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Pessary Fitting

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Pessary Fitting

Pessaries are a non-invasive way of improving your rehabilitation outcomes and quality of life. They are removable devices that insert into the vagina to support the displaced tissues caused by a pelvic organ prolapse. They come in all shapes and sizes and work by lifting up the pelvic organs that have been displaced. In turn this will alleviate your symptoms and improve the function and connection to your pelvic floor.
It is worth noting that pessaries are not necessarily forever, and may not have to be worn all the time depending on your rehabilitation needs.
Pessaries are a great way to conservatively manage pelvic organ prolapse. Pessary fitting can be trial and error and may take a couple of fittings to find the pessary that works for you.
All women experience and symptoms of prolapse can be different. So, it is really important to have a full assessment to determine the type or prolapse you have and if a pessary would help reduce symptoms and help you return to doing the activities you love
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Pessary Fitting

Here are some ways a prolapse can present:

The feeling of a heaviness of dragging sensation in the vagina often described like a tampon falling out.
The sensation of a bulge or a visible bulge in the vagina
Backache of lower abdominal ache
Difficulty emptying your bowels, incomplete emptying or urgency
Urinary leakage, incomplete emptying, urgency, position change to start or complete voiding.
Obstructed intercourse

FAQs

What is a pessary?

A pessary is a silicone device that is inserted into the vagina to help support a pelvic organ prolapse. Pessaries come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Some need to be removed daily, others can be left in situ for 3-6months. Once the right size and type of pessary has been found to meet your needs it should not be felt at all.

A pessary, alongside PFEs, weight management, constipation management and other lifestyle changes can be very effective in reducing prolapse symptoms and help improve quality of life.

A pessary is a low risk medical device. There are a few side effects such as increased vaginal discharge. All side effects will be discussed in detail at your appointment and you will have plenty of time to ask questions. Most women find pessaries to be successful (around 85%) and a small number of women won’t.

Yes they can! A lot of women choose not to though. If using a space occupying a pessary like a cube, this would need to be removed daily as blood can collect in the pessary.

It depends on the type of pessary you are fitted with. If you have a ring pessary then yes but most ladies prefer to remove it before intercourse.

For some women it can if they are straining on the toilet or picking up a heavy object from a squatting position. We may need to adjust the size of the pessary if this happens or look at lifestyle modifications to help it stay in place.

No! The vagina is a closed tube so please do not worry, it cannot get lost!