Loss of depth and how to regain

[enchantressheather]

Hello everyone, I have been post op for 11 years and have lost depth from lack of dilation and want to know is it possible to regain it through dilation.  I have less than 3" of depth more like 2.5" and am wanting to get involved with this guy I have been dating. I can't afford any more surgeries so I will have to try to force more through dilation if this is possable.  Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Love
Heather

[rejennyrated]

You may regain a small amount - but not another 2 or 3 inches I fear. My partner Alison had a similar problem for a slightly different reason. In the end we ended up looking re-surgery options but as the only solution the surgeon seemed willing to offer her was the colon cut procedure Alison decided that she would have to live with it.

Without wanting to be funny what I genuinely wonder is why is it that so many girls "lose" this depth? At one point in the 1990's I went for well over 2 years without dilating - I never lost anything. I suspect my insides may not be quite normal, as I had an odd IS condition, but they really can't be THAT different...

[Kristyn]

I know this won't be of much help to you but, WHY DID YOU STOP?

[annette]

Maybe more regular dilatating will help.
It's all about the flexibility of the tissue in your vagina.
When it's more flexible it can stretch easier.
Cis girls don't have much depth either but very flexible tissue.
Depth won't be very helpfull while giving birth, flexibility does.
Actually, it's your only option right now.
You'll never try, you'll never know, right?

good luck dear, I hope it will work.

hug
Annette

[enchantressheather]

I stopped because of lack of privacy as I had to move back home with my parents. I am young and am hoping to get married within a year or so but want to be active with my partner. I had GRS with dr schrang in 1999 and stage 2 in 2000.

[wannalivethetruth]

U should try relaxing and practice dilating. maybe it will work?

[blackMamba]

I'm not sure how much you can regain back.  If it's really painful to dilate, I would start with the smaller diameter ones and work your way up...slowly.  You should know within a month or two how much you will be able to regain.  Additional surgery could be an option as well.

[vanna]

it can be done heather, but it will take much dedication of you and perhaps some luck with the skins elastasity too.

this question or fear seems to be coming up alot and i wondered if i should post my own story on here and how i managed it, but to cut to the point i lost both width and depth. i wonder if the inversion or scrotal technique will mean a difference too but i have scrotal, just post surgery i was 6.5 depth and after many complications or issues i eventually dropped to 4 inches and could only use the smallest of dilation.

over time and many pain killers later, i am now back to around 6.2 on a good day and that gave me heart. you may end up needing surgery to recover the depth you feel is required but to recover upto 2 inches can be achieved i know this is true for my own sake

i would no wish to go agianst any Doctors advice you have but get you self some good pain relief, a strap to pull the dilator in and dedicate youself to it.

good luck
"hug

[enchantressheather]

I only lost depth not width as I can use the #24 which is the largest one I have with my set.  I have gained about 1/2" back since posting and have gone back to 6 times a day.  I talked to my doctor and she said I can get it back but it will take some time as the skin needs to be worked slowly and not to rush as it can cause problems.  I didn't have much to work with when I had GRS and only had about 4.5"-5" which was only the third ring to the last on my dilator set.  Thank you all for your insights I posted this to see if anyone else had this issue and what you have done about it.  Any info is greatly appreciated.
Hugs to all
Heather

[missyzanta]

how sexually active were you when u stopped dilating until now?

[enchantressheather]

Only had sex 1 time with a guy since GRS and that was in 2000 was treated like a piece of crap and never been with anyone since. I have been with a couple females but nothing else. Now I am dating and am wanting to become active but don't have depth to do so yet.

[missyzanta]

well u NEVER really got broken in.   I know that sounds funny BUT, i havent dilated in 4 mths until  I read your post a few hrs back and I got frightened so i went and dilated and i still have the same 7 inches I had when i had surgery May 4th 2010.  The difference is, I have been having sex pretty much every day since the 6wk green light after surgery so i just actually FORGOT to dilate anymore.  I dont know about REGAINING depth but NO ONE should EVER stop dilating IF they arent sexually active.  For me, it wasnt laziness, it is just that I forget sometimes that I am NOT a Natal female and dilation becomes an after thought, which might be one of the reasons you werent diligent with it.  When you become comfortable with WHAT

[missyzanta]

you are as well as WHO u are, dilation becomes "what the f".  I hope you get some of your depth back because you went so far to obtain it.  If ANYONE isnt going to be sexually active on a regular bases then dilation should be a first.  Dr Bowers says 3 times daily for 15 mins for the first 3 mths.  Well I was at the biggest one the 2nd week after and If I were watching a movie on tv, I would forget that it was in there and just left it there.  I NEVER timed my dilation to 15 mins.  I OVER dilated actually and that might have helped me also if i was just sitting around the house doing nothing.

[TraciMC]

I joined Susans to ask about the same thing.  I realized in January through lack of dilation that my vagina had shortened and narrowed; if I stretched my legs I would feel the stretch inside and I never used to feel that before.  I also could only fit the smallest dilator in and it only went to the first dot.  I wasn't concerned about the width cos I knew from experience that this can easily change, but the lack of depth scared me.  I also measured myself incorrectly -- I thought it was only 3 inches to the first dot because i measured from the inside of the curve and not from the outside of the curve which is how it was supposed to be.  So I started out post-op at 5 1/2 inches with the smallest dilator and now it was down to 4 inches.

So I started dilating EVERY DAY and often for several hours a day.  Now I am eleven years post-op and the skin is quite healthy inside and I knew from the past that I could dilate while sitting in a chair at my computer while pressing the end of the dilator on the chair seat; I know that this is NOT a good idea for those newly post-op or with certain issues, but I know that this worked fine for me and that I could keep steady pressure on the apex by doing it this way.  So I started that in early January and now it is May.  When I measured myself again in early April, I was very surprised to see that I was now a hair under 5 inches.  So I had regained an inch in three months.  A big part of this also was my use of Estrace cream every day which definitely helps my skin become more flexible.  And then on Monday just before my pelvic exam, I dilated and measured again and saw that now I have a depth of just a hair under 5 1/2 inches with the smallest dilator.  So essentially I am back to my original depth.  The width of course was rather easy to regain, just as I have in times in the past.  I ordered the largest #5 size dilator and it went in easily even though I never before used a dilator that big.  So I have been pretty heartened by this experience, because I had feared that I had lost the depth for good.  But it has taken a lot of work, and I know it will continue to take work to maintain it.  Oh yeah, and in the pelvic exam my doctor tells me that the tissue still looks very healthy, well estrogenized, and free of problems on the inside.