Prolapsed rectum: living with it versus surgery

My first proctologist diagnosed me with rectal prolapse about eight years ago. After a horrible flareup of lymphocytic colitis last year, everything was bulging out of my rectum, and it was quite uncomfortable. Once I was on the road to recovery, I went to my present proctologist who examined me thoroughly and said it was not prolapse, it was hemorrhoids.He did a staple hemorrhoidoplexy surgery in March and it was a piece of cake. There was absolutely no discomfort at all, and I have been very pleased with the results. He uses a piece of equipment to test my rectal muscles which are quite lax. He is now giving me 6 treatments on a Fontana Wave seat once a week to strengthen my rectal muscles and there’s little improvement so he’ll have to extend the number of treatments on this chair. This proctologist has been a God send.

@pichulita - it does sound like this proctologist has been super helpful in sorting out your diagnosis, solving your hemorrhoids and trying to get your rectal muscles tightened up.

I wanted to mention, since you talked about lymphocytic colitis, that you might consider following this newer group on Mayo Clinic Connect:

- Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Support Group https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/inflammatory-bowel-disease-ibd/

There are also some good discussions you might check out, if you've not already, on lymphocytic colitis specifically:

- Lymphocytic Colitis: What is remission? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/what-is-remission/

- microscopic (lymphocytic) colitis https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/microscopic-lymphocytic-colitis/

- Your tips on how to live with Lymphocytic Colitis/Collagenous Colitis https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/lymphocitic-cholitis/

@ejoy
Hi Erin,
Today I read your post from October 9, 2025. Did you have the second surgery with the mesh? Is that for rectocele and cystocele repair?
I went to my colorectal surgeon yesterday after doing a defecography on a commode. He advised me not to have surgery. I am so upset that for the rest of my life I have to manually pass stool 2 or 3 times a day. Thank you for sharing your feedback on October 9, 2025. Please let me know how are you doing when you have a moment!

If you still use this site, can you share what you ended up doing. Im in agony daily with full rectal prolapse for months. I'm pending surgical consult in late Sept. It was booked in June. Mine is extremely painful and I've done all the suggestions. Most days I can barely walk and rarely stand due to gravity causing more pain. I can only have the outside repair due to age 73 and other medical conditions. I am scared, but ot has become a quality of life issue for me. Any replies help.

@jolam I am so sorry to hear of your discomfort. I am not sure what you mean about “outside” repair and 73 is young by today’s standard. I am 71.

First off find the best colorectal surgeon you can find. Very few of these know what they are doing when it comes to prolapses. I live in NC and had to travel from Charlotte to Raleigh to find a good doctor. Then for my 2nd surgery, I went to Cleveland Clinic in Port St Lucie, FL. Both caused travel issues but this is not something to chance.

First I had a rectoplexy by suspension (Raleigh, NC) via DaVinci. (Robotic surgery, less invasive, heal more quickly). It failed, which we knew there was a chance it would. Then I had a rectoplexy with mesh (Port St. Lucie, FL). It is doing fine and I am 7 months out from surgery. I am having some minor fecal incontinence but have an appointment to speak to them about it. Not sure if this will correct with time.

Surgery is the only solution. I wish I could tell you something to give you relief now. Mine was aggravating but not painful like yours. Make sure whatever you decide that the surgeon does lots of that procedure. Get their failure rate, not general procedure. If you can speak to one of their patients that had it.

I hope this information helps.

Joy

Thank you for your advice. I believe the Dr I will see is a urogynocologist. She has a lot of experience with this prolapse. That's why it's taken so long to even be seen next month. I have COPD and my dr doesn't feel that I can tolerate being im a ventilator. So its called Altemeier procedure. They remove some of the rectom that protrudes out of the body. Hard to explain. Mine is about 3-4 inches exposed. And it does not go back inside. If we could afford to travel I would probably go to Mayo clinic in AZ. I do have pain meds but they add to the constipation problem, so I rarely can take them. I'm doing oung my best to hang in there until I can get some relief..

i also had the surgery and i have non hodgkins as well. the surgery was three weeks ago. open abdominal so he could view other issues which he did find. Had 15 of intestines that were balled up and attached to ovary up with adhesions in to the total prolapse. while still in recovery phase and learning my new plumbing very happen i had the surgery. see the best colorectal
surgeon you can find though.

I'm 76, do not have recital prolapse, but DO have a rectocele and vag.prolapse. I have been trying to strengthen my interior muscles down there with some success. (walking briskly for 25 min.and using kegle exercises and most recently, the rubber band stretcher for lifting legs.) After much reading, it came to me that our interior muscles are quick to atrophy after age 70, so I began using an estriol cream and a progesterone cream nightly. Those helped a little, mostly with better sleep. BUT THEN, after a few months, I tried WILD YAM CREAM. This! has shrunken my prolapse quit a bit! I am urinating better, faster flow, and am still benefiting from good sleep. I use just a small, light smear (maybe -1/8 t.), rotate locations. No side effects. I've been using WYC for 2 weeks now; I saw positive results after day 2! I will continue the exercises and WYC and report back in a few months. I also haven't gotten my Doc's comments yet. Just wanted to report my finding, knowing that M.D. will not suggest this. Would love to hear comments from this community.

@ina9 Please don't be too upset. That Doc probably gave you merciful advice; surgery is not always successful and often causes more problems. I hope you seek more opinions, to rest your mind. Many of us in our 70s and above must deal with "issues" daily. Hugs!!

@erin123 check out Dr. Matthew Schultzel in Southern California/San Diego County. He is really good according to my research and I am having an Altemeier procedure on September 16, 2026. Unfortunately, I am not a candidate for the robotic surgery because of other surgeries I have had. Good luck! MsKsue