Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hey everybody

So things have been healing pretty nicely now that I've had some silver nitrate treatments under my belt (for the granulation tissue). The only thing I've noticed that bugs me at this point is that my inner labia seems to be partially fused together in the middle. So it's open at the top and then fused and then the bottom of the lips are apart again. The clit is behind the fusing and can't really be accessed directly at this point.

Has anyone come across this at all? It seems to me that they may have healed together some on accident and it shouldn't be that way...I'd imagine that the inner labia should be able to be fully spread for complete access to the clit. I'm really just concerned about asthetics more than anything. Mind you it hasn't even been 3 months yet so maybe the 'fusing' will come undone as of yet? But I don't know.

Just curious if anyone has had a similar experience possibly.

Judging by 70+ views and no replies, I guess nobody has had or heard of this happening. Doesn't bode well, sigh.

Actually, the girl I had surgery with the same day told me that skin had grown over her clitoris.  I'm not sure if this could be the same thing.  She described a scab forming and falling off.  At first, she thought her clitoris fell off, but it was confirmed that her clitoris was still there.  Not sure if she will be having a revision or not.  Either way, she would have to wait a year anyway.  Hope this helps.

Quote from: Valeriedances on June 05, 2011, 10:36:08 PM
Thats interesting. I wonder if this is common for girls who have a long healing scab over their clitoris. My scab took forever to fall off.

Not sure.  She had problems from the get go--she didn't eat and lived on oxy's the whole time we were there.  She was constantly stoned and depressed and it was driving me and her Mom crazy.  Finally her Mom told her to smarten up or shut up, but in much nicer words.  She kind of straightened out after that.

I'm not sure when or where mine fell off--didn't see anything!  I did see a bloody clot on the floor the first time I dilated, though.

Part of mine had grown together, as well.  At my first followup appt., Dr. McGinn snipped it apart with scissors.  Oh, my!  I wasn't ready for that at all.  That was the worst of the appt and she told me to pull them apart regularly as part of the healing therapy.  It's worked fine, so far.

     After the lesson I got on anatomy, I'm amazed everything heals as it does.  We have to sometimes help it along.

Scissors. Who'd have thought? Obviously only a medical professional should do this but maybe there an easy answer to this one.

I had the same thing happen to me but during a routine follow-up appointment, my surgeon instructed me to make sure you don't let that fusing happen.  If you go back to your surgeon they should be able to help you.  If your surgeon is in Thailand, then I don't know what to say.  This is why it is so important to choose a surgeon that can provide continued follow-up care.

This fusing happens because your body wants to heal itself and it thinks it needs to cover up the hole.  The granulation tissue can stick to itself and if left untouched, will actually begin to fuse.  If is starts fusing and is recent, you can usually snap it back apart with your fingers.  If it has actually healed over, you may need to go to a doctor with the proper skills to incise the fusing to allow it to separate.

I too had scabbing over my clitoris but that was because my surgeon add a uretheral flap to act as a clitoral hood and provide the area some lubrication.  The scab eventually healed/went away.

You should be sending a good macro photo to your surgeon.

Without a photo neither your surgeon nor anyone here can see exactly what is going on.

My surgery with Dr. Mcginn was 28 days ago, she has had me keep a 4x4 sterile gauze over the area, i change it after i pee and dilate, it sops up any extra mineral oil i use during dilation, extra plasma and skin that sloths off, maybe this will also keep everything open and not healing together, so far so good.

Paula

Wow thank you for the replies everyone.

I saw my surgeon last week for a followup appointment in Seattle. She saw it and at first looked worried or concerned but then she changed tunes and said that it would be fine and provide protection for the clit. I went along with that but when I got home I emailed her again and re-expressed my concern again and she emailed me back and said she didn't think it was fused very much and that she couldn't do anything about it until at least 3-6 months post-op. I'm supposed to send her another picture at the end of June and that'll be 3.5 months for me so I'll of course ask her about it again then.

The scissors thing sounds like it's what she should have been able to do when I saw her and as much as that sounds like it'd hurt....I just want it to look and function right so I don't care.

Trying not to worry about it.....I guess the worst that could happen is I have to pay for a revision..... =/

After all that money that you spent your labia should not be fused.
They should have put in a decent circuit breaker.

How about solid state labia

***This makes absolutely no sense!!!*** ???

Quote from: Renate on June 06, 2011, 08:06:09 PM
After all that money that you spent your labia should not be fused.
They should have put in a decent circuit breaker.

I agree! Popping fuses is not cool!

Quote from: Valeriedances on June 06, 2011, 09:51:44 PM
Debra, I have a friend who had the same problem. Dr. Brassard told her to cut the labia open with scissors herself, as has been mentioned here.

She did and it did have some small amount of bleeding, which stopped with some applied pressure. Her labia opened nicely and healed completely.

She asked me to post it so you are aware this is not unusual and can possibly be fixed yourself.

We both wish you luck.

-Valerie

I would be extremely leery about doing something such as this by oneself.  The possibility for infection or doing it wrong is too great to risk.

Thank you very much Valerie! That does make me feel better that it can be done and easily.

I will of course wait and see what my surgeon says to my latest email but I imagine she'll stick to wanting to wait another month or 3. I'm not quite as worried as I was though because I've been told that in most cases she won't charge for a minor revision like this.

I agree with Ashley ,Debra plEASSSEEE DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME !!!! 

Quote from: Suigeniris on June 09, 2011, 01:50:54 AM
I agree with Ashley ,Debra plEASSSEEE DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME !!!!

Don't worry, even if my surgeon said it was ok for me to do this at home...I don't think I could. I'd have to have her or my doc do it

Quote from: Valeriedances on June 09, 2011, 02:23:49 PM
Just having the knowledge that it (the complication) occurs to others and that something can be done about it very simply and quickly, gives a peace of mind, I'm sure.

Exactly. That's helped ease my mind a lot.

I meant no offense fo anyone I was JUSt simply stating ...... You never know

 :-* :)) kisses Val

For the record, if anyone does decide to do it themselves, make sure to use proper equipment. make sure anything that touches you is sterilized by boiling or otherwise. you may want to use alcohol swabs to prep the area, though i don't know how that would effect the sensitive area. Wear clean gloves and have plenty of sterile gause on hand as well as medical tape(not the paper kind!).

Quote from: Valeriedances on June 15, 2011, 05:07:27 PM
...and whatever you do, dont use a dull knife!!!


Sorry, couldnt help myself.

XD

PLEASE don't do that!

Surgical scissors would be best, but grooming ones could work if sterilized.

Quick update: Last night after dilating, I took a closer look again and found that the clitoral hooding was now stuck together too!! I was able to pull it apart ok but it was still scary. It seems to me if something isn't done about this, that it could only get worse as things heal more.

I took a picture and sent it off to my surgeon and re-expressed my worry about doing something about this sooner rather than later.

Maybe a little Neosporine on the area of the Clit?  Promotes healing and would keep things from sticking.

Quote from: Janet Lynn on June 24, 2011, 12:28:01 PM
Maybe a little Neosporine on the area of the Clit?  Promotes healing and would keep things from sticking.

I'd be afraid to do that for fear that the parts of the labia that are stuck together would heal more

Maybe just Vaseline?

Quote from: Debra on June 24, 2011, 12:10:07 PM
Quick update: Last night after dilating, I took a closer look again and found that the clitoral hooding was now stuck together too!! I was able to pull it apart ok but it was still scary. It seems to me if something isn't done about this, that it could only get worse as things heal more.

I took a picture and sent it off to my surgeon and re-expressed my worry about doing something about this sooner rather than later.

I had a similar condition and Dr. McGinn just clipped the part that had grown together.  She then pulled it apart and told me to do that daily.  I've been doing as she instructed and it seems to be working nicely.  Her office called and asked for photos, so I just sent mine in, as well.

      After what I've been shown and seen her do, I've accepted this as part of the healing process itself.    I was getting a fair amount of bleeding, but now hardly get any.

      I'm about 3 and a half months post-op now and I know it will be a year before I'm all normal and healed.  Patience...

Well my surgeon got back to me and told me she still wanted to wait another 3 months. She did recommend premarin or silvaride cream to put on the parts that weren't closed up yet to keep them from getting closed up but she wanted to see the swelling and other things go down before doing anything with the 'fused' area.

So bad news: she still wants to wait which could give it more time to heal together

good news: she does seem to be interested in fixing it once more time goes by.

An update on this: I recently saw a well known OB/GYN / Family doctor / HRT doctor person to get a 'second opinion' about my inner labia being partially fused together.

Surprisingly, she had much the opinion of my surgeon. She said everything looked really really good and she said that a lot of women don't have fully spreadable labias with full access to the clit itself. It made me feel better to hear it from another expert instead of just my surgeon but I still don't know where I'm at with this.

It really does look rather good nowadays...it's just when you go to spread things that it the problem is noticeable. And as far as orgasming, I think part of the problem is that though I can feel my clit inside, I can't get to it and the hooding/labia that it's encased in is still fairly numb on the surface. So maybe more time will tell as of yet.

I understand was your GP says is quite correct --- BUT, many females have that taken care of these days.
Like almost a sort of mini circumcision to have more access/feeling with one's clit.

It seems one of the more common ops these days.

Food for thought,
Axelle

Yes, labiaplasty surgery in very common today many women have it for various reasons.

Pls don't perform a DIY nip/tuck at home, if your surgeon is too far to travel, visit a gyno or a plastic surgeon who performs labiaplasty, fusion of the labia is not much of a big deal, i am sure they can sort it out for you.

5 month Update: My surgeon has straight up said that the inner labia fusing problem can be easily fixed in an office visit. Just hearing that was really good to hear. She said not till 6 months post-op at least and I'll probably wait till she's in the Seattle Office to have it done.

I'll probably ask her about it again at 6 months but definitely feeling at ease at least.....because i feel like she's willing to do something about it.

6 month update: Surgeon has said that I can feel free to schedule with the Seattle office for the next time she'll be there to get this fixed, yay! She said it was no charge as well. =)

I went to a confrence two weekends ago and Dr McGinn explained how this can sometimes happ and isn't anything to be worried about. She decribed exactly how it is delt with when it comes up in her practice.

Huggs

Emily

Quote from: Emily Ray on September 20, 2011, 03:59:03 PM
I went to a confrence two weekends ago and Dr McGinn explained how this can sometimes happ and isn't anything to be worried about. She decribed exactly how it is delt with when it comes up in her practice.

Huggs

Emily

Great info, thanks! =)

Sorry I'm a bit late to this thread...

This EXACT thing happened to me post-op... Everything seemed to be healing up fine and then, right when I was hitting the "6 month" mark, my doctor noticed that I had a labial adhesion, thought to have been caused by my skin's super sensitivity (and thus, resulting in granulation).  I have always wondered if I did something wrong... not washing enough, not feeling, not -- Oh well, radical acceptance. 
My site "overhealed" around the labia and around the clitoris.  Yes, at some point, I do need a surgical revision.  Can't afford it at this point and have too much going on in life.  Sucks.  Took me awhile, but I got to the radical acceptance part, so its been "fused" for a year or so... what I thought really SUCKED was having to do weekly silver nitrate treatments to burn away the granulation.
My PCP ended up doing a lot of the treatment and, on accident, she mistook urethral tissue for granulation and burned it away which caused my urethral tissue to "overheal" by stricturing and closing up so that I couldn't pee.  So I ended up having my pee hole re-opened by my urologist (thankfully he already knew me from having done my orchie years ago)... not fun... ever since then, I have to self-catheterize when I pee.  (Still working on radical acceptance here).

to fuse it must have been neglected?
what about washing and creaming it to keep it all healing well?