Sorry if it's too inappropriate but I am researching my options for when I'm old enough for SRS.

Short answer. Yes or after sometime can be substitution used (wink,wink).

In short, yes.  For the rest of their lives to some extent.  In the absence of the proper structures of extracellular matrix telling your body that this thing is supposed to exist, it treats it like a wound and tries its best to heal it.

Now there is a certain point at which the dilation schedule becomes much less intensive and more livable, but it's typically a lifelong thing.

Once tissue engineered vaginal implants become a thing for transwomen, this might change.  But with existing tech, that's the way it is.

Yes, in theory. I've heard of women who find after enough years that they don't, but that's not a guarantee.

On the other hand, at 2+ years post-op it's 20 minutes once a week, which isn't bad. I spend more time cleaning up after our pets.

Is it painful

Nope. Not at all anymore. It hurt a bit in the beginning from time to time, but no worse than, say, poking a blister - when the flesh was still tender and sometimes chafed, it could get a bit sore like that. But that was in the first ~3 months, and since then it's at most a bit of passing discomfort at the muscle being stretched (which cis women sometimes experience too).

Quote from: mrs izzy on October 23, 2014, 08:38:21 PM
Short answer. Yes or after sometime can be substitution used (wink,wink).

Looking forward to that one! 

Quote from: Makenzie on October 23, 2014, 08:36:23 PM
Sorry if it's too inappropriate but I am researching my options for when I'm old enough for SRS.

Not just to prevent closer. Dilation is vital to get the vaginal lining to adhere to the surrounding tissue and prevent prolapse (when the vagina "falls out").