For a bit of reference, I'm 6'2 and about 135 pounds. My original depth is supposed to be 4.5 inches, which I'm told is a miracle with my body. I get around 3.7 inches deep for now. I'm like 5 weeks out.

I haven't done the best job dilating. Not that I don't get my time in, but I can't always do 5 times a day with how my days work. So I usually go for 30-45 minutes 3 times a day instead of 5 for 15. At the followup the surgeon said everything felt great and that I had good depth. I'm not worried that this will affect me.

I've only recently started with the second Soul Source size, but only for one or two sessions a day. I don't think I'll go much bigger than that as I tend to date guys of a leaner build.

Being as scrawny as I am, how much trouble will I have when it comes to depth and intercourse?

I've no idea about your question, but I've one if my own. Im curious why your depth a miracle with your body?

I have all sorts of questions about your post. It's possible you and your surgeon aren't measuring depth the same way and you have more depth than you think. It's also possible that you don't have enough pressure on the dilator so your not reaching full depth. You should press with about 4 pounds or about 2 kilograms of force while dilating. I am also 6'2" with the old fashion PI surgery and once upon a time I weighted 140 pounds. I weighed 155 (150 when I left the hospital) at the time of surgery and still was able to reach around 6 inches of depth with 1.5 inches of diameter. My dilation routine was mostly 3 times a day for 20 minutes however due to exhaustion, for the first month it was mostly twice a day. I was fortunate and the limited dilation didn't harm the surgery but some of it was the result of returning to a proper dilation schedule after that month.

I don't quite remember, AnonyMs. I think it had something to do with my pelvis. My surgeon just said she was only expecting to get like 3.5. But I'll ask her at some point. I could be wrong and I have waaay more depth.

When I dilate, I feel like I'm pushing on something when I reach the back. And I also get this awful pulsation in the blood vessels around the area where my legs attach to my pelvis like circulation is being cut off. That happens when I press too hard at the very back. I'll try pushing harder, but I have no way of measuring the amount of pressure I'm applying. I'm all off on common sense basis, because I worked out a lot pre-op.

Agh! And I just got the bill, so keeping up with dilation will be even harder with all these hours.

Minor Update: I did push a lot harder and it at least got a bit further(a bit more past the first dot). I did bleed for the first time in a while.

Quote from: Memento on May 03, 2018, 07:23:02 AM
I've only recently started with the second Soul Source size, but only for one or two sessions a day. I don't think I'll go much bigger than that as I tend to date guys of a leaner build.

Penis size is unrelated to body type. Men of all sorts come with all sorts of equipment.

Quote from: PurplePelican on May 03, 2018, 04:08:54 PM
Penis size is unrelated to body type. Men of all sorts come with all sorts of equipment.

Yeah, I started to rethink that after I said it. Regardless, I'm sure with time and enough lube most can be accomodated. It's not like this isn't a problem any woman could have.

Soul Source had 4 sized dilators:

1) 1.125 inches diameter
2) 1.25 inches diameter
3) 1.375 inches diameter
4) 1.5 inches diameter

It is important to maintain a schedule and measure your depth. I started with about 3.5 inches depth and have 5.25 inches now. Maintaining pressure is important when dilating. I was on #4 dilator at 4 or 5 weeks.

Everyone is different and have different physical proportions. Use your own judgement on dilating with the input from your doctor.

Quote from: Memento on May 03, 2018, 07:23:02 AM
For a bit of reference, I'm 6'2 and about 135 pounds. My original depth is supposed to be 4.5 inches, which I'm told is a miracle with my body. I get around 3.7 inches deep for now. I'm like 5 weeks out.

I haven't done the best job dilating. Not that I don't get my time in, but I can't always do 5 times a day with how my days work. So I usually go for 30-45 minutes 3 times a day instead of 5 for 15. At the followup the surgeon said everything felt great and that I had good depth. I'm not worried that this will affect me.

I've only recently started with the second Soul Source size, but only for one or two sessions a day. I don't think I'll go much bigger than that as I tend to date guys of a leaner build.

Being as scrawny as I am, how much trouble will I have when it comes to depth and intercourse?

Hi Memento,

I'm not scrawny, but my depth is only 4.5 inches nine months post-op.  That's pretty much what my surgeon, Dr.McGinn, told me I would be the day after surgery. She said I had a lot of adhesions between my bladder and rectum that made it very risky to dissect any further.  One slip and it would have meant having a colostomy.

Just to note, my depth was measured at six inches the day I got the packing out.  As the swelling went down, so did my depth. 

Quote from: Rachel on May 05, 2018, 07:43:51 PM
Soul Source had 4 sized dilators:

1) 1.125 inches diameter
2) 1.25 inches diameter
3) 1.375 inches diameter
4) 1.5 inches diameter

It is important to maintain a schedule and measure your depth. I started with about 3.5 inches depth and have 5.25 inches now. Maintaining pressure is important when dilating. I was on #4 dilator at 4 or 5 weeks.

Everyone is different and have different physical proportions. Use your own judgement on dilating with the input from your doctor.

Truth. In my case, Dr. McGinn told me that I would not be able to dilate to gain depth.  There was simply no more room in there.

I was never able to do five times a day.  The best I ever did was four, and that didn't last long. It was just too grueling. When I went back to work five weeks later, that went down to three times a day.  When I was told I could cut back to three times a day at my six-month follow-up, I reduced my dilation schedule to 30 minutes twice a day.  I now dilate once a day for 30 minutes, using the purple (#1) and blue (#2) dilators for 15 minutes, and adding 10-15 minutes of the green one (#3) when I feel like it.

I can get around four inches of depth with the green dilator.  That would probably be enough for most guys, I hope. I guess it's going to have to be.  I used to stress about that, not having enough depth, but considering I don't even have a boyfriend, I decided it was silly to worry about it now. I was just making myself unhappy about an issue that didn't even exist yet.

With kindness,

Terri

Sorry I've been away for a while. It's been kind of rough the last few months and I'd been struggling with suicidal depression.

Anyway, I can make it to the second dot with the second dilator now, so that's quite a bit of progress. I've been using the third dilator too and can't quite get over its 'hump', but it's definitely widening the entrance, which has been one of my biggest issues.

I dilate 3-5 times a day for 45 minutes to an hour. Which is a lot more than the guide says but given all my troubles at the start, I think I need to make up for lost time. I am also a fan of taking it slow and steady because I bleed very easily. I start off pressing gently, then press increasingly hard as the pain subsides and it's worked quite well. I have an inconsistent work schedule, so I dilate whenever I can and it's incredibly erratic. But I *always* dilate at least 3 times a day. There's really nothing I can do about that.

One question with measuring depth. Do I measure it by just how many dots completely disappear topside or do I factor in the bottom too? Because with the gap at the entrance and how much the top recedes compared to the bottom, I could probably fit 5 inches. I'm sure that will go down if swelling does. Otherwise I have like 4.3 inches regularly.


Thank you for your responses, you've been a big help.

What surprises me the most is that how come the amount of dilatation varies from surgeon to surgeon so much? I mean most are PI technique...and still the amount of dilation varies so much?

I need to do 2 x 30 minutes and that´s it.

But I hear people doing 5 or even 6 times a day.

What causes this huge difference?

My surgeon ordered 4 times a day for 20 minutes for 3 weeks, then it drops to 3 per day, then 2, then 1 per day at 3 week intervals and then it's once a week unless it needs more. 

Personally I think the idea is to go a bit overboard to get people to actually do it.  My surgeon was really happy (almost to the point of surprise) to hear that I was sticking to the schedule like clockwork, and apparently a lot of his patients get lax with it and have problems.

At this point in time I should only be dilating 3 times a day, but it says for as long as I want. A few months ago, my surgeon seemed disappointed with my depth and it worried me a lot. I still have a lot of yellow and chunky discharge, but at least I'm not bleeding anymore. I just hope that means I'm healing and not a sign of necrosis. I've had like 3 different kinds of infection over my course of healing and numerous bleeding and tearing issues.

Necrosis usually has a pretty awful smell associated with it, so if you aren't getting that you should be OK.  I definitely had a bit of sloughing that came out as yellowish gooey stuff, and apparently that's normal.

I've got a lot of yellow gooey stuff, but also a pretty rank smell. I've pretty much given up getting rid of it, I just douche with some betadine every once in a while to keep it under control but the smell is here to stay.

if you have an odor after this long, you should have it checked out as you may have an infection. Engaging in sex might result in an odor however I have found that dilating as little as once a week is sufficient to prevent any smell from developing.

I had a hair that got into my vagina and it caused an odor. I went to Papillion and they removed the hair and problem solved.

I use a shower diverter to shoot into my vagina in the shower in the morning. Nothing extreme but enough to clean the first few inches.

I would consult your doctor about the odor and execration.

I use the soul source dilators. Just purple and orange now, 5 and 25 minutes a day. I am over 1.5 years post op.

I am at the 4th dot. I was at 4.5 but had an operation to finish my vagina and an inch or so was removed from the canal. I also had a lot of skin pushed into the vagina and canal from the outside in.  I have gained back 1/2 inch.

I measure the wetted area on the dilator at the dots. There is about an inch or 1.5 inches in addition outside the wetted area if you count the labia recess to the canal.

The reason Dr. McGinn stated 5 times a day for the first 3 months is because the most depth can be made in that time.

Ah, sorry. I should have mentioned my surgeon did confirm it was an infection on each occasion and prescribed me two different treatments. Betadine and some sort of gel. After using the gel it went away for about two weeks. The betadine just keeps it away for like a day. Maybe I'm not getting deep enough with the betadine? I sometimes position myself upside down to make sure it doesn't just flow right out the sides. I'll also try not adding water to the betadine to see if that leaves it strong enough.

If I'm not very deep at this point(4 months) does that mean it won't be possible to gain a decent depth or will it just take a lot more time and effort? I'll be pretty bummed if I had to choose between healing my mutilated v-shaped entrance and getting decent vaginal depth.

My surgeon stated 5 times a day for the first two months. I often doubled my dilation time and dilated 3 times a day to give my massive tear time to heal.

And one last question. How far apart do you dilate? Presently, on my days off I dilate up to 4-5 times a day, usually for an hour each time, while spreading them 1-2 hours apart. So, it's an all day affair. Days I come home from work, I dilate 2-3 times when I come home or once if I drop off my coworkers/work a super late shift and once again before work the next night.

Edit: Sorry, girls. If anything seems inconsistent, please just ask me to clarify. I'm really not mentally well and I'm having memory issues, migraines and barely sleep. Crap, I haven't even left my house for anything but work and groceries since surgery.

When I was dilating multiple times a day, I would try to space them out as evenly as possible. As your over two months out from surgery, I would suspect that 3 times a day should be enough but if you have questions about it, check with your doctor. After surgery I was so exhausted that I was only able to manage 2 times a day on work days but I would do 3 times a day on week ends. Fortunately it didn't cause any harm and I was able to maintain my full depth but it would be best to avoid the risk if possible.

The fact that your not getting enough sleep is troublesome. After surgery I needed a minimum of about 12 hours a sleep a day for a couple of months. If your having difficulty sleeping it might be a good idea to discuss this with your doctor. If therapy is unable to deal with the reason, possibly medication might help with your sleeping problem.

Thank you very much. I'm feeling a little more optimistic after some medicated rest. I think I'm really dilating fine, the biggest question is how much damage was done in the early months. I just want to prepare myself for the worst so I don't sink into a major depression if I learn I've messed up later on.

I'm going to see my surgeon(and maybe the physical therapist) this month, so I'll definitely ask her to check this stuff out.

Does anyone know how deep I should be at 4 months? And whether or not depth can be gained this far out?

My friend bought me some store brand Zzzquil knockoff, so that's been helping for now. I think recent events with my family have just brought up a lot of trauma and more or less made natural rest impossible. Might be time to get in touch with my therapist again.

My GCS surgeon mentioned she has seen patients re-gain with dilation later on but it's difficult and requires quite a bit more work compared to maintaining what's there.  After too much time elapses, gaining depth may become impossible.