Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I'm 8 months post op with Dr Brassard, and my vaginal canal is bone dry all the time. When I got a vaginal smear from my nurse to test for infection (clear) the nurse commented "Wow that's dry" (what a great confidence booster).

It's not the only thing worrying me and I'm definitely going to talk with my nurse about everything, but something else happened: I was told, by Brassard's staff, that I have to dilate daily (yes, every single day) for the rest of my entire life.

Is this right? I mean, even if I weren't dry as a desert all the time, which does wonders for my self image, wouldn't that wash away any self-lubrication? Isn't that unhealthy in cis women? I've heard some studies point to a gradual transformation of the neovagina lining and microflora into something resembling cis vaginas, so I have to wonder if daily douching is either healthy for me or will stop that transformation from ever happening.

What does your manual says? I went to Brassard too and I stopped douching from month 3 onwards.

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You're right, douching daily isn't ideal. But you will have to dilate for the rest of your life. You just don't need to regularly douche or douche at all.

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Using intra-vaginal Estriol (E3) as either creme or pessaries, helps with keeping the ravages of vaginal atrophy at bay and the intimate tissues plump and well hydrated.
Various brand name or generic Estriol preparations are available within the formulary on Doctor`s prescription, for administration 'P.V'.
Estriol treatment is frequently used to treat the distressing symptoms of post-menopausal vaginal atrophy in cisgender females and works equally effectively well for neo-vaginal tissue.

Did they give you a reason why you have to dilate daily for the rest of your life?  The manual says once a week after the one year mark.

Well I know with a biologically female body you are advised to never douche EVER. Becuase it's totally unnecessary since the vagina completely cleans itself, it's only the outside bits you need to clean (and very gently preferably without soap), and douching will always dry you out to some extent and yeah, kill all the microflora that you want in there. So yeah, douching every day sounds spectacularly unhealthy. I dunno if it's the same dealio for trans women though.

Maybe Replens? There's some mentions of it on this site if you search, plus some relevant discussions. Eg

https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,108958.msg1909601.html#msg1909601

Ugh, sorry everyone, epic typo.

What I meant to say is that I was told by the surgery team (and I have quadrouple-checked this for sure) that I have to douche (rinse out with tap water) daily for the rest of my life, as the title suggests.

And yes, this is in direct contradiction with the pamphlet I was given which recommends ceasing douching after 3 or 4 months. When I mentioned this contradiction, the nurse in question simply reiterated that I should douche daily. *eyeroll*

I find it very hard to believe that's correct. There's plenty of brassard women here, so it should be interesting to see what they say.