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accident cause prolapse

I read the many causes for prolapse.I see all the general reasons so to speak,  but I am very intune with my body and know the accident I had was the cause for my prolapse, but can not find anything online documenting such...  Where can I go to find more research on this matter.  I was like a cartoon character ice skating for the first time, doing the splits this way and that way while maintaining my balance so as not to fall to the floor...It was at this time that something did not feel quite right and in the following couple of days I felt something different in my vagina ( a bulge of sorts).  Now this accident occurred Monday evening and by Friday I knew I needed to call the Dr. but it was past 5 o'clock so first thing the following Monday I called and made an appointment with the Dr. , which confirmed my suspicions of prolapse.  I had no problems what so ever previous to this accident.  The Dr.'s are telling me that this is related to vaginal birth etc. etc. .  I have not given birth for 26 years and have been just great until the accident.  EVERYTHING WAS FINE UNTIL THE ACCIDENT,  I AM VERY INTUNE WITH MY BODY and would have noticed if anything was wrong before the accident.  What I need is some direction to where to look for information concerning others who have had similar problems and are trying to find some documentation as to such.  PLEASE HELP ME!!!!
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1128665 tn?1269273471
I read ongoing research continually and communicate daily with urogyns, physical, occupational, biofeedback, myofascial release, and visceral manipulation therapists, and research physicians and have never heard of a skating or similar accident by itself being the cause of POP(not saying it is impossible, just saying I've never heard of it). I can run it up the flagpole with my connections but don't want to dig any deeper if it will cause more frustration for you.Let me know if you want me to dig into this, if I don't hear a go-ahead I'll let it drop.
Helpful - 1
Avatar universal
Look first of all I am well educated and well rounded , thank you.  My Dr. is an urogynecologist...  I have read all the statistics for the causes, etc..  My family is a very communitive one.  I myself had six children, with my last being delivered 26 years ago.  In fact the Dr. was so amazed that he commented on the elasticity of my vagina and such,  THANK YOU. Most women will go through life accepting explanations for their medical conditions without questioning why?.  Either they are very accepting  or take defeat without a care.  Come on women, get a clue and question why.
Helpful - 1
Avatar universal
Thanks for your reply,  like I said, I am very intune with my own body and when I detected the bulge in my vagina was immediately following the accident.  So then I went online to figure out what was going on and called and made appointment with a Dr..  Again like I said, I went to the Dr. and they confirmed my suspicions.  I had a pap smear done just about 18 months prior and everything was just fine and also at time of pap, I asked how did everything seem to be?  Was told everything was good , just needed to wait now for results of pap test.  When I have something wrong I take immediate action and take care of whatever may be the problem...
For example a brain anurysm in July 2010, opted to have it coiled.  They found a nodule in my right lung in 2009 , also once again opted for the lung resection to check everything out and make sure things would be alright.  So, as you can see, I do not wait around when something is wrong. I take action, as with this medical problem which I have surgery scheduled for April 2012.  I do know in my heart of hearts that my problem is a direct result of the accident.  What you have stated is like saying every woman is destined for this medical condition.  Get real, my grandmother had her 11th child at the age of 44 and had no such problem .  If this was true what you have been led to believe, then that would mean all women HAVE A PRE-EXISTING CONDITION.   UNTRUE!!!  
Helpful - 1
Avatar universal
I am 32 years old and was in a car wreck during the end of 2017. I was hit from behind, thrown into oncoming traffic, hit again on the passenger side, flipped and then hit again. I fractured my transverse vertebraes (L1,L2,L3) and has notes of herniations of some thoracic vertebraes as well. While I was in the hospital I noticed my bottom area and tops of thighs were completely numb and very swollen. The doctor said I didn't have a pelvis fracture so kind of dismissed it. I went home after a few days and hoped for things to return to prank since no one could give me a clear answer. About 2 weeks later the numbness and swelling subsided but a very large mass/knot formed in at that time I would describe as my left labia. It felt like a baseball and I could barely stand because the pain felt like I was carrying a weight.  My OB was on maternity leave so I went to an interim doctor who quickly dismissed me saying that it's just my body trying to pass the trauma through me body. I kept that hope until about 4 months post wreck. I returned to my normal OB who did an internal exam and recognized that there were triggers points but said it was out of her realm and suggested I saw an urologist. I attempted to see the urologist but she just asked me to do a kegel and when I couldn't she just told me to continue to see a pelvis floor therapist which I've already been doing. I had explained that since the wreck I've had the bulge, left adominal and lower back pain and incontinece. She said I probably had nerve damage but she couldn't do anything until about a year after the car wreck. I then go have a pelvis MRI by an orthopedic doctor. The MRI comes back normal but he notices that my uterus seems to be offset to the left which is the side of all my pain. I go see my internal pelvis floor therapist today and she says everything to the left seems puffy and extremely inflamed to where she felt uncomfortable to continue poking. I'm now waiting for my OB to review my pelvis MRI and I want to schedule an internal ultrasound while standing as recommended by my PF therapist. She believes I may be experiencing prolapse. I am approximately 8 months post wreck and pain/buldging/incontinence/sexual dysfunction has not go away. Does this sound like prolapse or could there be something else that the doctors are overlooking?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I did have ice skating accidents..one major fall and 2 lesser falls. At first just knocked the breath out of me and hurt my butt. Little bit later hurt when stepping up or down. Now 2 days later I feel like I am having a baby again and an episeotomy! I went to E.R. today. They did ultrasound of outer labia and xrays for tailbone, pelvis etc. No one looked past outer labia. When I sneeze, sit,potty,bend over or even try to reposition in bed I have a sharp excruciating pain! I decided to grab a mirror and take a look, well guess what?! I have a huge protrusion from my vagina! Guess I will make another trip to the hospital tomorrow. I have had 2 kids, youngest is 11. I have had a hysterectomy 4 years ago, have stress incontinence, frequency, and  told the Dr I felt a lot of pressure down there.
Helpful - 0
1128665 tn?1269273471
There is research in the works, not nearly enough however. Because there is little public acknowledgment of POP, it is difficult to get grants for studies. Step one is establishing significant recognition of pelvic organ prolapse (so difficult to get the media to talk about POP, women barely talk about it out loud); then everything else will fall into place. There are very specific causes for POP that are well known, the issue is the causes vary from woman to woman making it difficult to nail down. 5 types of POP,  multiple causes, no public acknowledgement, no screening during pelvic exams-much needs to be addressed. Working on it every day! Shoot me a Private message if you are interested in participating in studies, I can add you to my file of women; I dialogue with researchers on a regular basis but study has to be in area women live in.
Sher
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I find this post very interesting. I began suffering from POP within a few weeks of stopping birth control pills and a year and a half after a fall onto my side. I had a TAH by an OB/GYN and later pelvic surgery by a urogynecologist. They both said no one knows what causes POP, but it is believed it may be genetic. Why isn't someone doing research on the cause(s) of POP? For the sake of my daughters and other women, I would gladly be a research study participant.  
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Avatar universal
THANK YOU SO MUCH.
Helpful - 0
1128665 tn?1269273471
If I see or hear of anything else I'll give you a shout!
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Avatar universal
Her onset took 4 years, but she was young and as for myself at age 56  it would not take time such as hers for things to develop following the accident.  I understand that as we age our body wears with time, but I know in my heart of hearts that if it were not for the accident I endured that I would not be going surgery...  Before the accident everything was fine , for I am very intune with my body and my health.  If you could find anything further documented, such as case files medically or legally.  Such as, court cases pending or past...
Helpful - 0
1128665 tn?1269273471
I am not a dr, I am a women's pelvic floor health advocate (I'll send you a PM with backdrop, we don't self-promote on MedHelp, it's simply about helping people). I don't share names of my connections, it would be unethical.  

2nd response I got was from a research dr connection, he sent me a case study paper from Dec 2010 regarding a 21 yr old woman who'd been involved in a severe accident (motorcycle hit by a car), never been pregnant, not overweight, no predisposing factors for POP. Uterine prolapse presented 4 years after her accident, stage 4, undoubtedly the result of the accident ( it took 4 years to occur, the tissues didn't bulge out immediately). Pelvic trauma leading to POP is rare but can happen. (This is something I had not heard of so one good thing that has come out of this is I've learned about an extremely rare occurance with POP; it's good to continually recognize new layers of the POP dynamic, it's so diverse.) Backdrop of accident was extremely radical, I won't go into details but the woman was lucky she didn't die, multiple surgeries, radical damage to the pelvic area, bones and soft tissue. Here's a section from the study-

"Abstract-Reports have shown that high energy pelvic trauma might be associated with advanced pelvic organ prolapse in conjunction with other causes. We report the case of a 21 year old nulliparous, premenopausal, non-overweight woman with no predisposing factors for prolapse who developed stage IV massive pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence 4 years  after a severe pelvic traumatic  accident. Most likely the pelvic trauma as a single factor was the causative factor for the massive procidentia. The onset of  the prolapse was delayed until 4 years after the pelvic accident."

Bottom line is it does happen, just extremely rare.
Sher
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Please, you say a urogynecologist said this, could you give me the name?  Exactly what role do you play, are you a doctor?
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1128665 tn?1269273471
First answer from urogyn-

"Often they say - " i strained down and felt a pop". that makes sense as the final straw to break ligaments already with too much tension due to levator laxity.

This is multifactorial, where the supporting components (i.e levator ani) fall away over time, and the others ( uterosacral, paravaginal attachments)  try to compensate, but eventually fail.

Then comes the Visible bulging."
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1128665 tn?1269273471
Ok, I'll run it up the flagpole.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
GO AHEAD PLEASE and it was not a skating accident, that was just an example.  I did the splits this way and that way while trying to maintain my balance after slip and sliding on a substance in the walkway.
Helpful - 0
1128665 tn?1269273471
Not every woman is destined for this, but 50% of women over 50 have it. Current scenario is no screening is done during pelvic exam (not that drs don't see POP during pelvic exam, they are simply not pursuing it-I speak with women from 20s up with POP on a regular basis; all women should be told about the classic signs/symptoms of POP minimally when pregnant so it can be caught early. Here's a link to article I posted that lists symptoms and causal factors-indicators that so many women have.

http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/Womens-Health/Taking-Pelvic-Organ-Prolapse-Out-of-the-Closet/show/1148?cid=994

Honestly it doesn't matter what causes it, what matters is that  you recognized something is wrong and are addressing it. I'm hopeful that physician doing the surgery is a urogynecologist-this is the specialsist for POP-especially if mesh is being utilized for the repair. Mesh placement is extremely intricate and it is important that we do our homework to make sure the procedure utilized (there are many for POP repairs) is being done by someone who is well experienced. What type of POP do you have? (There are 5 types, women often have more than 1.) What is the degree of severity (there are 4)? If your physician has not filled in the blanks, ask more questions.

Some women are "made for having babies" but after 11 children I'd be shocked if your grandma did not have POP. Often women do not disclose this condition because the symptoms are so personal. What matters is you address your own scenario, no matter what the backdrop is for other women you know. Good luck, I hope things go smoothly with your procedure.

Sher
Helpful - 0
1128665 tn?1269273471
Most women who have POP have several causal factors; one that is dominant (most often childbirth) and the rest just stacking the deck. While the skating accident may have pushed the envelope, it is likely that the combo of vaginal childbirth (structural weakness that was the result of) and lowered estrogen levels (as our estrogen drops, our muscle tissue strength and integrity is impacted-all muscle tissue, both internal and external). Women often don't recognize signs and symptoms because they don't know what those signs and symptoms are-they often mimic other health concerns. Realistically, the most important thing to recognize is not what the cause was, it's that you have POP and it needs to be addressed (won't go away by itself). A urogynecologist is the specialist for this condition. Has your physician made any treatment suggestions or told you what types of POP you have (there are 5 types) or the degree of severity? If not, I'd recommend you see a urogyn for clarification and treatment path.
Sher
Helpful - 0
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