Common Causes of Prolapse

Prolapse can sound scary and the pictures you might find on the internet also can be incredibly scary. I've also heard a lot of women tell me no one ever talks about prolapse. Others warned them of incontinence but never prolapse.

Prolapse is a descent of one or more of the pelvic organs. It can be the bladder, uterus or the rectum descending into the vaginal canal. Prolapse generally only occurs in people with vaginas. Males can in rare cases of chronic constipation have prolapse of the rectum into the anal canal, but this is very uncommon.

Most commonly prolapse is caused by childbirth, from prolonged pushing. It can also occur from chronic constipation for the same reason.

It is more common in vagina owners because of the anatomy of the vaginal opening gives organs somewhere to descend into and less support from below.

As for childbirth, there is little one can do to avoid prolapse with pregnancy or childbirth, except seeing a pelvic floor therapist prior to delivery to make sure your muscles know how to relax and push and are not contracting instead. This is a common finding in my pre-natal clients.

Prolapse from constipation can be prevented from changing the diet and learning to poop properly. I know that sounds weird, but sometimes with chronic constipation the body forgets how to poop and we tense our pelvic floor muscles instead of letting them relax to push out the poop.

Learning to push properly for childbirth or for pooping is the first step in preventing and fixing a prolapse.

If this is you, you can schedule a session here.