Video
Dr Pixie V/O:
42 year old, Debbie, is so embarrassed by her vagina, she’s paid it no attention at all. A mum of three, Debbie’s happy marriage has split open since giving birth to a very large baby boy, Samuel.
Debbie:
It’s not till afterwards, weeks later, when you’ve gone to have sex, that I realised that there was something drastically wrong and I literally, I just screamed and pushed him off, and i’ve pushed him away ever since, really.
I felt like, my sex life is over.
Debbie’s partner:
The last two and a half years have been kind of a a strange journey, really. She doesn’t really like me to touch her or anything like that, em, obviously, I’m still a man and it’s still, you know, I still want to.
Dr Pixie:
Debbie’s had enough of suffering in silence.
Debbie:
I look like a woman, but, I’m not a proper woman.
Debbie V/O:
Inside I’m mangled.
Dr Pixie V/O:
She’s come to our clinic to see Dr Harper.
Debbie:
Hello.
Dr Harper:
Come and take a seat.Tell me, what are we doing for you today?
Debbie:
Em, well, two and a half years ago I had my son and since then I’ve had problems, em, with my vagina. It seems really loose.
Dr Harper:
So you think you might have split the vaginal wall?
Debbie:
Definitely feels different, like now when I have sex I have no sensation down there at all.
Dr Harper:
Can you use tampons, for example?
Debbie:
The only ones that work really are the super plus extra ones and my friend’s had her period and she didn’t have any tampons and when I pulled out the ones I had she burst out laughing. I feel like I’m old and internally damaged and scarred.
Dr Harper:
We need to do something about that. We ought to have a little look.
Alright Debbie, what I want you to do first of all is just to strain down, a bit like you were just trying to open your bowels. Ok, the wall of your rectum is actually just coming actually out of the vaginal opening. I’m just gonna pop a speculum in.
You’ve actually got weakness at the front and the back, Debbie. What I’m gonna get you to do now is just to pop onto your left side.
Debbie:
Yep.
Dr Harper:
Curled up like a baby. Alright.
Dr Pixie V/O:
The muscles in Debbie’s vagina are so loose that her bladder and rectum are pushing through it, causing her to leak both urine and faeces.
Dr Harper:
You’re going to need an operation just to, to tighten all that up, but that’s probably quite straight forward. So, if you wanna pop your things on, alright, and I’ll drop a letter to the gynaecologist to get a second opinion.
Dr Pixie V/O:
Debbie suffered for two and a half years but her cry for help is being answered.
Debbie:
OK, thank you. Bye.
Debbie V/O:
I can’t begin to explain how nice it is to think that everything can be put back to how it was before, be like a virgin.
Debbie:
Nice knickers.[laughs]
Debbie V/O: Now, I’m worried about afterwards, whether my expectations are too high.
Dr Pixie:
Debbie’s problem is that the walls of her vagina are under pressure from both sides. Her rectum is trying to force its way through the back wall while her bladder is pushing through from the front. The surgeon is pushing the rectum back and then stitching the walls of the vagina in order to strengthen it.
Surgeon:
It’s a very dibilitating and embarrassing process whereby she lost urine and lost faeces as well as she had a loss of sexual subsection. So maybe if she didn’t have surgery, as time went on and she got older she would get-
Dr Pixie:
It’s four weeks since Debbie’s operation to tighten her vagina. It was so damaged by childbirth, her list of problems was endless. She’s back to share her most intimate secrets with Dr Harper.
Debbie:
I can just about fit a tampon inside. [laughs]
Dr Harper:
That’s a result, isn’t it? I mean you must feel much better in yourself.
Debbie:
Yeah, it’s just, it’s really improved my quality of life.
Dr Harper:
So, have you dared try sex yet?
Debbie:
No, it’s too soon. I’ve gotta wait another two weeks. He still hasn’t seen.
Dr Harper:
Has he not?
Debbie: No!
Dr Harper:
When’s he gonna get the unveiling?
Debbie:
Hopefully soon, I’ve wrote a date on the calendar.
Dr Harper:
Have you?
Debbie:
Two weeks time [laughs]
Dr Harper:
Have you really?
Debbie:
Yeah
Dr Harper:
And, and basically, that’s six weeks from the op because you’ve probably been told, have you, that you need to just let yourself heal for the next six weeks.
Debbie:
Yes, yes, that’s correct.
Dr Harper:
I think that’s a complete result, isn’t it.
Debbie:
Mm, yeah, it’s very very good, isn’t it.
Dr Harper:
Well you look like a different girl.
Debbie:
Yeah, well I am! I’m like a virgin now! [they laugh]
Dr Harper:
There will be literally thousands of women in the UK in the position that Debbie was in before she went for her operation, and I would say to each and every one of them, please go and see your GP and ask for help. I mean, just look at the difference it’s made to her. It says it all.
Consultation: Vaginal Prolapse
Dr Harper examines a woman who has suffered a prolapsed vagina after the birth of her bouncing baby boy.
If you’re suffering from any of the conditions featured on this site and want to apply for an onscreen consultation with one of the EB team then you can find more details here >>
Remember that you should always check with a health professional if you have any concerns about your health.
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Dear Alison, Thankyou for your reply. I will try and obtain a copy of the "Down There" DVD by Katy Bowman. In my research on the web I'd also come across the posture theory but not Katy Bowman and what was said seemed to make sense. I will try the exercises and then report back. Nothing ventured nothing gained and all that.
i am 15 and i have noticed my vagina lips are a bit big and discomforting. Lately it has started to hurt a bit whilst i go to the toilet. Do you think i should go to a doctor or not ?
Yes you should go to the dr for sure!! I have had labia surgery and am so happy I did. I am now awaiting surgery for a prolapsed vagina. I have waited over 2 years to go to the dr. over this but finally worked up the courage and am so relieved I did go. So make an appointment and get in so you will not worry anymore:)
I have been to the doctor and hospital about my bladder and bowel prolapses which are making me miserable. Sex is painful and bleed after it. When I urinate, i think i am done but have to go again. Constantly feel as though i need to empty bowel. The doctor siad he would not like to do surgery as i am young (not really, I am 39 and had all the children i am having). sending me to specialist for seconxd opionion but why?
im 15 years old, and i think i am getting this, and i am to scared to tell any one about it. and i dont know how this is coursed because i am not even sexualy active and i dont dont know what to do about it.
After watching the show I went to see my G.P. I had a Rectocele and a Cystocele. I had the Rectocele repair done 9 months ago, and had the cystocele repair and a TVT done 1 week ago. The programme has changed my life. I would still be suffering now if it was not for the programme, and I would tell anyone, who has got any sort of prolaps to go to see their GP and ask to see a gynecologist with a good reputation, and go and get it fixed for you.
I think I might have a vaginal prolapse but I want another baby. First of all can you have another child with any kind of prolapse? and secondly, would docs wait until after the birth of 2nd child for surgery? My problem is I have pleurisy which means I am coughing all of the time when I get a bout of it (sorry if spellings off) So I always feel as if something has slipped. I haven't yet leaked from anywhere and my child is 16 months but things don't feel right. The other thing is I don't really know if I am doing pf exercises properly as they say you can't clench your bum cheeks to squeeze and lift but I can never locate the sphincter muscle to do it~ am I stupid???? Please help I am starting to feel embarrassed around my husband now too, I am 27 and we would like to try for our 2nd baby next year. Thanks
I saw a consultant on Monday, this week. I have been diagnosed with bladder prolapse and cervix prolapse (although not so bad). He said they wouldn't/couldn't do surgery until after you are finished having your family because it would cause massive damage to your body if you went through childbirth after the surgery to correct the prolapse. You would probably have to have a caesarean, which of course brings risks. The consultant told me (as I am young 37) that it was unlikely to get bigger quickly. That it would be fine. Sex would be fine. Good luck.
Hey, my 28 year old sister has the same problem since she had her 2nd baby, who is 1 1/2 years she need the same surgery where can she get it? and what is it called? can you please advice of a clinic or doctor thanks
I am now 55, and developed a cystocele and rectocele last year. Cervix is half way down inside vagina. Stage 1 prolapse. I dread to think what a 3rd stage prolapse feels like. The ironic thing is I even thought I was pregnant because I was in such discomfort. It felt like I had felt when I'd had early miscarriages, many years ago. Standing or sitting too long is uncomfortable. I have a retroverted uterus in any case, which has always caused a point of sharp pain inside on occasions (using tampons especially.) Two children - the first of which was induced, a long labour because of shoulder presentation - got stuck, and had to be manipulated. Going to loo is impossible sometimes, although I eat lots of fruit and bran. Straining is causing a group of veins over my L knee to become more prominent. I have been told by GP and physio that many women have to deal with going to the loo no 2s manually. Not much fun. Sex life dwindled, just when I'd met the right person in life, after years of being in a desert love-life wise. I am upset that there is NO solution for women like myself. (Or do they tell us there is no solution to save NHS money? The medical profession hasn't developed enough real options for us.)They won't operate until it is extreme, yet I have been told the operation often needs repeating (so what's the point?) Whether I have the operation or not, I cannot do what I used to do work-wise, so have had to change my "role" at work. I work in a senior school - the occupational health person told me I could carry a rubber ring around at work to sit on. I don't know what planet they are on because I would be laughed out of there if I did that. How do other women cope at work when they are ruled by their bowels, and it hurts to sit down or stand up for any length of time? If I take pain killers they "bung me up" which makes it feel worse. This condition makes me feel utterly miserable and defeated. We can put vessels into outer space, we can communicate in an instant on the Internet, but women are left to suffer with this condition. The NHS treatment seems primitive or non-existent. What's worse it's so humiliating. Should we feel as if we have to beg for help when we are in such a vulnerable state? The Kegel exercises are losing the battle aginst gravity. Maybe I should stand on my head for part of the day. Do ther women find themselves saying "the" vagina and "the" rectum", like I do, because it is far too embarassing to "own" one's own vagina or rectum? How can Kegels help if the vagina walls are collapsed / too thin? I think it gets to a point where the Kegels cannot help anymore - ie when you are not pushing against an outlet that is below and out, but straining against the rectum wall itslef that is out of shape and in the wrong position in relation to the outlet.
Keep on with your kegels, everyday. You need to strengthen what you have left, do not let it deteriorate, even is you end up having surgery in a few years time, this will not 'cure' the problem, which is your weak pelvic floor. Do core exercises, read Saving The Whole Woman its the best book about prolapse that I have read and get a muscle exerciser like the Kegel8 because it will help you to get stronger, and reduce the pain and discomfort that you feel.
ive been diagnosed with a bladder and bowel prolapse,could this be due to my bad posture because of prolapsed discs in my back?
I am 56 and have been told by my gp that I have a prolapsed womb. It feels like a tampton is coming out of my vagina and I can push it back up. I also empty my bowels nearly every time I pass urine, is this commom>> I am peri menapausal and still have a very active sex life. How invasive is the surgery and what is the recovery time, and how does it affect your sex life afterwards, does it feel any different to either yourself or your partner?
There are several various operations for a prolapsed womb. If it is bad enough for a hysterectomy, after 4 - 6 weeks you feel better and three months before it is completely recovered. I think there will be a better chance of a successful outcome if you rest as much as possible for a while.
I have exactly the same symptoms Steph - the feeling of the tampon coming out was exactly how I described it to my husband. I, however, don't have the problem with my bowels. I gave birth 2 and a half weeks ago, so assume this is what's caused the problem. I only found the actual prolapse this morning, it's visible at the entrance to my vagina, and can't be seen by my GP until Monday, so am unsure what action he'l want to take. Does anyone know if it's likely that surgery will be the answer if the prolapse is this far down?
