Jennifer Garner Told That Vaginas May Collapse, Here’s What It Means

Your vagina is not a Jenga tower. So what did Jennifer Garner mean when she mentioned the possibility of vaginal collapse during an interview with Danielle Pergament for Allure? Specifically, the 51-year-old Garner had said, “I just learned that our vaginas may collapse. I saw my OB this week and she gave me a pamphlet about vaginal collapse.” That “garnered” quite a response from the actress who has starred in the TV series Alias and movies such as 13 Going on 30.

Now by using the word “our” Garner presumably was just talking about the possibility of anyone’s vagina collapsing in general and not hers specifically. There was no indication that her OB-GYN doc had seen anything out of the ordinary and had told Garner, “Your vagina is about to collapse in T-minus, 10, 9,8…” As Pergament wrote, Garner recounted, “I’m like: ‘When? Is it imminent? Do I need to put it in my calendar? What is happening?!’ Have you ever heard of that?”

Yes, vaginal collapse is a real thing. Although not everyone’s vagina will eventually collapse and typically you can’t schedule it like “Vagina will be collapsing at 2:30p on Wednesday,” it does end up occurring in about a third of women at some point in their lives, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. Before you picture your vagina falling to the floor in many pieces, vaginal collapse is not like that. Instead, a vaginal collapse is another way of saying vaginal prolapse or vaginal vault prolapse. This is when the top of your vagina becomes weak and falls downwards into your vaginal canal. If this collapse goes far enough, the top of the vagina can even start poking out through the vaginal opening to the outside. This can seem disconcerting at first since you are probably not used to seeing your vagina outside your body.

Last month, I wrote for Forbes about about a TikToker noticing uterine prolapse after letting out a fart. This—meaning uterine prolapse and not the fart—has some similarities to vaginal prolapse but is not exactly the same. Both types of prolapse are similar in that prolapse is where some portion of the body bulges out of position. But the difference between vaginal versus uterine prolapse is in what portion of your body is moving out of place. With uterine prolapse, it is portions of your uterus, which is positioned above your vagina. With vaginal prolapse, it is specifically the walls of your vagina doing the prolapsing. Uterine and vaginal prolapses can occur simultenously.

In many cases, vaginal prolapse will not be that obvious. Instead, you may feel some sort of pressure, fullness, the feeling of something stuck, or throbbing pain in your vagina. Of course, when evaluating such symptoms, you should rule out other more obvious explanations like something else clearly stuck in your vagina. Another possible symptom is the feeling that something is falling out of your vagina, when nothing else is really falling out of your vagina. Oh, and since vaginal prolapse means that there is effectively something at least partially obstructing your vaginal canal, namely your vagina, vaginal prolapse can lead to pain or discomfort during sexual intercourse or problems when using tampons.

Keep in mind that your vagina isn’t just floating out there in space somewhere. If it somehow is, try to catch your vagina immediately and call your doctor. Typically, your vagina lives in a rather complex neighborhood, connected to other organs in your pelvis. Therefore, when your vagina changes shape and configuration in a vaginal prolapse, your vagina, in turn, call tug at or impinge upon other organs in your pelvis and abdomen such as your intestines and your bladder. This can result in various non-vaginal symptoms, such as changes in your bowel movements or urination. Other body parts may prolapse as well such as the connective tissue between your vagina and rectum or between your vagina and bladder.

Now, there isn’t a pill that you can take to prevent vaginal prolapse. It’s not completely clear what makes the tops of some vaginas collapse in this manner whereas others do not. There is an association with the number of vaginal births that you may had and reaching menopause. But that doesn’t mean that you should avoid either. Associations and correlations do not imply cause-and-effect.

While combining the word “collapse” with any body part can sound alarming, don’t curl up in a ball and mutter, “My vagina may collapse, my vagina may collapse.” Even if your vagina does prolapse, in many cases, no specific medical treatment is needed. Mild prolapse may call for some pelvic floor strengthening exercises. Moderate prolapse may in some cases merit the insertion of a vaginal pessary to bolster the walls of your vagina. Surgery, such as a procedure called colposuspension, may be warranted only in severe cases of vaginal prolapse. In all cases, it’s best to consult your medical doctor—a real medical doctor.

So the bottom line—or close to it—is that, yes, vaginas can collapse, as in prolapse. It won’t necessarily happen to everyone. But it is common enough for you to be aware that it can happen. There are different ways to manage vaginal prolapse, and, in many cases, no specific medical treatment or procedure is necessary. So, there’s no reason to panic or collapse with concern.