Dilators needed? Buy here & How to use!

[Guest guest]

HI all,

Here's a site I sometimes send on for those who might be interested in purchasing dilators which may be needed to restretch and retrain those muscles & gently stretch the skin. If the skin is affected I'd suggest using them only 'after' the skin has been nourished & fed with the Estrogen or Estrace cream and has regained it's stretchability. Just like a rotted rubberband loses it's elasticity if stretched too far and will rip or snap apart, it's the same with our skin and can cause more tears, rips, fissures, etc. if it's lost it's elasticity.

If it's for vaginismus, they can be used without that concern.

I see they're having a sale right now for 4 of them graduated sizes priced for the set for $44.95 plus S & H and can be autoclaved. (that's a good price from what I've seen) Hope it helps for those who may need one or more.

http://www.vaginismus.com/products/dilator_set/

And below I've added a clip from a long article by Dr.H. Haefner, the director of the Center for Vulvar Diseases, University of Michigan Medical Center.

Dee~

HOW TO USE VAGINAL DILATORS

Pain with sexual activity can cause some reflexive tension in pelvic muscles. Anticipating that an activity may be painful can cause muscles to tense voluntarily or involuntarily, as a way to be self-protective. Sometimes a woman can benefit from learning more about how to gain voluntary control over the pelvic muscles. At times, vaginal dilators may be recommended.

Vaginal dilators are cylinders, rounded at the end, which come in various sizes. The dilator is inserted into the vagina in the privacy of your home – to help stretch and relax the vaginal muscles. The smallest dilator is about the diameter of a tampon. Dilators will be provided for you in the recommended sizes, with discussion about how to use them. These instructions can be used for reference in between clinic visits.

You may want to keep this handout with you when you are first using dilators. Various types of dilators are available. The most common is made of white, smooth, hard plastic. At the Vulvar Clinic, we also have foam tubing that you can shape and use with a condom.

Getting ready to use dilators. Select a time and place when you can have privacy to do dilator therapy. Many women elect to use their bedroom, and to use dilators while lying down. Plan for about 10 to 15 minutes a day, four to five times a week. If this seems like too often or too long, start with what you feel comfortable with. But do start! We want you to be successful, and this will require repetition.

What you’ll need. At first you may benefit from using a mirror in order to see the vulva and vaginal opening. Locate the labia and clitoris as well as the opening to your vagina. You will need the dilator, and lubrication. Lubrication can be purchased in any drug store. Lubrication products are located in the same area as birth control items and condoms. Use a water based product rather than petroleum jelly. Many women like Astroglide. KY Jelly and Surgilube are also preferred products. You can also use vegetable oil.

Beginning with dilators. Use a small amount of lubrication on the dilator. Tense and relax the pelvic floor muscles a few times. When you are in the "relax" phase of the exercise, insert the prescribed dilator. Some women find it helpful to push against the dilator, as if they were attempting to expel it. Notice your breathing. If you are tense and breathing is shallow, stop and attend to the tension before you proceed. Insert the dilator about two inches or so.

You may be able to insert the dilator further. The pelvic muscles which tend to tense up are about an inch or so inside the vaginal opening, so the goal of this therapy is not how far you can insert the dilator, but what is happening to the muscles when you insert.

If you have pain, stop. Dilator therapy won’t be effective if you are in pain. Check with the health care provider supervising your dilator therapy. If you are feeling a physical tension, and you want to see if you can proceed with the dilator and learn some relaxation of that muscle, go ahead, but stop if there is pain.

Leave the dilator in place for 10 minutes or so. You may want to catch up on a little reading during these minutes. Remove the dilator. (no in-out movement, dt)

Changing dilator sizes. When you can effortlessly insert the dilator, it may be time to move to a larger size. Follow the steps above. At first use the dilator that you have become accustomed to. Then after a few minutes remove this dilator and use the next size. Again, stop if you have pain.

Care of dilators. Dilators do not need any special treatment. They can be cleaned with soap and water, making sure they are rinsed thoroughly.

Kegel exercises. Kegel exercises can help you gain voluntary control over pelvic muscles. When you are urinating, contract your pelvic muscles to start and stop the stream of urine. The goal of Kegel exercises is not to tense the muscles, but to learn to relax them. When you are contracting the pelvic muscles, you are tensing them. When you stop the contracting, push slightly as if you were attempting to expel urine or a tampon.

This is part of the relaxation of the pelvic muscles. Pay particular attention to this relaxation aspect. These exercises should be repeated several times a day, and they can be helpful to strengthen the pelvic floor. Since the pelvic floor muscles are also involved in orgasmic pleasure, you may also be able to enhance orgasm.

Other helpful exercises. You can locate the trouble spots that muscle tension and spasms can cause. If you are lying on your back, the problem spot most often reported is the lower part of the vaginal opening—nearest the perineum (the area between the vaginal opening and the anal opening).

You may use a thumb or finger to gently massage the muscle to see if it responds to your attempts to relax. Some women have found it effective to "work" the pelvic floor muscles while they are taking a shower. They put a foot up on the side of the tub, use a little bit of lubrication (which is slipperier than water) on their fingers, and again locate the muscle and massage it gently.

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

Since Dee posted the link about vaginal dialators, I thought I'd post something that I was told about them in the past by Dr Glazer. He is a firm believer that dialators do not work for enabling pain-free intercourse, if that's why you're using them.

Often times he's found that women are able to insert the dialators without pain because they practice with them so much, but still cannot have sex because -- even when the size is similar to the largest dialator (though often the dialators are much smaller than the "real thing") -- the shape, texture, etc of the dialator are also things you get used-to and sex is still painful.

Instead, he reccomended using your finger and when you could insert that, two fingers. Then, when you are able he reccomends using silicone dildos that are available in different sizes and slowly working-up with them to the size you need.

In particular, he reccomended this product: (I warn, in advance, that this is a link to an adult site. Do not click if you are offended by such things. Also, it is generally not worksafe.) http://evesgarden.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=100_3 & products_id=237

I ordered the smallest one, which he said was really small. It arrived and good lord, I thought it was *huge* and there was no freaking way that thing was going to get inside of me. However, eventually (and it did take a while!), I was able to use the Medium-sized one nearly pain-free! I bought the next size-up but I never quite worked-up to it.

It was around this time that I was actually able to have intercourse with my boyfriend, while not on my period, and have it be a tolerable level of pain. I admit, I can't say it was pleasurable, but it was actually tolerable, as opposed to excrutiating.

This is *not* instead-of other treatments. (I was also doing biofeedback at the time). This is just something to consider instead of the vaginal dialators, if you are thinking of using them.

~~

[Guest guest]

My PT who only takes women with sexual problems (except for my

case) does not recommend them either and says to use fingers also. I was there

for PT one day and I was asking her what she did and how she helped women and

that is what she told me. The only reason she doesn’t take women with

pelvic dysfunction that takes a lot of skin rolling (like myself) is that she

has developed carpel tunnel and can’t use her hands for that long of time

that it takes for skin rolling.

nne

From:

VulvarDisorders [mailto:VulvarDisorders ] On

Behalf Of

Sent: Friday, May 23, 2008 12:53 PM

To: VulvarDisorders

Subject: Re: Dilators needed? Buy here & How to use!

Dear

All,

Since

Dee posted the link about vaginal dialators, I thought I'd post something that

I was told about them in the past by Dr Glazer. He is a firm believer

that dialators do not work for enabling pain-free intercourse, if that's why

you're using them.

Often

times he's found that women are able to insert the dialators without pain

because they practice with them so much, but still cannot have sex because --

even when the size is similar to the largest dialator (though often the

dialators are much smaller than the " real thing " ) -- the shape,

texture, etc of the dialator are also things you get used-to and sex is still

painful.

Instead,

he reccomended using your finger and when you could insert that, two

fingers. Then, when you are able he reccomends using silicone dildos that

are available in different sizes and slowly working-up with them to the size

you need.

In

particular, he reccomended this product: (I

warn, in advance, that this is a link to an adult site. Do not click if

you are offended by such things. Also, it is generally not worksafe.) http://evesgarden.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=100_3 & products_id=237

I

ordered the smallest one, which he said was really small. It arrived and

good lord, I thought it was *huge* and there was no freaking way that thing was

going to get inside of me. However, eventually (and it did take a

while!), I was able to use the Medium-sized one nearly pain-free! I

bought the next size-up but I never quite worked-up to it.

It

was around this time that I was actually able to have intercourse with my

boyfriend, while not on my period, and have it be a tolerable level of

pain. I admit, I can't say it was pleasurable, but it was actually

tolerable, as opposed to excrutiating.

This

is *not* instead-of other treatments. (I was also doing biofeedback at

the time). This is just something to consider instead of the vaginal

dialators, if you are thinking of using them.

~~