Susan's Place Transgender Resources

2.5 years since my surgery with Dr. Brassard, dilating once a week.
I'm curious, though I know I'm supposed to dilate weekly for the rest of my life, is there, or should there be a problem skipping a week here and there?
I'm sure the answer depends on sexual activity, but wondering if I'm still to early in the post op phase to even consider skipping a dilation.

Thank you

Nina

I always thought you tried it and see what happens?

So I have gone longer than a month before, and routinely took longer than a week between.  It is not advisable if you are looking at maintaining let's say #4 depth and width.  But since I was not interested in penetration at that time, it didn't seem like a big deal.  What I can tell you is that it can bounce back with some work.  And it can hurt like the dickens, but i have managed to get back up to the #3, with barely any pain. 

Now I should preface that I did after  5-6 years of weekly, consistent dilation prior to skipping a week or more.  So I think my body has acclimated to its new hardware :)

Skipping isn't advisable, but if you happen to be late by a day or two once in a while that isn't going to be an issue provided it isn't an every week occurrence. You need to stay with and as close as you can to the schedule. Your body will remind you of that by how tight things can be. Hugs
Mariah

I had a fallow period in my life where I went a good couple three years without dilation.  When I restarted, it took a good couple months to regain everything (which for me means starting with #5).  However, this period in my life was more like a decade post-op. 

I would recommend delaying a couple of days and seeing how your body feels. I'm about 4.5 years post-op with Brassard, and at this point, I'm dilating more like monthly... because even though the schedule said once a week for life, I experimented around the 3-year mark and discovered that I had no issues with waiting a few days. (Then I had a horrible few weeks happen in my life and honestly just forgot, and after about 3 months off, I still had no issues with discomfort or tightness when I restarted with the orange [biggest] dilator. I didn't see the point in weekly dilations anymore, if it didn't make any difference.) So Brassard's explanation about how to know it's time to taper off *to* once a week can also be applied if you would like to reduce beyond that, but that includes following the surgeon's instructions to be cautious and listen to your body.

Thank you