A cystocele is often associated with conditions such as stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. These often prevent women from leading active and productive lives. Thus it is important to treat them effectively and restore a high quality of life to the sufferers.
Conservative management
If the cystocele is of a mild grade and does not produce any troublesome symptoms, many doctors may opt for a watchful approach without any active intervention. During this time, some steps may help to prevent deterioration of the prolapse and may, in fact, alleviate the symptoms.
First and foremost, modifications of lifestyle that include changes in one’s daily routine are undertaken, such as:
• Losing weight if the patient is overweight or obese, as the excessive kilograms put added strain
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A strong pelvic floor holds up the attached organs, including the uterus, vagina and urinary bladder.
Pelvic floor exercises consist simply of contracting and relaxing these muscles several times a minute, for about 15 reps each, as many times a day as is possible. These are the same muscles that control bladder and bowel evacuation, so the same motions may help the patient learn how to control their contraction at will.
These exercises take a couple of weeks to help build up strength in the pelvic floor, but are often all that are needed in mild cases of cystocele or stress incontinence. They must be continued over the long term.
Biofeedback or weighted vaginal cones may also help the patient with low degrees of cystocele to strengthen the pelvic floor. A woman with such device in place can observe (by means of the analog dial) the intensity and efficiency of the pelvic floor contractions.