Menopause and Pelvic Organ Prolapse
By Elizabeth Carrollton
If you're a woman who is approaching
menopause age or already going through the change of life, you've probably been
told that you'll have to be more careful about your health, since the risk of
certain diseases and health conditions increases after menopause. However,
there is one very common health condition that often occurs with or after
menopause that many doctors don't think to mention – pelvic organ prolapse
(POP).
While POP isn't generally life-threatening
or even particularly dangerous, severe cases of this pelvic floor disorder can
have a big impact on a woman's quality of life. Catching and treating it in its
early stages can help prevent it from progressing to that point.
Prolapse
Pelvic organ prolapse is caused by
deterioration in the strength and tone the pelvic floor, which is the sheet of
muscles and connective tissues that provides support to the pelvic organs, such
as the bladder, uterus, rectum and small intestine. POP happens when the pelvic
floor becomes weakened to the point that it can no longer support organs
properly, allowing them to slip away from their normal position and fall lower
in the pelvis, creating excess pressure on the vagina.
Risk
and Menopause
While pelvic organ prolapse frequently
appears after the age of 50, the pelvic floor damage that leads to it typically
begins years earlier. It is most often linked to the pressure, strain and
stretching that occurs in the pelvic floor during pregnancy and childbirth.
Other factors that can contribute include obesity, chronic coughing or
constipation, a history of frequent heavy lifting, and smoking. Then, as menopause
approaches, estrogen loss can reduce the elasticity of those already
compromised pelvic floor tissues, allowing POP to happen.
Signs
and Symptoms
POP doesn't always produce symptoms. The
range of symptoms commonly reported includes pain and pressure in the lower
abdomen, and vaginal pain or bleeding. Urinary problems are common, such as
incontinence, urine retention and chronic urinary tract infections. Bowel
dysfunction can occur, leading to incontinence or chronic constipation. A bulge
can develop inside the vagina, and in some cases, organs may fall into the vaginal
canal and can protrude from the vaginal opening.
Treatments
Pelvic organ prolapse can often be managed
or improved with treatments that include physical therapy to strengthen pelvic
muscles, weight loss to reduce pelvic pressure, dietary changes to reduce
issues like constipation and incontinence, and bioidentical hormone therapy to
enhance tissue elasticity and health.
When non-invasive treatments fail and
symptoms are severe, surgery may be the best option. However, it is very
important to be well-informed on the various surgical options for POP repair,
since some are riskier than others.
Of particular concern are procedures that
use vaginal mesh implants,
which have been associated with high rates of serious complications. Among the
most common problems were mesh erosion, mesh protrusion, organ perforation,
pain and infection, and mesh shrinkage, often causing intense pain, vaginal
shortening and sexual dysfunction. Vaginal mesh
lawsuits have been filed against makers of mesh products by women suffering
from these complications. Non-mesh
surgeries are safer and can resolve most cases of POP, so be sure to discuss
them with your doctor.
Elizabeth Carrollton writes to inform
the general public about defective medical devices and dangerous drugs for Drugwatch.com.
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