What exactly IS a pessary?
Greetings! I wanted to end the week by sharing a discussion that arose after my last blog about pessaries. In spite of what I thought was a good explanation and even a weblink, one of the women on our team at WHF asked the question, “What exactly IS a pessary?”
Before we leave this topic, I want to share with you this great picture from WebMD which shows two common types of pessaries and the proper fitting of one. Imagine a thick diaphram that literally can lift everything up just enough to restore proper alignment and/or functions.
Placement of a pessary
The illustration above shows how a pessary should fit. The most common types of pessaries are the Gellhorn and the doughnut. A pessary is used to support areas of pelvic organ prolapse. - Get it!?
So, a few other cool things in the world of pessaries. There is a group of researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health called the Pelvic Floor Disorder Network; seven top acedemic institutions funded to develop innovative research studies in female pelvic health.
They have a study (see: http://www.pfdn.org/current/index.html) called Atlas that looks at physically active women with SUI (stress urinary incontinence, or that “laugh, cough, sneeze and you leak” phenomenom) and assigns them to one of three groups:
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A group that gets a pessary
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A group that gets 4 sessions with a pelvic floor PT
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A group that gets both
The research will look at improvement of both symptoms and quality of life for the three groups.
What I love about this research is that it addresses active women who leak (like me!), but with holistic, less invasive approaches - physical therapy and a device as old as the hills. Rumor has it Cleopatra had one in her pyramid!
So, that’s all for this week. Be fit, be active and you have issues, be sure to start asking questions of your healthcare provider. As one of my favorite docs said, “It is your job to keep asking me questions & keep getting answers until you have none left.”
Have a great St. Patty’s day and remember…
You Go Girl!
March 17th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
I have had a total hysterectomy including the cervix. I can not picture how the pessary would be in position from the illustation you gave. I typically do not have incontinence problems, however, I have had a cold since January 23 and I think my body is about to give up on me because I am suddenly leaking when I have these awful coughing fits. I am sure my bladder is just plain exausted, so am I, but I do want to fix this before it continues. I do have your DVD and the ball, but have not been faithful in using it since I did not seem to have a real problem until the last several days. But I was curious about the fit of the pessary after a radical hysterectomy.
March 17th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Hi Donna,
Me, too! It probably fits “differently” with us because of the lack of a cervix. Getting one was my idea - like so many things in the care model of this condition (and many others), you have to be your own champion.
I just felt that given the lack of support inside there and my burning desire to keep doing ridiculously high impact sports (running), it might be a good idea to have one. When I asked my doctor, she seemed to think it made sense; it does fit and my is an incontinence specific one - it has a little knob that presses against the urethra.
So all I can tell you is ask the question! Again, they are not expensive and if probably fitted (you must be fitted by a healthcare practitioner and know that they come in a MYRIAD of sizes and shapes!), maybe it will be the little “lift” you need:-) Or, maybe the little extra “squeeze” you need.
That said, KEEP UP YOUR TOTAL CONTROL EXERCISES! You still have to take care of the supporting structures that lie underneath it all. Very soon, we are going to have a handy little tool available via our website that you can download to your computer to help you remember to do your exercises. Stay tuned for the “widget”!
Yours in pelvic health,
Missy