Having explored my gender identity, I have come to realize that I want bottom surgery. Actually, looking back now I realize that I've always wanted it, even long before I realized I was transgender. I never had painful dysphoria - at least not physically - but I've always felt that girls had what I should have had, but wasn't lucky enough to get it. After having accepted myself as transgender with a strong desire to transition, I was wondering how painful bottom surgery is. I know that any surgery involves pain, but I was curious as to how unbearable the pain is until the urgent is fully healed. Pain or I pain, bottom surgery is something I definitely want.
Danielle, I can't answer your question, because I am still pre-op myself.
However, don't let fear of pain deter you from moving forward. Lots of trans woman have the surgery, survive it, and are happy with the results. So clearly, the pain is survivable. Fear is what kept us in the closet for so many years, don't let it win now.
There are numerous threads from post-op ladies detailing their experiences before, during and after surgery. Read some of them to get an idea of what the experience is like. In the accounts I have read, the pain is there, but is manageable.
Hello, of course this answer is subjective and everyone is different. The pain was managed very well when I had my GCS. I stopped taking the prescribed pain meds after about 12 days post op. I did take an occasional ibuprofen after that when needed. Discomfort was felt on and off for the next 8 weeks, and it was uncomfortable with the hair growing back around the surgical area (itchy). By 4 months, I was pretty much pain free. I had a very nice outcome, no complications happy to say.
Hope that helps
Cynthia -
Hi Danielle,
You'll get different answers from different people as we all perceive pain differently.
I was relatively comfortable after surgery because of the heavy pain meds used. Things were definitely painful and sore but I perceived the pain as tolerable because it was caused by something I had wished for my whole life. The month after leaving the hospital things definitely hurt and it was difficult to move around. I had pretty bad swelling so that was a major source of pressure/discomfort. But once I was able to get into a comfortableish position things were just sore vs painful. Dilating hurts in the beginning and my whole pelvis region stayed sore for several months. But the pain wasn't sharp just very sore.
Another thing to consider is how fit you are. Being active and mobile before surgery will definitely make recovery easier. All the lying down and sitting I was doing put a lot of stress on my lower back and it became a major source of pain for me.
The pain is definitely manageable throughout the whole process. The key is maintaining a positive mental outlook and accept that things will be difficult while you are healing.
The surgery itself didn't hurt at all, in fact I slept through the whole thing!
Quote from: Colleen_definitely on April 25, 2019, 08:19:45 AM
The surgery itself didn't hurt at all, in fact I slept through the whole thing!
But after a while, the alarm went off, and you woke up, and could not find the pain pills!
Thank you all for your responses. I know that GCS is in my future, albeit a few years away however. What it sounds to me is that it is a matter of which pain is worse: dysphoria or surgery. Well, surgeries heal, but dysphoria doesn't stop - at least it hasn't for me anyway. I can't wait to become my true self!!!
Danielle
All joking aside I never had pain that reached the unbearable level. There is plenty of dull pain and the occasional sharp one from nerves reconnecting but nothing excruciating.
The biggest thing for me was being really tired that first week so I slept a lot. I was walking pretty strangely thanks to the catheter and packing but after those came out I could get around on my own pretty well.
Being 8 days post op, my memory is still pretty fresh ;D
The surgery itself I did not feel at all. I remember being pushed through a door in the bed and next I know was waking up.
During the three days hospital, they managed pain with Oxycodone, Ibuprofen and ice. It was actually much less than I had feared.
Coming out of the Hospital, it is more or less the same. I am pretty much off the Oxy know, still taking the Ibuprofen, especially since it does help with the swelling and inflammation.
The biggest pain point right now is the swelling of the right labia which causes pressure pain. Also, the clitoris is in the phase of rebuilding the nerve connections and is swollen, so they are a "bit angry" right now, Ice packs are my friend...
Overall, it is tolerable and of course, knowing what just happened makes all pain bearable.
Quote from: sarah1972 on April 26, 2019, 09:57:44 AM
Overall, it is tolerable and of course, knowing what just happened makes all pain bearable.
That sounds really great!
And everybody, of course, has a different pain threshold, and experiences those pains different!
I just wish I would be at the place to talk about my pain, the wimpy orchi I had cannot be compared with the major rebuild of the downstairs facilities!
Keep on going lady!
Linde
As others mentioned, my full-depth vaginoplasty and labiaplasty just produced some dull pain, a sort of aching sensation that wasn't terribly localized. I had a 'pain pump' on my IV line the first 3 days, and I did hit the button a few times, but not much. I had Norco (oxycodone/acetaminophen) tablets past that point that I split and took a half tablet sublingually when the irritation was annoying, and just before the drains and packing came out and I did my first dilation.
The 'zaps' of reconnecting nerves started about 10 days after surgery. Once I realized what they were, and how quickly the 'ouch' faded away, I could ignore them pretty easily. Electrolysis zaps were worse!
The soreness after FFS was worse than what I experienced in bottom surgery.
Also, like many others, I experienced some slight tearing at the bottom of the "W" incision. It healed over time and is almost invisible after 18 months.
Yes, you want all the "zaps' feelings you can have, as this is what you want for the nerves are to connect/regenerate so you will have nice feeling over as much of the surgical area as possible.
Not very actually. I felt some tingling sensation immediately after I woke up and in the later 7 hours, but it did not hurt bad. It was uncomfortable not being able to move. At home what hurt the most was sitting with the dilator in. I was tired most of the time and felt so dizzy. That's because I had iron deficiency right after the surgery because of all the blood loss. But I wouldn't describe SRS as painful at all, if it it's well managed.
I wouldn't consider it "Painful", more, uncomfortable. The pain was manageable and the whole push by the medical team was to keep the pain levels under control. I used the pain pump a few times over the first couple of days then it was just ibuprofen. Another thing to keep in mind is that pain is not remembered. You remember whether you hurt or were uncomfortable but the feeling or magnitude is not retained. What is kept is that after surgery you have achieved a goal that has been there for a long time. It has been a bit over a year and a half since surgery for me. I never think of the process but I constantly enjoy what and who I am.
Tia Anne
As others have mentioned, different people feel pain differently. I've read accounts of some for whom SRS was one big OUCH!!! For me, I didn't really have any pain issues - just discomfort post-op (mainly while I was stuck in the bed in the hospital, during the first week post-op).
My big source of pain post-SRS, was from something altogether different. I experienced a major climate change traveling from the northern US in late November (with winter approaching) for my surgery, to the warm and humid conditions in Thailand. This change (as occasionally happens to me when I'm subjected to major temperature changes) triggered my cluster headaches, (which at the time were undiagnosed for me [so I had no meds to stop the headaches]), and I ended up having to deal with them from about 3 days post-op, until after I got back from Thailand 3 plus weeks later. Cluster headaches don't last as long as migraines, but they're far more painful. It's no fun doing a 2 hour dilation session (and experiencing the general discomfort you have during the first few weeks you dilate) while trying to fight/deal with a severe cluster headache attack. Some of the other post-op Suporn girls I was friends with at the hotel most of us stayed in post-surgery, told me I looked downright burned out after dilating, and having suffered a cluster headache attack, while doing it. Yep, SRS (and even dilation for that matter) is nothing compared to cluster headaches.
I did the entire post surgical period without any pain medication. It was offered but I refused it because my fogged up mind bothered me more than the pain from the surgery. The important thing is if your hurting after surgery, discuss it with the staff or the doctor. Pain medication is available and the goal should be to make you as comfortable as possible. Don't fear the pain because it can be controlled.
Over the past few years I have read so many horror stories about complications post GCS. Given my past medical history and current conditions I have been hesitant about vaginoplasty. I did have an orchiectomy in 2017 and kept the scrotum intact in the event I do have vaginoplasty.
Reading this thread is making me want to pursue vaginoplasty. Technically my orchie 'qualified' as GCS and sufficed for my birth certificate but living with my penis is not a technicality. It still causes me moderate dysphoria.
Thanks for all the replies.
I am 4 1/2 months post op. I guess I should join the "pain party!" :) For me my recovery was awful and I thought it would never end. Until about one month ago! I am one highly sensitive, emotional girl. Besides the pain and discomfort. I had to deal with post op depression. There were days when I was dismayed at what I had done to cause myself so much suffering, but NEVER regret. Two months later I was still taking an opiate pain pill to leave the house.
As I wrote, everything finally began to heal about three months post op. So now I am happy and pleased that I had the courage to do this, but NEVER AGAIN! :D
Quote from: Dorit on April 27, 2019, 09:14:44 AM
. So now I am happy and pleased that I had the courage to do this, but NEVER AGAIN! :D
There is no reason to do it every again, because you have all what I want!
As Tia mentioned, it wasn't that painful, just really uncomfortable. I had a 'pain pump' for the first day and pushed that button every time I thought about it. When they removed the pain pump I assumed they would bring pain meds on a regular basis, I was painfully wrong. After about eight hours without pain meds I was close to screaming, but a nurse stopped by and asked if I needed anything. About 15 minutes later I was back to just being uncomfortable. After a week I was fine with occasional ibuprofen. Honestly, the breast augmentation was the most uncomfortable part. When I left the hospital on day 10 I drove home, taking two days for the 800 mile trip. I lost a few sutures along the way and didn't even notice it until I got home. After a few days my labia swelled up and looked like giant blisters, walking was really uncomfortable. I slept with an ice pack between my legs for a month or so. It took about 5 weeks until I began to feel normal again. I still have one small area where the sutures failed that is healing, but it is just a minor annoyance. As others have said -- the pain and discomfort will fade, then all that will remain is the joy of finally being yourself.
My surgery wasn't nearly as painful as I had expected it to be. It was very tolerable. For me I had a sensation of pressure, like someone pushing on my genitals. Weird I know. Lol. As for the actual pain, the worst of it was actually a weird phantom like pain. What it felt like exactly was as if the foreskin of the boy part was being pinched hard. That pain was annoying but not at all unbearable. It was strange because what was hurting was no longer there. That's the only pain I experienced. I was also on good pain killers. I was expecting a morphine thing with the button you push every 15 minutes but I didn't have that. Instead a nurse came in every 4 hours and shot morphine into my IV. I never had to ask for it, she was there every 4 hours on the dot. After 3 days they switched me to percocet by mouth every 6 hours. They also sent me home with a bottle of percocet but actually I never needed to take any of them.
Don't be afraid of the pain of bottom surgery. It really isn't bad at all. And they make sure you are kept medicated and don't experience any hard pain. Actually having filler shot into my lips hurt more than my surgery. That filler HURTS! I actually had tears and nearly crushed my dad's hand when I had the lip filler done. I never had any pain that intense from my surgery.
Quote from: Julia1996 on April 27, 2019, 01:55:50 PM
My surgery wasn't nearly as painful as I had expected it to be. It was very tolerable. For me I had a sensation of pressure, like someone pushing on my genitals. Weird I know. Lol. As for the actual pain, the worst of it was actually a weird phantom like pain. What it felt like exactly was as if the foreskin of the boy part was being pinched hard. That pain was annoying but not at all unbearable. It was strange because what was hurting was no longer there. That's the only pain I experienced. I was also on good pain killers. I was expecting a morphine thing with the button you push every 15 minutes but I didn't have that. Instead a nurse came in every 4 hours and shot morphine into my IV. I never had to ask for it, she was there every 4 hours on the dot. After 3 days they switched me to percocet by mouth every 6 hours. They also sent me home with a bottle of percocet but actually I never needed to take any of them.
Don't be afraid of the pain of bottom surgery. It really isn't bad at all. And they make sure you are kept medicated and don't experience any hard pain. Actually having filler shot into my lips hurt more than my surgery. That filler HURTS! I actually had tears and nearly crushed my dad's hand when I had the lip filler done. I never had any pain that intense from my surgery.
Lip filler hurt more ?? LOL I have had lip filler injections and to my cheeks too. The only cosmetic stuff I have done.
Yeah it hurts but really? More than GCS? :D
It's funny how different reactions to pain are. The most painful things I have had are kidney stones three times, bladder tumor removal - when I peed all red my friend said he never saw a look of pain like that in his life. :o Two heart attacks and my orchiectomy which compared to the other stuff was pretty easy.
Lip filler injections. Meh, a little worse than electro but not too bad. OMG I forgot about the all day electro mass clearing with two techs. That was probably worse than the heart attacks. :D
I guess I could handle vaginoplasty. They already took care of the 'boys' :D
What we go through to align our bodies, and I have hardly done anything compared to many of you.
SRS really isn't that bad
The fact I just needed to have the vagina relined likely affected the amount of pain I had. The fact is I was off the heavy pain killer the morning after surgery. The only pain killer I used after that was extra strength tylenol for a few days and that was for my ankle that bothering and not the surgical site. As others have mentioned, the amount of pain differs for all. Part of that depends on what and how much needs to be done. In this the amount of work on me was more to undo what had been done in the past lining the vagina that was already there instead of having to fully create a vagina. The nurses hadn't seen anything like it, but then cases like mine don't walk in the door very often either. Hugs
Mariah
Quote from: KimOct on April 27, 2019, 08:57:09 PM
Lip filler hurt more ?? LOL I have had lip filler injections and to my cheeks too. The only cosmetic stuff I have done.
Yeah it hurts but really? More than GCS? :D
It's funny how different reactions to pain are. The most painful things I have had are kidney stones three times, bladder tumor removal - when I peed all red my friend said he never saw a look of pain like that in his life. :o Two heart attacks and my orchiectomy which compared to the other stuff was pretty easy.
Lip filler injections. Meh, a little worse than electro but not too bad. OMG I forgot about the all day electro mass clearing with two techs. That was probably worse than the heart attacks. :D
I guess I could handle vaginoplasty. They already took care of the 'boys' :D
What we go through to align our bodies, and I have hardly done anything compared to many of you.
Yes. For me the lip filler was extremely painful. The needle was huge and the filler was thick. It really hurt. I held my dad's hand through the lip filler and he said my grip felt like a vice grip. Lol.None of the pain I had from my surgery was as bad as the lip filler. But also they were shooting me with morphine every 4 hours. Lol
I wasn't teasing just shocked and goofing around a bit. I would love to think vaginoplasty is less painful than lip filler.
Although the lip filler did hurt a bit I really liked the results. It's been two years and the effects are gone but if vaginoplasty was as moderately uncomfortable as the lip filler then sign me up.
Quote from: KimOct on April 27, 2019, 11:30:32 PM
I wasn't teasing just shocked and goofing around a bit. I would love to think vaginoplasty is less painful than lip filler.
Although the lip filler did hurt a bit I really liked the results. It's been two years and the effects are gone but if vaginoplasty was as moderately uncomfortable as the lip filler then sign me up.
As you said people respond differently to pain. You have had some very painful health issues so lip filler was probably no big deal for you. When I had the lip filler I had never experienced real physical pain before. I have never broken a bone or anything such as that. And thankfully I never got facial hair so I never had to endure electrolysis which I hear is brutal. With your history I would think GRS wouldn't be a big deal for you at all. Actually the removal of my catheter was the most unpleasant thing I endured. It didn't hurt really it just felt extremely weird coming out. The unpleasant part was the burning sensation that came after. It was like that burning feeling and urgent feeling to pee you get with a UTI. I had that burning and urgent feeling all day after they removed the catheter. It wasn't extreme pain but it was maddening because there was no way to relieve it.
I was up and walking in 10 minutes. I skipped the pain meds. It wasn't bad. Sitting was uncomfortable for a couple months, but nothing too bad.
Quote from: KimOct on April 27, 2019, 11:30:32 PM
I wasn't teasing just shocked and goofing around a bit. I would love to think vaginoplasty is less painful than lip filler.
Although the lip filler did hurt a bit I really liked the results. It's been two years and the effects are gone but if vaginoplasty was as moderately uncomfortable as the lip filler then sign me up.
I just had lip filler injections two weeks ago. I almost passed out from the pain of the needle, but I had no pain aside from the quick injections and was fine when the doctor finished. The surgical SRS pain is covered my strong medication but the long recovery leaves you hurting for months afterwards. Unlike my commitment to never do SRS again ;), later today I go back for a second lip injection! :)
Hi Kym dear, so good to see you here! If you can survive Minnesota winters at your age, so can also survive GRS! :-*
Pain is relative. Numbing injections in the face are the most painful things I've ever received. That's more than, BA, FFS, GCS and riding a bike for 500 miles through the Appalachian mountains.
If all those listed above, GCS was the least painful.
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Quote from: Denise on April 28, 2019, 08:11:55 AM
Pain is relative. Numbing injections in the face are the most painful things I've ever received. That's more than, BA, FFS, GCS and riding a bike for 500 miles through the Appalachian mountains.
If all those listed above, GCS was the least painful.
Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk
Lol, I have to agree Denise. I tried the lidocaine injections for electrolysis once. The injections to my neck and cheeks were bad enough, but when they put that needle in my upper lip, I nearly came off the table. The pain is unreal, especially near the midline, right underneath your nose. Oh. My. God. That was the last time I did
that. I can totally understand why Julia ranks that as her worst pain ever.
SRS was never that bad, in terms of intensity of pain. In the hospital, with the morphine pump and around-the-clock icepacks, I wasn't feeling much at all. Even in the first few days after that, Vicodin was enough. My complaint was the discomfort just went on and on. I had an incision get infected, which required gauze packing six weeks out (that was fun), and even after that healed up I couldn't sit down without pain for almost five months.
The most intense post-surgical pain I experienced was after FFS. That was severe pain for three days, then things were manageable. The BA and hair transplant were the least painful. Liposuction and butt lift was difficult for about a week, then devolved into low-grade chronic pain over the next two months.
If I were younger, I think my surgeries would have been less traumatic and healed more quickly, but you have to play the cards you are dealt. I had one shot at this, and I went for it.
~Terri
Quote from: Maybebaby56 on April 28, 2019, 08:44:23 AM
I had an incision get infected, which required gauze packing six weeks out (that was fun), and even after that healed up I couldn't sit down without pain for almost five months.
~Terri
Where did you have your surgery done?
Hi Dietlind,
I had SRS on August 8, 2017.
Terri
Quote from: Maybebaby56 on April 28, 2019, 09:31:08 AM
Hi Dietlind,
I had SRS on August 8, 2017.
Terri
You write: " I had an incision get infected, which required gauze packing six weeks out ", and that makes me wonder who did your surgery, and where it was done.
Just for your information, I made my living with research on pre- and post operative infection control and prevention.
This infection you had, falls right into my field of specialty!
Quote from: Dietlind on April 28, 2019, 01:07:22 PM
You write: " I had an incision get infected, which required gauze packing six weeks out ", and that makes me wonder who did your surgery, and where it was done.
Just for your information, I made my living with research on pre- and post operative infection control and prevention.
This infection you had, falls right into my field of specialty!
Well, to be precise, I am not actually sure it was an infection. It was a wound that would not close properly, inside my one of my labia, and it kept draining. It hurt for weeks. When I went back for my six week follow-up, Dr. McGinn said, "I can see the problem", and packed the wound with iodoform gauze. It did eventually heal. My surgery was done at Lower Bucks Hospital in Pennsylvania.
~Terri
Quote from: Maybebaby56 on May 03, 2019, 08:07:46 PM
Well, to be precise, I am not actually sure it was an infection. It was a wound that would not close properly, inside my one of my labia, and it kept draining. It hurt for weeks. When I went back for my six week follow-up, Dr. McGinn said, "I can see the problem", and packed the wound with iodoform gauze. It did eventually heal. My surgery was done at Lower Bucks Hospital in Pennsylvania.
~Terri
If he treated the wound with iodoform means that you had some kind of wound infection. This also means that somebody made a mistake during your treatment and broke the sterile process/ procedures.
The result of this caused you undo suffering!
They may not want to admit it to you, but it is a fact. I hope they reported it to the Joint Commission!
The painful part is dilation. The surgery itself and hospital time for me was a breeze.
Do you find dilation painful? I find it to be a pain because of the time it takes but not really painful.
One thing I found that makes it pleasurable, almost, is pre lubing with a finger. You may even find something interesting at the same time. ;). All kidding aside, getting lube up inside the canal is very helpful.
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Quote from: Denise on May 04, 2019, 12:57:31 AM
Do you find dilation painful? I find it to be a pain because of the time it takes but not really painful.
One thing I found that makes it pleasurable, almost, is pre lubing with a finger. You may even find something interesting at the same time. ;). All kidding aside, getting lube up inside the canal is very helpful.
Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk
I have never found dilation painful. As you said It's just a pain because of the time it takes. And I don't dare skip any of it because Tristan is quite hung. I never thought about it before surgery but I guess I should have been looking for a guy with "pee wee" sized equipment. Lol I'm kidding of course. 😂
I can't wait to have vaginoplasty. It's something I've wanted my whole life. Thank you all for the input and encouragement!!!
I only want to have 18 for have my surgery, my gaaaaaaaawd:(!!
This year i wanna meet some surgeons with my mom who can do SRS who can see if I have enough for the investment.
tssssssssssssss
If I had luck (I know it will not happen) it would be beautiful if it were so, in my country there would be a new experimental surgeon who wants to try on a 16 year old teenager this year because I would give my body to have sex reassignment, and my Mom would give me permission :(
i hope it happens