Bladder prolapse is a rather unpleasant disease that a significant number of patients experience. In medical terminology, it still has the name cystocele. In fact, this is a pathological displacement of the bladder towards the vagina, in which the muscles of the pelvic floor and abdominal wall weaken and lose their elasticity.
Causes of occurrence
Bladder prolapse usually occurs in women older than 40 years. There is statistics according to which 23 women out of ten thousand over the age of forty require surgery for cystocele. Especially high risk of pathology in women is over 60 years old.
The fundamental and key reason for the prolapse of the bladder is the weakening of the muscles of the pelvic floor . It is worth noting that, in addition to cystocele, this same weakening also leads to prolapse of the vagina, uterus and rectum. Most often, it develops due to a complex of several factors. The main ones may be several of the following:
- problems with the central nervous system;
- pelvic floor muscle deficiency;
- prolonged birth (more than 24 hours);
- heavy birth, accompanied by rupture of the perineum;
- the birth of a baby too large;
- frequent childbirth (from three times or more);
- use of obstetric forceps during childbirth;
- heavy physical activity (physical labor, carrying weights, - this is especially dangerous during menopause, pregnancy or during puberty);
- tissue atrophy in the elderly;
- sharp weight loss;
- operations to eliminate gynecological diseases;
- prolonged and often recurring constipation;
- obesity, which is accompanied by pressure on the pelvic muscles and abdominal muscles;
- swelling of the pelvic organs.
All of these are possible causes of prolapse of the bladder in women. As a rule, an ailment occurs when several of these factors coincide.
Symptoms
We will describe in detail the symptoms and treatment of bladder prolapse in the article. The danger of this disease lies in the fact that it does not manifest itself in the early stages, therefore it is almost impossible to recognize. Only when the prolapse of the bladder in women begins to progress, there are characteristic signs by which this ailment is determined without difficulty by any qualified specialist. Most often, patients have to deal with the following symptoms:
- urinary incontinence during sneezing, coughing, laughing, stress, muscle tension of the press and pelvis;
- urgent and unbearable urge to urinate;
- heaviness in the vagina;
- pain in the lower abdomen and a general feeling of discomfort;
- pain during sex;
- regular infections of the genitourinary system, that is, cystitis;
- pain in the abdomen and vagina, a feeling of heaviness that passes in the supine position;
- violations during bowel movements (a feeling of incomplete emptying is constantly maintained);
- tumor-like protrusion inside the vagina;
- backache.
Health care
The vast majority of the fairer sex believes that the occurrence of problems with women's health with the onset of a certain age is the norm. This approach is fundamentally wrong, since any probable pathologies, including prolapse of the bladder, can be treated effectively if you consult a specialist in a timely manner.
You should always remember the main symptoms of bladder prolapse. If at least one of them bothers you, do not attribute it to age and do not try to find non-existent diseases, make an appointment with a specialist. The doctor will thoroughly understand your situation and help you recover.
You are now familiar with the symptoms of bladder prolapse in women.
Degrees of cystocele
Specialists distinguish three degrees of cystocele disease. Depending on the severity of this ailment, appropriate treatment for bladder prolapse in women is prescribed.
The first degree is considered the easiest. She is diagnosed with the slightest bias. However, as a rule, there is no obvious discomfort, most or all of the symptoms are absent. It is worth noting that you will never succeed in identifying a cystocele at this stage yourself, this is only possible as a result of a thorough gynecological examination in the process of straining.
The second stage is a moderate degree. It can also be determined only at a gynecological examination, but already without tension of the muscles of the abdominal wall. At this stage, the disease is characterized by protrusion of the anterior vaginal wall within the genital gap.
The third degree is the most difficult, it is diagnosed in any condition of the patient, even when she is completely at rest. In this case, the vaginal wall completely or partially extends beyond the genital gap.
It is worth paying attention to the fact that only with the detection of cystocele in the early stages can it be eliminated without surgical intervention. Remember that it is possible to prevent the prolapse of the bladder. To do this, you need to regularly go to a gynecologist for a scheduled appointment and examination.
Prevention
Cystocele can be avoided quite effectively if time is taken for prevention. A woman will be able to protect herself from this unpleasant and painful illness, if she follows a few simple rules.
You should regularly perform Kegel gymnastics, especially with the onset of advanced age, do not lift weights, treat constipation in a timely manner, do not start diseases that provoke a strong cough, control your weight, regularly go to the gynecologist for a routine examination, even if nothing bothers you.
Diagnostics
When diagnosing a cystocele, it’s important to understand what caused your pelvic muscles to weaken in your particular case. This is the main question that specialists should answer when omitting other organs, for example, the vagina, uterus, or rectum. It is necessary to establish the degree of omission of the internal organ, its performance and condition, to exclude inflammation, infections, all kinds of pathologies in which the operation may be contraindicated to the patient. So if you suspect a cystocele, a comprehensive and comprehensive diagnosis is mandatory.
Only a detailed and comprehensive history will help a specialist determine what exactly bothers you, what kind of concomitant diseases exist, whether there have already been operations, including gynecological ones, or if any of your relatives and friends have faced the same problems.
At the next stage of diagnosis, the doctor conducts a detailed visual examination using tools that will help identify cystocele even at an early stage of the disease.
To determine other concomitant pathologies and diseases of the bladder and internal organs located in the neighborhood, it is important to exclude inflammation and infection. For this, the gynecologist will prescribe you a number of mandatory procedures: ultrasound diagnostics, urine and blood tests, MRI, cystoscopy, cystourethrography, and urodynamic research.
Treatment
The main task of treating bladder prolapse is to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles and return the internal organs to their standard anatomical position.
Most often, cystocele is accompanied by a number of other pathological conditions, so specialists are faced with the need to also improve the patient’s sexual life, eliminate urinary incontinence, and prevent possible problems with the pelvic diaphragm.
The method of treatment should be chosen by your attending physician, based on the individual condition of the patient after a thorough preliminary diagnosis. In this case, much depends on the age, degree of cystocele, general health, concomitant diseases, sensitivity to certain drugs and procedures, and the prognosis of the development of the disease.
Hormone therapy
With conservative treatment, you will be prescribed hormone therapy and special Kegel physical exercises, but this is only possible in the early stages of the disease.
At this stage, hormone replacement therapy has long been shown to be effective, which allows you to restore the level of specific female sex hormones called estrogens. They have a direct effect on the tone and condition of the muscles of the pelvic floor. You should not choose drugs on your own, this should be done by the doctor, assessing all the factors and risks.
Kegel exercises
In the early stages, special exercises help a lot. In this case, the omission of the bladder can be effectively managed without resorting to dangerous surgical interventions.
This gymnastics is also considered the most effective preventive method. With the help of special exercises, the patient manages to return to the intimate and pelvic muscles a normal tone. Many are attracted to them by the fact that for their implementation it is not at all necessary to visit the clinic or go to the gym. The whole complex is available at home.
Important: Kegel gymnastics should be performed with an empty bladder. It will be especially effective if you do all exercises lying on your back with bent knees.
Description of exercises
Squeeze the muscles, pulling the knees up, hold them in this position for ten seconds, then relax the muscles for 10 seconds, repeat all over again. This complex is recommended to be performed 10 times in the morning, afternoon and evening.
Please note that during the exercise you can not hold your breath and stretch your navel. Everything should be done as smoothly, calmly and deeply as possible and not overload the body with these workouts - 10 repetitions in one approach will be enough. Muscle strengthening should occur in about two to three months, and the uterus will return up to its usual position. It is important to do all the exercises regularly and correctly. If there is no positive effect, consult your doctor, he will adjust the treatment tactics.
Surgical intervention
If the disease has passed into the third stage, do not avoid surgery when the bladder is lowered. When developing the right tactics for surgical intervention, the doctor must understand what exactly causes the weakening of the pelvic muscles.
For this, preliminary comprehensive diagnostics is carried out with the involvement of the necessary specialists in related fields. The degree of surgical intervention is affected by the degree of prolapse of the bladder, age, possible pathologies of neighboring organs, and many other important factors.
It is worth remembering that an effective treatment of this ailment is able to provide only a comprehensive and professional approach to solving the problem. After all, the basis of muscle relaxation, which affect the development of this pathology, is a complex of various reasons.
The patient must be sure that he fell into the hands of professional surgeons who work on modern equipment.
Postoperative period
The duration of the postoperative period that the patient spends in the hospital depends on a complex of all kinds of factors. Including on how successful the operation was, in what condition the patient is. On average, the rehabilitation period varies from one day to several days, since the operation does not belong to the category of complex ones.
In this case, the patient must follow a number of recommendations within a few weeks after the surgery, no matter how successful your operation is. It is forbidden to cough intensively, lift weights, often sneeze, stand in one place for a long time, have sex, and push too hard during bowel movements. Any effects and muscle loads should be avoided.
As a rule, most restrictions are removed after a month, at the same time it is allowed to resume sexual relations with a partner.
Contraindications
It is important to remember that any operation has contraindications, and this is no exception.
Surgical intervention is prohibited if the patient has acute cardiovascular diseases, progressive diseases of the internal organs, sexually transmitted diseases or inflammation of the genital organs, all kinds of infections, the tendency of tissues to excessive scarring, poor blood coagulability, diabetes mellitus.