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Women's Health

What Is a Pessary?

5 Minute Read

Reviewed by

Megan S Bradley, MD

Megan S Bradley, MD

Women's Center for Bladder and Pelvic Health - Ebensburg

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Living with pelvic floor issues can disrupt your routine and add stress to your life.

Your pelvic floor is one of the most important parts of your body. It supports your pelvic organs, including the bladder, ovaries, uterus, rectum, and vagina. The muscles and tissues that make up the pelvic floor keep these organs healthy and functioning normally.

But your pelvic floor can be sensitive, and there are many ways to injure or weaken it. But you don’t have to live with pelvic floor issues.

Many resources are available to help relieve pelvic floor issues, including a pessary. This common vaginal support device helps you take care of your pelvic health.

How Does a Pessary Work?

A pessary is a silicone device that helps your pelvic organs stay in place.

Your doctor inserts a pessary into your vagina. This is usually a painless process. Like a tampon or menstrual cup, you should not feel the pessary once it’s correctly in place.

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Treating Pelvic Floor Problems with a Pessary

If you develop pelvic organ prolapse, a pessary can help you regain a healthy pelvic structure while you are using the pessary. It’s best if you suffer from pelvic organ prolapse that is bothersome.

A pessary can be an alternative to surgery if you have prolapse — a bonus if you can’t have surgery due to other health issues or you would prefer to avoid surgery.

How to tell if you have pelvic organ prolapse

Your pelvic floor can grow weaken, leading to prolapse, for many reasons, including:

  • Aging — When you get older, your pelvic floor muscles tend to weaken.
  • Childbirth and pregnancy — Holding the weight of a baby for nine months can strain your pelvis. Pregnancy hormones can also relax your pelvic floor, making it stretch.
  • Constipation — Straining while using the toilet adds pressure to your pelvic floor.
  • Lifting heavy objects — Doing this incorrectly can hurt your pelvic area.
  • Menopause — Hormones change during menopause. Your pelvic floor may grow weaker during this stage of your life.
  • Obesity — Extra body fat can put more pressure on your pelvis.

Sometimes, pelvic floor therapy and physical therapy are enough to treat a weakened pelvis and prolapse. But if these methods fail, you should consider trying a pessary. In more severe cases, a pessary might be the first method your doctor recommends.

What is pelvic organ prolapse?

Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is a pelvic floor disorder where your organs sag outside your vaginal cavity. Damaging or weakening your pelvic muscles makes it harder for your organs to stay in place. While not life-threatening, it can be uncomfortable.

You might not notice pelvic organ prolapse in its early stages, although your gynecologist can identify it during a pelvic exam or pap smear. But as the prolapse drops further, you may start to see the signs. Prolapse is not a problem unless you have symptoms.

Take note if you notice a heavy sensation or lump in your pelvic region. Pelvic organ prolapse may also cause sexual dysfunction, and frequent urinary tract infections (UTIs).

Doctors often use pessaries to treat pelvic organ prolapse because it holds your organs inside your body. Using a pessary for pelvic organ prolapse can help you feel better right away.

Treating incontinence with a pessary

Stress incontinence is another condition that a pessary can solve.

Stress incontinence occurs when there’s pressure on your bladder. Every day functions, such as coughing, sneezing, or laughing, all squeeze your bladder. If you experience stress incontinence, urine can leak during these movements.

Your pelvic floor muscles help keep your urethra closed when pressure is applied. When you have a weak or injured pelvic floor, that function might not work as it should. A pessary can help solve that problem and support your pelvic floor muscles.

What You Should Know About Pessary Fitting and Treatment

If your doctor determines that you should use a pessary, they’ll schedule you for a pessary fitting.

The pessary fitting process starts with a pelvic exam. This helps your doctor decide what type of pessary is best for you.

What kind of pessary should you use?

Pessaries come in different shapes and sizes. There are two major types of pessaries: support and space-filling.

Your doctor may recommend a support pessary if you have mild pelvic organ prolapse or stress incontinence symptoms.

Common support pessary shapes include:

  • Gehrung — U-shaped, so it molds to your body.
  • Ring — This is one of the most common pessaries.

Space-filling pessaries are better for more severe cases of pelvic organ prolapse. They take up more room in your pelvic area, so they can better hold your organs in place.

Some kinds of space-filling pessary shapes include:

  • Cube — A cube pessary is unique in shape compared to other pessaries.
  • Donut — Similar in shape to a ring pessary, but thicker to help support your organs better.
  • Gellhorn — A disk-shaped device with a knob in the middle. It works by creating a barrier between your pelvic floor and vaginal canal.
  • Shaatz — This disk-shaped device is like a Gellhorn pessary, only without a knob.

After your doctor helps you determine what kind of pessary is right for you, they’ll fit you for it. Before you leave the fitting, they’ll ensure your pessary is comfortable and sturdy. You should be able to use the bathroom and move around normally with a pessary.

What Are the Side Effects of Wearing a Pessary?

Although pessaries can help relieve pelvic floor prolapse or incontinence, they can cause side effects.

The most common pessary side effect is increased vaginal discharge. Since a pessary is a foreign object, your body may produce extra vaginal fluids once you insert it.

Extra discharge isn’t typically a cause for concern but it can be bothersome to pessary users.

If you experience any issues, talk to your doctor about pessary discharge management.

A pessary shouldn’t cause irritation either. An uncomfortable pessary could be a sign that it isn’t placed correctly, and you should talk to your doctor right away.

How to Care for a Pessary

Your doctor may ask you to remove and care for your pessary at home, so it’s important to learn about pessary care.

A pessary’s flexible material makes it easy to remove and reinsert. But you should always ask your doctor if it’s safe for you to remove the device yourself.

Some pessaries are difficult for patients to manage so it is an option to have your pessary cleaned every few months at your provider’s office.

Always wash your hands before you clean your pessary at home. You should use warm water and a mild, unscented soap for the device. Then, before you reinsert it, the pessary must be completely dry.

Most doctors recommend you clean your pessary every one to two weeks. During your menstrual cycle, you should clean it daily.

There’s usually no cause for concern if you forget to clean your pessary every once in a while. But if this becomes a habit, see your doctor.

Medline Plus, Uterine prolapse. Accessed February 2026. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001508.htm. Link.

Office on Women’s Health, Pelvic Organ Prolapse. Accessed February 2026. https://womenshealth.gov/a-z-topics/pelvic-organ-prolapse. Link.

Office on Women’s Health, Urinary Incontinence. Accessed February 2026. https://womenshealth.gov/a-z-topics/urinary-incontinence. Link.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration, What Women Need to Know About Their Pelvic Floor. Accessed February 2026. https://www.fda.gov/consumers/knowledge-and-news-women-owh-blog/what-women-need-know-about-their-pelvic-floor. Link.

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Built upon our flagship, UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh, and its century-plus history of providing high-quality medical care for people at all stages of life, UPMC Magee-Womens is nationally renowned for its outstanding care for women and their families.

Our Magee-Womens network – from women’s imaging centers and specialty care to outpatient and hospital-based services – provides care throughout Pennsylvania, so the help you need is always close to home. More than 25,000 babies are born at our network hospitals each year, with 10,000 of those babies born at UPMC Magee in Pittsburgh, home to one of the largest NICUs in the country. The Department of Health and Human Services recognizes Magee in Pittsburgh as a National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health; U.S. News & World Report ranks Magee nationally in gynecology. The Magee-Womens Research Institute was the first and is the largest research institute in the U.S. devoted exclusively to women’s health and reproductive biology, with locations in Pittsburgh and Erie.