelvic organ prolapse, it’s essential to start with a conservative approach to help fix your prolapse and resolve bothersome symptoms.   

Our pelvic therapy for prolapse provides a personalized PT plan tailored to each person’s needs.  You can see from the woman’s presentation for us that she had many symptoms, multiple prolapses occurring and a strong desire to be able to be active again, including walking for exercise and traveling.   For more information about our holistic and personalized approach to treating pelvic organ prolapse our knowledgable team member at (616) 516-4334 can answer your questions or ask us a question here and we will respond. 

Our prolapse therapy begins with a complete assessment, using our holisitic approach to treating prolapse.   In contrast to some approaches, that focus solely on pelvic floor treatment for prolapse, our specialist PTs understand that prolapse is occurring due to a myriad of problems related to visceral organs, constipation, spinal curvature, abdominal wall integrity, breathing patterns, ribcage mobility, hip mobiltiy, hip strength, thigh mobility, ankle mobility and more.   For these reasons, for our patient above, we conducted a thorough evaluation and included treatment that addressed the following:

• We measured her genital hiatus so we had an objective understanding of one component of her prolapse.
• We assessed her prolapse lying down, standing up and with a squat to understand the severity and function of her prolapse when weightbearing.
• We assessed all the layers of her pelvic floor, from superficial to deep to identify issues related to pelvic floor weakness, sluggishness, tension, tone and impairment.
• We assessed her scar tissue from her labor and delivery and identified that this caused her pain, thus we knew we would include treatment to this.
• We found stiffness in both ankles and tightness in her calves, which can increase ground reaction forces up the kinetic chain when walking and may be a bothersome contributer to prolapse symptoms, thus we knew we needed to address her feet, ankles and calves.
• Her knees had good mobility and, other than some weakness of her quadriceps and hamstrings, she demonstrated good squat capacity.
• Her hips were tight and weak, causing her pelvis to be misaligned during her single leg squats; this would be important to improve to reduce strain on prolapse.
• Her abdomen had tension in the lower abdominals, no presence of diastasis recti abdominis (a good sign!) and no surgical scars (another good sign!).
• Rehabilitative ultrasound imaging demonstrated poor strength of her deepest abdominals and overuse of her obliques, which meant that she was causing excessive pressure on her pelvic organs, contributing to prolapse.
• Her ribcage and thoracic spine were stiff and kyphotic (slouched). She had osteopenia and also a goal of improving her bone health and learning how to lift weights correctly and improve bone density. Our PTs specialize in bone building, so including this into her treatment program would be important for her.  We found her movement patterns for bending to the floor were not optimal and were straining through her prolapse as well as presenting unhealthy strain through her osteopenic bones, increasing the chances for spine fracture. Examination found worsening prolapse with bending movements.
• Rehabilitative ultrasound imaging identified a stiff, sluggish and weak pelvic floor and incomplete bladder emptying, so we knew we needed to include pelvic floor training into her treatment plan as well as behavioral changes and recommendations to optimize bladder filling, storage and emptying.
• We found her sacrum and lumbopelvic mobility were stiff and her myofascial tissues in her thighs, hips and spine had restrictions, thus we treated this with myofascial release.
• Her neck was weak and overuse of her jaw muscles and tension in her upper traps with weakness in her scapular stabilizers and her lats were present.  Treating these would be important to reducing her TMJ pain as well as optimizing her posture and spine and reducing her tendency to demonstrate non-optimal movement patterns that can strain prolapse.

When providing pelvic floor therapy to resolve the bothersome symptoms of prolapse, you will receive personalize and holistic care.  Our PTs include training the pelvic floor muscles, teaching movement patterns to reduce strain on the prolapse, address posture, breathing, spine strength and help improve the coordination of the abdominal wall and lower back muscles with the pelvic floor to enhance support for the pelvic organs.

Through specialized pelvic floor physical therapy, women often experience a reduction in bothersome symptoms of prolapse.  In addition to addressing the above, our physical therapists provide personalized advice on lifestyle changes, optimal techniques for bowel and bladder function, and guidance on safe, effective exercises that can be incorporated into daily life. With this comprehensive approach, you can maintain a healthy, fit, and active lifestyle, ensuring optimal bone density and minimizing the symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse as you age—all without the fear of worsening the condition.   To learn more about our therapy to fix prolapse, call us at (616) 516-4334 or ask us a question here and we will be in touch!

If you are struggling with prolapse symptoms and looking to fix your prolapse and avoid surgery, our licensed, experienced PTs have advanced training to provide physical therapy to help prolapse, pelvic floor dysfunction, bladder problems, intimacy related pain, tailbone pain, postpartum recovery problems, spine and TMJ disorders for women and men.   Women come to us reporting prolapse heaviness and fullness, difficulty emptying their bladder, and/or difficult bowel movements that get “stuck” and find relief through our comprehensive, specialized and holistic pelvic organ prolapse physical therapy to fix their prolapse.  If you would like more information about working with our PTs to receive a holistic, empowering pelvic floor therapy approach to fix your prolapse, contact us here with your questions or call 616.516.4334 to speak with one of our knowledgable team members. 

So, how did our above patient do?  Did pelvic floor therapy help fix her prolapse?   

She was diligent with following our recommendations and with our holisitic pelvic floor therapy methods, she was able to greatly improve her prolapse symptoms without surgery.  She was very pleased to be able to be active again, without prolapse pain, leaking urine, bladder urgency and fecal urgency.  She understood that her prolapse had been present for more than 30 years and that menopause had worsened it, so she knew it would take time and commitment on her part to improve her prolapse symptoms, reduce her pain, optimize her bladder and bowel and become active again.   She was diligent with attending weekly PT, as recommended by our PT.   She felt proalpse pain, heaviness and bladder & bowel symptom relief. She was very pleased to learn how to exercise to build her bones and to reduce her prolapse symptoms.   She was planning to schedule a Dexa to measure bone density changes and we were hopeful they would demonstrate some impovement, consistent with what research has found possible by doing what we taught her.   She enjoyed a variety of exercises and suggestions our therapists provided for self care at home, to help with passage of stool, reduce constipation, address her breathing habits, improve her posture, stretch her hips and ankles and work on her movement patterns. She also completed progressive pelvic floor training as well as progressive bone building program in PT.   Her bladder emptying became much easier and rehabilitative ultrasound imaging confirmed effective emptying. On most occasions she no longer had to shift to empty her bladder.  She was able to travel on a plane several times, without experiencing pelvic pressure and heaviness, which were huge wins.  She found mobility exercises and stretches we provided were critical to feeling better and typically completed them daily at home to alleviate tension.  She was able to walk for exercise for more than an hour, including on hills, and feel good with regard to her prolapse, but felt she needed to improve her posture and spine strength, because sometimes that became tense.  Her sacral pain and pulling, which has originally been so bothersome that she would often lie down for relief, had resolved; she was aware if may present from time to time, but was confident she knew what to do to help herself.   If she had pelvic prolapse tension, she learned that completing the breathing exercises we taught her helped calm it down.  Overall she felt the exercises were going well and she was very happy to be able to be lifting heavier weights to address her bone health.  Our prolapse specialist PT provided her customized mobility stretches to address her pelvic floor tension, spine, pelvis and hips; these were very helpful in alleviating her prolapse symptoms.

In contrast to safe and natural pelvic therapy to fix your prolapse, there is also the much more invasive option of pelvic organ prolapse reconstructive surgery.   However, did you know that pelvic organ prolapse surgery long-term outcomes often need a second surgery?  This is Why Our Therapy Approach to Fix Your Prolapse and  Optimize Your Pelvic Organ Support Without Surgery, Can Give You Better Long Term Outcomes.

Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) by definition occurs if the uterus, bladder or rectum descend.  Often the descent is mild and within the vagina, yet still can cause pelvic heaviness, pain and bladder or bowel symptoms that therapy can help fix.  When any of these organs descend beyond the opening of the vagina, the prolapse is considered more advanced.  However, even in these circumstances, conservative, pelvic floor therapy can provide you with effective treatment, education and support.   Across our lifetime, 12-19% of women have a risk of needing POP surgical repair.  Abdominal sacrocolpopexy is the operation that is considered more durable for advanced pelvic organ prolapse.  During this surgery, the vaginal apex is attached to the sacral anterior longitudinal ligament and typically this is re-enforced with a mesh or graft.   So, if this is the most durable surgery, how long does it last?  Does it have failure rates?    

One Study of women who had pelvic organ prolapse surgery (abdominal sacrocolpopexy), tracked them for 7 years to assess outcomes.  In our judgment, 7 years is not that long, so let’s hope that their surgical repair lasted at least 7 years.  Did it?     

• No, not for everyone.  By year 7, the treatment failure, as measured by the return of pelvic organ prolapse or urinary incontinence was 22- 27%.   The authors concluded:   During 7 years of follow-up, abdominal sacrocolpopexy failure rates increased in both groups.  

In another study, published in 2022, of over 32,000 women who had pelvic organ prolapse surgery, examining long-term outcomes: 

• 11% had a second surgery 5 years after the first.  An additional 4% need surgery ten years later.  

• Women report the following outcomes from their surgery:   68% cure rate for anterior compartment surgery, 70% cure rate for posterior compartment surgery, 74% success rate for combined anterior-posterior repairs.    

• Patient satisfaction regarding their prolapse surgery success was just over 70%.    

Our pelvic floor therapy for prolapse takes into account the whole person.  We understand that successfully managing and treating pelvic organ prolapse involves more than just surgically lifting the organs.  Even in women who require prolapse surgery, our therapy will optimize your pelvic floor support to organs, improve your movement patterns, address your posture, teach you how to lift and move without straining your surgical area.   We give women the confidence to go forth and prosper with their life!   

Our prolapse specialist physical therapists have a goal that our patients will have decades of high-quality living.   For our patients who may require pelvic reconstructive surgery due to an advanced prolapse, we have found that completing Prehab and Post-operative pelvic floor physical therapy, can improve their confidence with what to do, what to avoid and how to optimize their results.  Surgeries are not a permanent solution across your lifetime, and we often work with clients who report exacerbation or return of their prolapse symptoms years after surgery because their underlying problems were not thoroughly addressed.  If you are interested in learning more about our Prehab and Post-operative prolapse pelvic floor physical therapy, contact us at (616) 516-4334 or submit your question here. 

If you want to be able to run, play with your kids and grandkids, garden, do home improvement projects, get back to regular exercise, travel, and more, then there are solutions for your prolapse. It makes a difference when you work with a prolapse specialist PT.  At Purple Mountain PT, all of our PTs have devoted our careers to pelvic health, spine and TMJ physical therapy. We have advanced, post-graduate training and clinical experience helping women just like you.  To ask us a question about working with our licensed physical therapists, call us at (616) 516-4334 to speak with a knowledgable team member or reach out with your question here and we will be in touch with you.  

Living with the knowledge that your organs are prolapsed is unsettling and can hamper your confidence when it comes to being active, working out and jumping around.  Come to us, we will help you have less anxiety about your prolapse, reduce your fear of making it worse and empower you to improve your symptoms.   If you are tired of pelvic prolapse heaviness, leakage or other bothersome symptoms, know that pelvic PT can resolve your prolapse symptoms, improve your pelvic floor muscle support and educate you on what to do and what to avoid to best enjoy your active life!   

Our PTs understand pelvic organ prolapse and know that pelvic therapy can fix your prolapse symptoms and help you avoid worsening your prolapse.  As physical therapists we are focused on improving your function and your quality of life, while addressing your bothersome pelvic organ prolapse symptoms, without surgery. Successful treatment means that you can do the activities that you love and feel like yourself again! If you relate to this and want to begin feeling like yourself again after dealing with pelvic organ prolapse, give us a call to learn more about working with our specialist PTs, call 616-516-4334.  Alternatively, feel free to ask us a question here and we will be in touch with you. 

Pelvic organ prolapse is a common but often misunderstood condition, and while surgery may be necessary for some, pelvic floor physical therapy offers a non-invasive, effective alternative for many women.

By addressing the root causes of prolapse symptoms—such as pelvic floor dysfunction, muscle imbalances, altered breathing patterns, myofascial restrictions, scar tissue, nont-optimal posture, movement pattern impairments—pelvic PT can help you live a more comfortable, active life. With the right treatment plan tailored to your needs, you can avoid surgery and reclaim your confidence and well-being. If you’re ready to take the next step, reach out to Purple Mountain Physical Therapy at (616) 516-4334 and start your path toward a healthier, happier you!  We are a speciality pelvic health, spine and TMJ treatment. Our PTs treat prolapse everyday and are devoted to providing you the best experience and most effective treatment you have had for your prolapse.  With prolapse, the sooner you get started the better, but as with the case we shared here it is never too late to start!  It makes a difference when you work with a prolapse specialist.   

Peace,

Dr. Maureen O’Keefe, DPT

Founder of Purple Mountain Physical Therapy. We have a devoted team of specialist pelvic health, prolapse, spine and TMJ physical therapists to help you.  All Purple Mountain Physical Therapy PTs are specialists in pelvic health and prolapse, spine and TMJ disorders.  In addition to clinical experience, graduate physical therapy education and post-graduate speciality continuing education for pelvic health, spine and TMJ treatments, all of our PTs complete extensive mentoring with Dr. O’Keefe.  Our patients have the benefit of working with two of our PTs throughout the course of your treatment, so you can experience the insights and collaboration of two specialists to optimize your results and recovery.

All of the Purple Mountain PTs have extensive experience working with individuals who experience pelvic organ prolapse, surgical complications, non-surgical rehabilitation, pelvic floor dysfunction, chronic pelvic pain, pregnancy pelvic girdle pain, birth injury, male pelvic pain conditions, pediatric bladder and bowel dysfunction and more.

You may be interested in these additional articles we’ve written:

Does Pelvic Floor Therapy Work for Prolapse?

Tips to Prevent Pelvic Floor Injury During Childbirth

What To Expect With Your Pelvic PT Evaluation

What is Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy for Menopause?

Do I Have Pelvic Floor Dysfunction?

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