Pads

[suzifrommd]

There seems always to be slime oozing from my new opening. Not surprising given the steady diet of lube I seem to be feeding it via Dr. Rumer's dilation schedule.

I asked my sister what she would recommend. She suggested Poise_® brand pads which are intended for incontinence, not menstrual discharge. I've been using them and they do a decent job despite being a bit more expensive that period pads. They advertise that they help mask odor, which is a good thing because vaginas tend to smell. I did try period pads one time, and they absorbed well enough but more of the odor seemed to get through. Can't tell if this is my imagination or not.

What do other folks use? Does anyone know if it's true that incontinence pads really do stem odor better than period pads?

[Jenna Marie]

There are plenty of odor control menstrual pads (which I know b/c my wife is *allergic* to them, so she's always complaining that like 3/4 of what's on the market now is like this!). Menstrual blood is also pretty smelly, to be blunt, and pad manufacturers are well aware of this angle in the market.

I never used anything but menstrual pads, and to be honest, once I got out of Montreal - where I was using these gigantic mattress-like pads they supplied - I was down to pantiliners. I'd actually recommend pantiliners if you're only oozing lube, as that's not a lot to be absorbed and they're thinner and lighter. If you're concerned about cleanliness and odor, change them frequently.

Personally, I think vaginas do tend to smell... and they're supposed to, and I'm OK with it. As long as nobody can smell it with my pants on and their faces out of my crotch (and I'm not asking you if that's true for you), I don't care for myself. It is true that the smells can be more unpleasant and stronger immediately post-op, though.

[mrs izzy]

Once I switched from regular thickness pads I used panties liners.

Carefree. They have ones with odor guard but I stayed natural no perfumed.

There are many liners to choose from. And yes way cheaper.

Always someone had a sale.

[Adam (birkin)]

I've always been a big advocate for cloth pads. I know there's an inherent ick factor when you have to wash them, but they breathe really nicely (helps with odor) and they don't tend to chafe as much as the plastic disposable pads.

[Monkeymel]

Same problem suzi, lube and moisture combined. Switzerland has mainly "always" or home branded ones which makes finding a suitable solution interesting. Especially with everything labelled up in (Swiss) German.

Finding some cloth pads which can absorb stains would be something I'm willing to try. But where to find them? And what would they be called?

Otherwise I'm mixing Always panty liners with some which I thought were a multipack but are for incontinence. That was fun naively walking around the supermarket with a multipack in my hand.

And yes changing semi regularly - after dilating morning and evenings, and lunchtimes if stained a lot. Depends on how things are healing. I also try to ensure a large pad can collect discharge when I sleep, but does not interfere with letting the skin breath. Otherwise it stays too moist down there.

[Dread_Faery]

What kind of lube are you using to dilate and are you washing out after dilating? Lube can build up after a while and start to smell (and leak out) if you don't douche. I've been using pure coconut oil for the past couple of years, it gets absorbed by the body so doesn't build up and works with the natural flora so my c--t smells like it should, no fishy or bad odours. Also I no longer douche regularly since using coconut oil.

[Jenna Marie]

That reminds me, I did have bad chafing in the first couple weeks with disposable pads - so I bought some super soft baby blankets for about $3 each and cut them up into "cloth pads" that I could layer on top. It wasn't a real cloth pad, but it worked well enough, and I could throw them out once that phase was done. (I washed them in super hot water before that.)

[Vicky]

At first, my regular brand was Always, which are full pads, and I changed them every time I needed to pee.  Later on I went through a couple of different brands of panty liners but sometimes doubled them, again every time I hit the restroom. Having two daughters who stock my house up with personal hygiene supplies did help that time.  (They actually got a kick out of it.)

I did not have instructions to douche, but did get told at about 6 weeks to take a sitz bath after on dilation per day, which was simply in clear water in my bathtub deep enough to cover my vulva.  The bath was for about 15 minutes, and felt good.  My gynecologist who had me doing that, also told me to dry the area with a hair dryer on cool, and that helped keep the odor issue down a bit too. 

[Nicolette]

I do use a very thin Always pad, 0.9mm, 90% of the time. I've been doing sitz baths after dilation for 11 months now, since being post-op. Personally, a shower or sitz bath is a total necessity after a dilation. I completely stopped douching after about 3 months. The hair dryer is something I've been using, too, after bath or shower. And no underwear in bed. The coconut oil is something I'd like to try next.

[Monkeymel]

The sitz bath is interesting as the clinic (Dr Chettawut) would not allow baths of any sort for 3 months. Is the sitz bath in a normal bath or in a large bowl? And do you add any natural salts or similar. This could add a lovely dimension to my dilation schedule (currently 2x 1hr / day). Note with Chettawut non penile inversion the skin is not stitched In place so regular long dilation is recommended.

I would also be interested in the coconut oil - is there a brand from iherb.com that could be recommended? (I have cooking coconut oil but don't think that is the same). I would use iherb as they deliver to Switzerland and a lot of USA brands can't be identified / found here.

[Nicolette]

The sitz bath is interesting as the clinic (Dr Chettawut) would not allow baths of any sort for 3 months. Is the sitz bath in a normal bath or in a large bowl? And do you add any natural salts or similar. This could add a lovely dimension to my dilation schedule (currently 2x 1hr / day). Note with Chettawut non penile inversion the skin is not stitched In place so regular long dilation is recommended.

I would also be interested in the coconut oil - is there a brand from iherb.com that could be recommended? (I have cooking coconut oil but don't think that is the same). I would use iherb as they deliver to Switzerland and a lot of USA brands can't be identified / found here.

Brassard gives you a bowl for sitz baths, which is the one I use. It takes one minute to wash with some gentle soap to get rid of the extra lubricant on the vulva. The lubricant inside the vagina slowly makes its way out over 24 hours. The very thin pads take care of that. I hate getting the stuff on my underwear, or anything else for that matter. Virgin coconut oil can be used for cooking, hair, skin moisturising and, it seems, even dilation. It's usually solid at room temperature. I think any 100% virgin coconut oil at iherb could be used.

[Missy~rmdlm]

Always pads have worked for me. With significant discharge issues related to healing I have been using them non stop for five months now. Obviously they work for me. The end of pad use is finally coming into sight.

[Nicolette]

So I bought some pure coconut oil to try out with dilation. The only problem with this oil is that it is just as viscous as water when melted, so it's hard to get it only on the dilators and not on the bed sheets as well. To help dispensing the stuff, I got a syringe and loaded it with the oil. I had no problem using it as a lubricant and you use much less of it. I think I used less than 1ml for one session. I got one pot of 500ml, which means it'll last me over 500 days and save me on the cost of more expensive lubricants. Cleaning up afterwards is much easier and I think I'm getting much less gunk finding its way out on to my underwear. I can recommend the stuff.

[Monkeymel]

So this is extra virgin coconut oil? Is it liquid at room temperature? As the one I have for cooking from Jarrow is definitely solid until warmed above 30c of more... Or which brand did you try?

[Nicolette]

The stuff I got is Ktc Coconut Oil. It's 100% pure and the same as virgin coconut oil. It's solid at room temperature, but I put some in the microwave oven for a few seconds to melt it. I'm quite sure Jarrow can be used, too. I don't think coconut oil has any specific designation. It is what it is and can be used as you see fit, be it cooking, hair or for other activities...