Vaginal Vault Prolapse - How To Treat It?

Vaginal Vault Prolapse is the condition where the upper portion of vagina may lose its normal shape and drop or sag down into the vaginal canal or maybe even outside the vagina. This may occur after a hysterectomy or even simultaneously with uterine prolapse. 

The treatment of vaginal vault prolapse varies with the severity and extremity of your symptoms. Your health care provider may suggest medications and physical therapy to treat your condition if you feel that the prolapse is not bothersome. However, you might have to undergo surgery later if your symptoms worsen and the prolapse affects your quality of life and hinders functional ability.  You must keep in mind that usually more than one area is affected by weakness in your pelvic floor. 

The symptoms of Vaginal Vault Prolapse include- backache, pelvic heaviness, bulging mass into or sometimes outside your vagina that hinders normal activities such as walking and sitting, vaginal bleeding and releasing urine involuntarily. 

 Treatments:

1.        Medication
Most of the women with this condition usually go through menopause around the same time. Since the estrogen levels are severely lowered during menopause, it causes vaginal dryness. Discussing about estrogen therapy with your health care provider is a must if you wish to remedy your vaginal dryness. Not every woman should take estrogen so it is imperative to talk to a medical expert first. Usually women are treated with estrogens before they go into surgery.

2.        Physical Therapy
Most health care experts recommend pelvic floor exercises as physical therapy using biofeedback so as to strengthen the specific muscles of your pelvic floor. Biofeedback is the usage of monitoring devices that contain sensors and are placed either in your rectum, vagina or on your skin. Biofeedback is very important because it tells you the strength of each muscle you are squeezing i.e. contractions, and if you are squeezing the right muscles in order to perform the exercise correctly. Long term usage of biofeedback in physical therapy leads to strengthening of your muscles and a reduction in your symptoms. 

3.        Surgery
Corrective surgery may be performed on you by the surgeon either through the abdomen or vagina. If the surgeon is performing the corrective surgery through the vagina, he will use the ligaments which support the uterus to solve the problem.