A WOMAN was left with her womb poking out of her vagina after a vigorous dancing session.
The 60-year-old suffered a uterine prolapse during her performance and went to a doctor in tears.
A GP from the Chinese city of Xuzhou said that she'd felt a chunk of flesh "drop out of her body" while she was dancing in public.
After expecting her, the doctor discovered that her womb had slipped down and was poking out entirely.
According to Chinese video news site Pear, the woman was referred to the Maternal and Child Health Centre in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province.
There, she told Dr Song Hongjuan, that she was terrified after feeling something fall out of her vagina while shaking her stuff during a workout session in a public square.
Symptoms of organ prolapse
Symptoms can usually be improved with pelvic floor exercises and lifestyle changes, but sometimes medical treatment is needed.
Pelvic organ prolapse symptoms include:
- a feeling of heaviness around your lower tummy and genitals (pelvis)
- a dragging discomfort inside your vagina
- feeling like there is something coming down into your vagina – it may feel like sitting on a small ball
- feeling or seeing a bulge or lump in or coming out of your vagina
- discomfort or numbness during sex
- problems peeing – such as feeling like your bladder isn't emptying fully, needing to go to the toilet more often, or leaking a small amount of pee when you cough, sneeze or exercise (stress incontinence)
You should definitely see your GP if you have any of the symptoms of a prolapse, or if you notice a lump in or around your vagina.
She worried that she might have a tumour.
She also told Dr Song that her uterus had slipped down and poked out "a little" in the past but had never come out as far as this.
Dr Song explained that she had suffered a uterine prolapse – where the womb slips down into the vagina.
In severe cases a uterine prolapse can result in a woman needing to undergo a hysterectomy, leaving her infertile.A 2018 study suggested that a prolapse of the bladder, womb or bowel – where the internal organs move down from their normal position – is common, affecting up to one in three women, at some point in their life.
The symptoms of prolapse include a feeling that something is "coming down", the researchers from Glasgow Caledonian University noted.
The pensioner claimed that it had been caused by dancing but Dr Song believes that it was probably a result of the womb being weakened by childbirth.
How can you exercise your pelvic floor muscles?
The pelvic floor muscles are located between your legs, and run from the pubic bone at the front to the base of your spine.
They are shaped like a sling and hold all your pelvic organs in place.
In a woman, that includes the womb, vagina, bowel and bladder.
As a result, the muscles play a key role in your need to pee – giving you control over when you urinate.
As a person ages their pelvic floor muscles naturally weaken, and women who have had kids are more likely to have weaker pelvic floors as a result of childbirth.
The weaker your pelvic floor the greater your risk of incontinence and the worse your sex life is likely to be.
To strengthen your pelvic floor, it is important to work the muscles each day.
You can feel your pelvic floor muscles by trying to stop the flow of urine when you pee.
To strengthen your muscles, experts recommend:
- sit comfortably and squeeze the muscles 10 to 15 times in a row
- don't hold your breath or tighten your stomach, buttock or thigh muscles at the same time
- once you are used to the exercise, try holding each squeeze for a few seconds
- each week add more squeezes to your daily routine
Within a few months you should notice results, enjoying greater sensitivity during sex
Source: NHS Choices
Dr Song suspected that the unnamed patient had given birth to a big baby when she was younger and had suffered uterine prolapse as a result.
As she grew older, the untreated condition had grown worse.
The doc urged new mums to start exercising their pelvic floor muscles after giving birth and advised women not to leave things like constipation, chronic coughs or allergic rhinitis untreated because they can all harm pelvic floor muscles.
Experts have previously warned that carrying babies in their car seats could put new mums at risk of bladder prolapse.
Physiotherapists say that mums should leave the seats in their cars and just take the baby out in order to lighten the load.
The Professional Network of Pelvic, Obstetric and Gynaecological Physiotherapy (POGP) said back in March that new mothers are "very vulnerable" to injury.
The woman has since been operated on and is now recovering.
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