Surgical Issue? Swelling 'erection-like' effect ruining penetration/ intercourse

[chloelh101]

I had my surgery a few years ago by a professor in Sydney, Australia, in December 2014. I initially had a few post op complications like infection and swelling, having to stay in hospital for 2 weeks. Months after there was swelling constantly present but it would eventually get less swollen.

However, what always arose was during arousal or touching the area it would swell up quite a lot around the areas that are supposed to be the labia minor and the lower part of the labia major. It really pushed the whole thing out and made it quite hard. Every time I dilated this would pretty much happen and due to this discomfort I have never been able to go back to my initial dilator of a bigger width than currently using.

In all my disappointing 6 or so sexual experiences (post op) not once have I had intercourse. A finger can hardly fit in. My whole vagina basically swells up as if I'm having an erection and it blocks the hole and it's very difficult to penetrate at all. Is this normal?

I saw my doctor a few months ago at start of 2016 but he was quite rude and said that it is normal because he couldn't remove the penile corora - was it? or corpora cavernosa? idk its a tissue he said that swells up for erections ... and i was thinking, what? that can't be right? It seriously blocks off the hole, looks unnatural and is uncomfortable every time I masturbate.

Please tell me there is something I can do about this so my vagina remains soft, like by having surgery to remove this tissue or snip the nerve that causes the erection like swelling. Please, please would appreciate all answers, thank you

xx Chloe

[mm]

chloelh101, i feel sorry for you going through all this for way over a year since you surgery.  I am not a surgeon  thou what you describe is most likely erection tissue that was left.  You probably need to be examined by a surgeon who does many srs procedure to see what can be done to help you.

[AnxietyDisord3r]

I am not a doctor but I've played doctor and the vagina of an aroused woman does not "remain soft". Also, the ability to accommodate penetration is very variable and idiopathic. I know that's not what you want to hear, but that's what millions of women live with every day.

I know your post op anatomy is different, but could you be suffering from muscle tension caused by anxiety over not being able to dilate? Tense muscles make attempted intercourse very painful, if not impossible.

If I were you I'd get the opinion of another doctor. Maybe a revision is possible to open that up. Plenty of gynos in the past would do un-asked-for "revisions" of post partum women, sewing them up the way THEY wanted, not what the patient (or their partner) wanted. Well, what was sewn up too tight can be undone as well, says I.

[AnonyMs]

It sounds like erectile tissue. You can find mentions of it if you search for that term.

Its quite rare, but there's a post here about a case from Dr Suporn in Thailand and what she did about it.

Suporn's FailureS ..... Who else?
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?topic=98958.0

I'd not go back to the same surgeon.

[chloelh101]

thank you mm i agree and i would like some other people's opinions first before i book into a new - different - surgeon to who i had.

Yes it is erection tissue.

AnxietyD, sorry but it is not that, though I know where you are coming from. It is not anything to do with anxiety, even when I am not dilating just wanting to pleasure myself it swells up like an erection. When I am no longer aroused it goes down. It is not anxiety but tissue acting like as if I still had a penis. It is not anything to do with tensing nor muscles. I have worked my finger in there to feel it, and to describe it, it is as if the top 'wall' of the inner vagina pushes downwards and there is a section of swollen tissue above the finger. Below remains normal and soft and if the total inside was soft like that I would have easily been able to dilate to a greater width than currently.

I want to be clear and convince everyone who reads this that its not a tension or anxiety issue, so I am going to explain what it feels like and this may sound weird but this is what it's like:
Say you had your hand on a trampoline - you can push down a little but only by so much (that is the bottom of the (inside of) my vagina). (The hand represents my finger)

Then imagine placing a weight ontop of your hand like an iphone or a book. Trying to lift your fingers up there is a rigid thing blocking your hand from rising. It's also pushing down (gravity representing my erectile swelling pushing the finger down, preventing it from going much inwards). I can actually feel this hardness as an area...

This rigid section exists from the roof of the internal vagina to below the clitoris/ vulva,

and the labia minora is completely pushed outwards - imagine pointing your index finger out straight (that represents the normal, non swollen state of the labia minora) and now tuck your finger in slightly so the middle joints are sticking out, that represents the middle part of the labia minora pushing out when swollen.

Hopefully that convinces anyone who thinks it is simply psychological, or even relatable to a normal functioning female who experiences tightness more due to the elasticity (like that of the trampoline material) of the vaginal hole/ 'tunnel' rather than due to an actual physical swelling of blood into the tissue of that area.

Please every response is appreciated
xx

[AnonyMs]

Here's another post from someone who went to a Sydney surgeon. Its not directly related, but you might want to read it.

https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,180399.0.html

There's another surgeon in Australia who does SRS, Dr Andrew Ives in Melbourne. Perhaps he can be of help. There are people on these forums who've had SRS with him and speak positively of it.

[Jenna Marie]

That does not sound normal at all, and in fact the dilation instructions/methods used by most post-op women would not work if this were happening with them. So it's reasonable to conclude that the majority of post-op women do NOT have this issue. Sorry. The good news is that clearly most surgeons can remove that tissue most of the time (why your surgeon said he could not is a mystery, but it's something that *is* routinely done) and so it should be possible to find someone able to perform a minor revision.

I have a small amount of similar erectile tissue left around my clitoris, which makes the clit "erect" and the very top of the labia minora (which is part of the clitoral hood) swell up a bit. This is typical of cis women as well and I'm happy with it, but it's obviously tricky to get this kind of result without leaving "too much" and ending up with the sort of abundance of erectile tissue that you have. It may be that your surgeon tried and was not successful, for whatever reason...

And just to be clear, no, I do not have any issues with swelling or erectile tissue blocking the actual vaginal entrance. I have no trouble understanding what it is you're describing, and I would consider it a significant problem if I had that issue.

[mmmmm]

Im sorry you have to deal with this issue... clearly its not normal outcome, or in any way psychological.

If its pushing on outwards, it means that your surgeon was trying to remove crus of penis, and he messed up things halfway, and decided to leave it like that after he wasnt able to remove it successfully. Thats the only explanation why it actually pushes on outwards during arrousal. Crus is partially dissattached as he was trying to remove it. Why he wasnt able to remove it completely, is outside of my understanding. Most srs surgeons, and urogenital surgeons who do this surgeries, do their best to completely remove all erectile tissue, including bulb of penis and crus of penis, as if there is erectile tissue left, and NOT incorporated correctly, it usually leads to problems like you have, or similar. Dr. Suporn is one of the rare surgeons who feel confident to actually retain inner erectile tissue (he removes the outer part) and incorporates it to mimic the erectile tissue in biological females. Even then there were a few patients who ended up having problems and wrote about their experience online over the years. I bet there were some more who didnt report about it online. Regardless, most patients (including myself) dont have any problems. With arrousal, you usually experience pleasant fullness, not only around clitoris, but in whole area all the way down to vaginal opening. This is pretty much how most biological females describe it. There isnt any visable change on the outside, and there isnt any obstruction directly on vaginal entrance.

I dont know why your surgeon wasnt able to remove it. Obviously there was something beyond his abilities. I wouldnt recommend you go back to him, if he wasnt able to remove it then. I dont know how many urogenital surgeons, trained in SRS you have in your country. You should probably check that. I dont think this is a case for plastic surgeons. I know many with such and similar problems go to Dr. Djordjevic in Belgrade (Belgrade center for genital reconstructive surgery). There is a section on their website "Vaginoplasty re-do" with photos of revision surgeries, - cause: erectile tissue removal.

[doll89]

I had my surgery a few years ago by a professor in Sydney, Australia, in December 2014. I initially had a few post op complications like infection and swelling, having to stay in hospital for 2 weeks. Months after there was swelling constantly present but it would eventually get less swollen.

However, what always arose was during arousal or touching the area it would swell up quite a lot around the areas that are supposed to be the labia minor and the lower part of the labia major. It really pushed the whole thing out and made it quite hard. Every time I dilated this would pretty much happen and due to this discomfort I have never been able to go back to my initial dilator of a bigger width than currently using.

In all my disappointing 6 or so sexual experiences (post op) not once have I had intercourse. A finger can hardly fit in. My whole vagina basically swells up as if I'm having an erection and it blocks the hole and it's very difficult to penetrate at all. Is this normal?

I saw my doctor a few months ago at start of 2016 but he was quite rude and said that it is normal because he couldn't remove the penile corora - was it? or corpora cavernosa? idk its a tissue he said that swells up for erections ... and i was thinking, what? that can't be right? It seriously blocks off the hole, looks unnatural and is uncomfortable every time I masturbate.

Please tell me there is something I can do about this so my vagina remains soft, like by having surgery to remove this tissue or snip the nerve that causes the erection like swelling. Please, please would appreciate all answers, thank you

xx Chloe

Hii Chloee,, I have had the same thing and fortunately my doctor understood the problem and has performed a correction for me after one year. There was some erectile tissue left, a little bit too much and he has removed this and now it is all fine. The correction was not hard at all and recovery went really fast. I only had to stay 1 night in the hospital with a catether in case there would be too much swelling but the next day I could go home after I could go to the toilet myself.  I hope you can talk to your doctor or another doctor again and can solve this issue too!

[Jacqueline]

chloelh101

Welcome to the site. I am sorry I am late to the party. I am also sorry about your experience. I hope you can find some help here.

I also want to share some links with you. They are mostly welcome information and the rules that govern the site. If you have not had a chance to look through them, please take a moment:

Things that you should read

Site Terms of Service & Rules to Live By	Standard Terms & Definitions	Post Ranks (including when you can upload an avatar)
Reputation rules	News posting & quoting guidelines	Photo, avatars, & signature images policy

Once again, welcome to Susan's. Look around, ask questions and join in.

With warmth,

Joanna

[chloelh101]

thanks doll89 that gives me a lot of hope.

if anyone might like to help i have photos of the issue when it happens and after it goes down. please private message me so i can privately show the photos thanks

[chloelh101]

sorry mm iv been super busy and just tried to message u back but when i click on your message theres no reply button? i'd like to show you please, but I don't know how to message you. thank you so much

[Jacqueline]

chloelh101,

If you get  a chance to look through those links, it will explain.

You cannot message people here till you hit 15 quality posts. Same with posting an avatar.

Good luck,

Warmly,

Joanna

[chloelh101]

@Joanna50 thank you, I understand the reason for this restriction but in my case I don't think it's fair... All I wanted to do was to show someone the picture of what it looks like when it swells up compared to when it's normal and do that privately. I don't understand why I wouldn't be allowed to reply to someone who has messaged me first.

The fact I have to do 15 legitimate posts when I signed up here just for one issue is not fair. I can't just spam out posts in a row or else a moderator makes the count go down.

I don't care about the avatar. I don't care about this profile. I'm not here to join the community.

What I care about is if my doctor is incapable of the common removal of erectile tissue and is denying it on purpose and if I should see a new professional, which may mean travelling interstate.

I do not care about the points system. I just want to reply to someone who has been through GRS and willing to take a look.

[AnonyMs]

The fact I have to do 15 legitimate posts when I signed up here just for one issue is not fair. I can't just spam out posts in a row or else a moderator makes the count go down.

In the interests of getting your posts up, why not tell us how you found your surgeon. I don't think many have heard of this one.

[Jenna Marie]

I suspect it is fair, however, for some people to wonder why the community should help you if you're not interested in helping the community...

In any event, my experience was apparently not useful regardless, so I don't think I have much to offer. Sorry.   Good luck!!

[Jacqueline]

@Joanna50 thank you, I understand the reason for this restriction but in my case I don't think it's fair... All I wanted to do was to show someone the picture of what it looks like when it swells up compared to when it's normal and do that privately. I don't understand why I wouldn't be allowed to reply to someone who has messaged me first.

The fact I have to do 15 legitimate posts when I signed up here just for one issue is not fair. I can't just spam out posts in a row or else a moderator makes the count go down.

I don't care about the avatar. I don't care about this profile. I'm not here to join the community.

What I care about is if my doctor is incapable of the common removal of erectile tissue and is denying it on purpose and if I should see a new professional, which may mean travelling interstate.

I do not care about the points system. I just want to reply to someone who has been through GRS and willing to take a look.

I am sorry you are personally having a bad time. You are able to use email to send messages, privately. We cannot make exceptions or the structure becomes compromised. If you feel it is not fair, you are welcome to contact Susan directly.

Sincerely,

Joanna

[Devlyn]

@Joanna50 thank you, I understand the reason for this restriction but in my case I don't think it's fair... All I wanted to do was to show someone the picture of what it looks like when it swells up compared to when it's normal and do that privately. I don't understand why I wouldn't be allowed to reply to someone who has messaged me first.

The fact I have to do 15 legitimate posts when I signed up here just for one issue is not fair. I can't just spam out posts in a row or else a moderator makes the count go down.

I don't care about the avatar. I don't care about this profile. I'm not here to join the community.

What I care about is if my doctor is incapable of the common removal of erectile tissue and is denying it on purpose and if I should see a new professional, which may mean travelling interstate.

I do not care about the points system. I just want to reply to someone who has been through GRS and willing to take a look.

Yeah, no one thinks that the rules should have to apply to them. 

Hugs, Devlyn

[chinee]

I had the same issue before and even posted a thread about it here. My vagina before swells up to the point that my vagina is trying to transform into something else like trying to be a penis again. The vagina canal is being affected too as the canal gets tighter as it gets hard.

What fixed it was I went to Thailand and had a secondary srs surgery (labiaplasty) and let the doctor also remove the excess erectile tissue. Now my vagina doesnt swells up anymore or if it does, only a very very little portion around the clitoris which cis girls also experience. Also, after my secondary surgery, it got easier for me to climax.