It is an important month for me. I realise that while you are reading this, you may not have any pelvic organ prolapse symptoms or know what it is, or that it is prolapse awareness month, not just for those who experience prolapse.
How many women have pelvic organ prolapse symptoms?
At least 50% of women have symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse, and later in life it’s up to 85% of women, so all of us, if not ourselves, will know someone who has prolapse. Like any health condition, I believe we all need to be aware. Like osteoporosis and even breast cancer, we are becoming more and more educated on symptoms and causes and can support people with some level of knowledge and understanding.
My hope is that prolapse becomes something that the general public has greater awareness of and can support the women in their lives. There are many reasons for this, and one is that by hiding it, as many women do, they can actually make symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse worse by holding tension in fear, doing activities because they can’t admit their prolapse, are feeling uncomfortable, or may not do anything and become a shadow of themselves.
Here are some facts to help you understand more about pelvic organ prolapse and how it might be affecting a woman you know.
Myths:
🚫 It does not only affect women who have had children.
🚫 It’s not due to weak muscles.
🚫 It is not something you just need to accept and put up with.
🚫 It can happen to any woman at any age.
🚫 Doing Kegel’s can make it worse, not better.
🚫 It is not a dropped or fallen organ.
Truths:
✅ It is when one or more pelvic organ—the uterus, bladder or rectum has displaced.
✅ It is due to the supporting tension being out of balance.
✅ It is possible to improve it and reduce the symptoms.
✅ Tight abdominal muscles, glutes, hip flexors, diaphragm, and pelvic floor muscles often cause or aggravate a prolapse.
✅ When breathing is synchronised, you can start to improve function.
If you want to learn more about prolapse or have questions, please join me this month, June 2024 for a free informative series on Wednesdays at 8pm BST on Zoom by clicking here to sign up.
You can join at any point in the month!
To Be Continued…