Physio effective for Pelvic Organ Prolapse

Pelvic organ prolapse affects up to 10% of women following childbirth or after the menopause. Symptoms associated with a prolapse can be very unpleasant. They can include a dragging sensation, backache, urinary incontinence, problems emptying the bladder or bowels and difficulties with sex. Such symptoms can have a very negative impact on a woman’s quality of life.

Pelvic floor exercises for pelvic organ prolapse

In the clinic we know that physiotherapy and pelvic floor exercises help improve prolapse, but this has now been confirmed by a high quality research study. Suzanne Hagen and colleagues carried out a trial in the UK, Australia and New Zealand (The Poppy trial).

‘Real world’ treatment

Unlike previous studies they looked at ‘real world’ pelvic floor treatment to see if it was effective. This means that they looked at the type of treatment physiotherapists would usually provide and exercise regimes that real patients would be able to carry out, rather than an idealised, unrealistic treatment plan.

They reviewed 5 sessions of one-to-one physiotherapy over a 16-week period. Patients were taught how to perform pelvic floor exercise well and an individualised exercise programme was developed for women to carry out at home.

The treatment made a real and significant difference to women with prolapse. Prolapse symptoms were significantly improved at both 6 and 12 months.

The research paper can be seen by following the link below:

http://www.csp.org.uk/sites/files/csp/secure/the_lancet_poppy_trial.pdf