Types Of Pessaries For Bladder Prolapse

Using A Pessary After Having Hysterectomy

sarah37908

Hi ladies

has anyone used a pessary after they have had a hysterectomy ? I had a hysterectomy 3 years ago because of prolapsed uterus and now have a stage 3 prolapsed bladder , I’m waiting for a date to be set for my op . I’m lead to believe that a pessary would t hold in place because there is no uterus there so less likely to fall out? I don’t do well with foreign objects in me

0 likes, 4 replies

• Posted 5 years ago

  I had a ring pessary inserted 2 twice prior to surgery. Once they find the right shape and size that fit properly. You shouldn’t feel it. Believe me they do come in all shapes sizes and colours

• Posted 5 years ago

  Was yours just to have while you waited for surgery ? The pain and heaviness is getting so bad I may look into it while I’m waitkng for surgery

• Posted 5 years ago

  Yes it was. It took a few attempts to get the right fit but once the right one was found it was quite comfortable.

Thanks for your help!

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Benefits Of Using A Pessary

A pessary is an easy alternative to several critical treatments and is often recommended by doctors. It has a host of benefits:

• Easy maintenance: A pessarys primary benefit is that it is a low maintenance option. Once you find one that fits well, and learn how to use it properly, you can wear, remove, wash, and change it all by yourself.
• Cost-effective: A pessary device is more affordable than many expensive treatments and surgeries.
• Does not require time-off/bed rest: Unlike surgeries, another excellent benefit of pessaries is they do not require you to take time off from work or your other personal responsibilities. You may need to take some time to get comfortable with it, sure, but you won’t need to be completely out of commission during that time.

Where To Buy Pessaries Online

Shopcatheters.com offers a wide variety of pessaries from various top-selling manufacturers like Medline Industries, Personal Med, and many more. Our wide collection also includes Pessaries which are available in different sizes and with/without support. Browse our extensive range to select the Product that best suits your needs.

Disclaimer: All content found on our website, including images, videos, infographics and text were created solely for informational purposes. Our content should never be used for the purpose of diagnosis or treatment of any medical conditions. Content shared on our websites is not meant to be used as a substitute for advice from a certified medical professional. Reliance on the information provided on our website as a basis for patient treatment is solely at your own risk. We urge all our customers to always consult a physician or a certified medical professional before trying or using a new medical product.

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Treatment For Asymptomatic Bladder Prolapse

If you have no symptoms of bladder prolapse, you may not need treatment. This may be the case with stage 1 or stage 2 prolapse. In fact, you may not be aware of the bladder prolapse at all. It may be picked up by your GP during a routine examination, such as during a cervical screening test.

Lifestyle changes and physiotherapy are the key aspects of managing such cases. There are things you can do to help prevent the condition from getting worse, which may include:

• weight loss
• correction of position when sitting on the toilet
• avoiding heavy lifting
• pelvic floor exercises, which have been proven to reduce the symptoms of an early stage bladder prolapse and prevent any worsening
• seeking treatment and management for chronic cough and lung disease.

Seeing a pelvic floor physiotherapist is always recommended so that they can assess your pelvic floor function properly and show you the correct technique for doing pelvic floor exercises. The best published evidence supports supervised pelvic floor muscle exercises for the management of prolapse and urinary incontinence.

What Are Pessaries And Prolapse

A Vaginal pessary is a medical device that is similar to a firm ring or diaphragm that is used to treat a medical condition called prolapse. Prolapse happens when an organ within the body moves down below its normal position and usually protrudes from an orifice such as the rectum or the vagina. A pessary is used to effectively provide support and prevent these organs from slipping down past their normal position and comes in several different forms to treat varying medical conditions. In addition to prolapse, pessaries can also be used to treat retroverted uterus, cystocele and stress urinary incontinence.

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How To Minimize The Risks Involved With Pessary

Risks involved while wearing a pessary include:

• Bleeding.
• Open sores in the vaginal wall.
• Bulging of the rectum against the vaginal wall.
• Wearing away of the vaginal wall. In severe cases, fistula can form between the vagina and the rectum.

These complications can be minimized by wearing the right size of pessary that does not exert too much pressure on the wall of the vagina. Pessary must be checked frequently by your doctor for complete satisfaction with its fitting. In postmenopausal women, cream or tablets are sometimes used to control irritation caused by pessary. Regular cleaning reduces the risk of complications. The cleaning schedule is determined by the type of pelvic organ prolapse and the brand used. Follow your doctor’s instructions for proper maintenance.

Prolapse Relief Without Pessaries Or Surgery

Easy to use. Easy to remove. FemiCushion can help you reclaim your life!

FemiCushion is a new non-invasive medical product designed to treat and prevent all types of pelvic organ prolapse symptoms caused by bladder prolapse , uterine prolapse, enterocele, and rectocele. Using a unique silicone cushion, FemiCushion gently holds prolapsed organs inside the body. Nothing is inserted into the body, meaning users can avoid side affects often associated with using a pessary or surgery.

FemiCushion supports your pelvic organs from the outside with a uniquely soft cushion. If you have had difficulty using a pessary for prolapse, you now have an easier, non-surgical solution. FemiCushion is discreetly designed to look and fit like underwear, meaning no one will know you are using it.

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Does Prolapse Cause Incontinence

It sounds confusing, but prolapse can both cause and prevent incontinence. When the prolapse is mild, the part of the bladder and the urethra that drops downs actually causes incontinence. But when the prolapse is severe, it may actually block the urethra, preventing incontinence. This is very important to understand because if you elect to have surgery to fix the prolapse, unless the possibility of incontinence is evaluated beforehand, the surgery often makes the incontinence much worse or even brings on new incontinence. Fortunately though, with proper pre-operative evaluation this can be recognized and the incontinence repaired at the same time so that the surgery is successful.

Types Of Pessary Key Points

• There are many different types of pessary for managing prolapse
• Pessaries are manufactured in a range of sizes
• Different types of pessary are designed for managing a specific type of prolapse
• The Ring pessary is the most commonly fitted pessary for managing vaginal prolapse
• Getting the right pessary often involves trialling a range of styles and/or sizes

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Pessary Fittings: What You Need To Know

Pessary fittings, often called pessaries are comprised of a silicone ring that is inserted into the vagina to support tissues affected by a pelvic organ prolapse.There are several basic types of pessary fittings: Ring-shaped pessaries are the most common and are used most frequently because theyre simple and easy to use without the help of a doctor. Gehrung pessaries are built-to-fit molded u-shaped silicone fittings that are more often indicated when a woman suffers a more severe uterine prolapse. Gellhorn pessaries are used in cases that are more severe. Cube pessaries are used in the most severe cases. Theyre compacted down and inserted into the vagina in a way that uses suction to support tissues affected by prolapse.

Complications Associated With Pessaries

Modern pessaries are composed of inert substances that require minimal care, regular removal, and inspection of vaginal epithelium. Common side effects include vaginal discharge and odor. Serious complications from pessaries are rare however, vesicovaginal fistula,, rectovaginal fistula, erosion, and subsequent impaction have all been reported. Neglected pessaries can be removed safely and resultant defectsincluding vesicovaginal fistulas and vaginal stricturesrepaired. Interestingly, fibrosis due to neglected pessaries has been associated with prolapse regression. Serious complications can be thwarted with appropriate fitting, local estrogen, and regular, careful follow-up.

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How Is Pessary Fitted

Your health professional will fit your pessary to hold the pelvic organs in position without causing discomfort. Pessaries come in a variety of sizes and should be fitted carefully. You may need to experiment with different kinds of pessaries to find one that feels right for you. The pessary must be changed every 4 to 6 months.

Pessary Alternatives To Handle Incontinence

If you are dealing with pelvic organ prolapse, it’s possible that you and your doctor conclude that using a pessary is the best way to go for you.

Note that a pessary device is not always helpful in treating stress urinary incontinence. In fact, at times, using this device to treat pelvic organ prolapse might make way for involuntary urine leakage2.

If, however, you are specifically looking for a way to address stress urinary incontinence with minimal side effects to your health, there are many options out there for you to potentially try out.

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Pelvic Organ Prolapse Stages

• Stage 1: Very mild prolapse – organs are still fairly well supported by the pelvic floor.

• Stage 2: Pelvic floor organs have begun to fall, but are still contained inside the vagina.

• Stage 3: Pelvic floor organs have fallen to, or beyond the opening of the vagina.

• Stage 4: Pelvic floor organs have fallen completely through the vaginal opening.

Pelvic Organ Prolapse can be very uncomfortable for some women. Symptoms may include a feeling of heaviness or pressure in the vagina, pain during intercourse, or even constipation But there are many treatment options that can be taken to greatly improve the symptoms of POP, and in some cases, eliminate them. They include the use of pessariesa medical device used to provide structural supportphysical therapy, surgery, or watchful waiting. Suboptimal surgical results as well as high recurrence rates after treatment have prompted many providers to view POP as a chronic disease.

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Factors That Predict Success And Failure Of Pessary Use

Using the Pelvic Floor Disorders Impact Questionnaire , Komesu et al.7 established that a prolapse subscale score that fell to 50% of baseline at 2 months, best predicted continued pessary use. Older women have also been found to be more likely to continue pessary usage.4, 24 However, others have shown that a desire for surgery and stage IIIIV posterior vaginal wall prolapse are both associated with discontinued pessary use and subsequent pelvic reconstructive surgery.4

Previous hysterectomy,5 increased parity,5 a short vaginal length17 and wide vaginal introitus17 which can occur after prolapse surgery and hysterectomy and SUI,25 were risk factors for pessary failure. Wu et al.3 in a prospective study of women with symptomatic POP who opted for pessaries, found that 58% of the women who complained of concomitant UI chose surgery for treatment of both their prolapse and SUI symptoms.

What Happens After I Have Had The Pessary Fitted

You will be asked to test the pessary by taking a short walk to make sure that the pessary does not cause you any discomfort or slip.

You will be advised to go to the toilet, to make sure it doesnt prevent you from passing urine. If the pessary falls out or feels tight or uncomfortable, it will be replaced with a larger or smaller one accordingly.

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Stages Of Bladder Prolapse

The severity of bladder prolapse can be measured in several ways. Terms such as mild, moderate and severe are not always completely accurate, as they depend on a persons opinion, but are often used in day-to-day conversations to help people understand the severity of the prolapse.A more commonly used grading is:

• Stage 1 the bladder protrudes a little way into the vagina
• Stage 2 the bladder protrudes so far into the vagina that its close to the vaginal opening
• Stage 3 the bladder protrudes out of the vagina
• Stage 4 most severe form, in which all pelvic organs including the bladder protrude out of the vagina.

Many gynaecologists now use the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification system, which measures in centimetres where the prolapse is in relation to the vaginal entrance to ascertain the stage of prolapse.

What Is A Dropped Bladder/prolapse

Dropped bladder is a general term used by doctors and patients to describe a condition known as Pelvic Organ Prolapse. Pelvic Organ Prolapse means that one of the pelvic organs the bladder, the uterus, the intestines or the rectum has fallen down into the vagina. Prolapse ranges in severity from very mild to severe where one or more of the pelvic organs actually protrude through the vaginal opening. When the prolapse is severe you can actually see it it looks like a red ball protruding from the vagina.

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Ring With Knob Pessary

This pessary is used to treat urinary incontinence caused by bladder prolapse.

PEV001

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This information is designed as an educational aid for the public. It offers current information and opinions related to women’s health. It is not intended as a statement of the standard of care. It does not explain all of the proper treatments or methods of care. It is not a substitute for the advice of a physician. Read ACOGâs complete disclaimer.

Treatment For Symptomatic Bladder Prolapse

If you have symptoms of bladder prolapse it is recommended that, as for people with no symptoms, you make the same lifestyle changes, do pelvic floor muscle training and treat any chronic cough. Make them part of your routine.

However, sometimes prolapse can be more severe and these measures may not be enough on their own to relieve symptoms.

For these cases, there can be two different approaches:

1. Non-surgical approach vaginal pessaries

A pessary is a device made mostly of silicone. It is inserted in the vagina to support the bladder prolapse and front vaginal wall. Pessaries come in different shapes and sizes.You do not need surgery to put in a pessary. It can be done in the rooms of a pelvic floor physiotherapist, continence nurse or your gynaecologist.

Some women may prefer this option if they wish to avoid or delay surgery, and it may be the safest option for women who are unfit for surgery.You will need regular check-ups with your healthcare professional if you are using a vaginal pessary long-term.

2.Surgical approach

Suggestions may include:

• resting each day.

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How Is A Pessary Maintained

Women who can insert and remove the pessary on their own can remove it for cleaning weekly or even nightly. Follow-up visits should take place every six to 12 months. During the visit the pessary will be removed and cleaned. The vagina will be examined to make sure the pessary is not scraping or bruising the skin.

In cases where the pessary cannot be removed by the patient, follow-up visits usually occur every two to three months.

Treatment For Bladder Prolapse

Treatment for bladder prolapse depends on how bothersome the prolapse is and its stage. The more advanced the prolapse, the more likely it is to be bothersome. During your consultation, you and your gynaecologist will discuss the most bothersome aspects of the symptoms and how they are affecting your life. A treatment plan can be tailored based on the severity of symptoms and stage of prolapse.

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How Do I Care For My Vaginal Pessary

Its important that you follow your doctors instructions about caring for your pessary. You can wear most pessaries for many days before taking them out to clean. They can be cleaned with simple soap and water. You may be able to take out, clean, and reinsert your pessary yourself. Your doctor may want you to come into the office so he or she can do it. Be sure to keep your check-up appointments and clean the pessary as your doctor tells you.