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Cystocele (a fallen bladder): the bulge and the pressure, the grades, who is more likely, the exam, Kegel exercises, a pessary or surgery, and keeping it from getting worse
For any woman who feels a bulge or pressure in the vagina, leaks urine or has trouble emptying her bladder, or has been told she has a cystocele, a fallen or prolapsed bladder. It passes on, by name, what the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK, part of the NIH) says: what it is and its other names; the grades; how common it is, who is more likely, and the causes; the symptoms and what it can lead to; the visit and the tests; and the treatments, from no treatment at all, Kegel exercises and a pessary to surgery, and the steps that help keep it from getting worse. It builds the questions to ask and prints a card. Nothing is saved.
Right now
- Suddenly cannot pee at all? Get care right away: go to an emergency room or call 911 (ours).
- A bulge that has come out and will not go back in, and hurts? Pain, bleeding or a bad-smelling discharge with a pessary? A fever with pain when you urinate? Call your doctor the same day (ours).
- Thoughts of suicide, or all too much? Call or text 988, any hour, free (ours).
More help
- The bladder on this site: Bladder leaks · Kegel exercises · Urinary retention · Bladder infection · Urodynamic testing · Kidneys, bladder and urine: find the right page.
- At home: Constipation · Pregnancy and a new baby · Menopause · Symptom diary.
- For you: Get ready for your appointment. In an emergency: Help right now (988, 911). All our free tools.
Kidneys, bladder or urine, and not sure this is the right page? The pages on this site for bladder infections, kidney stones, blood in the urine, bladder pain, bladder leaks, the prostate, kidney disease and bedwetting, on one list.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). No doctor or nurse has reviewed it. The facts were read on October 21, 2026 on NIDDK’s (NIH) page Cystocele, last reviewed in August 2020, and its Spanish version Cistocele. Ours: the 911 and 988 lines; calling the doctor the same day for a bulge that will not go back in and hurts, for pain, bleeding or a bad-smelling discharge with a pessary, or for a fever with pain when you urinate; asking about a pelvic floor physical therapist and about trying a pessary before deciding on surgery; asking for a chaperone; the questions to ask; the card; the links to our other pages; and the order of the steps. What we left out: its section on clinical research, its reference, and the other pages it links to, which we did not read. Nothing you tick or type here is saved or sent.