Post-Procedure Dilating and Menses

[Heather34]

Hi ladies. A very common question that arises post-procedure is – should I dilate while on my period. I personally remember dreading my first period post-procedure as I didn’t dilate and then thought that because I didn’t, I would never be able to again. There are a series of posts that discuss this that are very helpful:

Patient 1:
“Are we supposed to dilate while on our cycle? It just seems like it would be kind of gross? Adversely, if we don’t, then we skip almost a full week of dilating. I’m open to all advice, comments, and suggestions.”

Patient 2:
“That’s a great question and I’m sure a very common one. For me personally, I skipped dilating during the first 3 days of my cycle and then resumed dilating during my last 2 days. In the beginning, I was so afraid that if I skipped any amount of time with the dilators, then I would never be able to dilate again. This wasn’t the case at all. Again, in the beginning, if it ever felt a little tightness dilating after my period, I would begin with purple and work my way up to blue. I also used a lot of lubricant.”

Patient 3:
“I had my cycle only 2 weeks after having procedure. However my periods are very heavy and I didn’t want to dilate. Normally my cycle last a full 6-7 days I as able to dilate after the 4th day. I didn’t seem to have much trouble with reinserting it after waiting 4 days.”

Patient 4:
“I started my menstrual on Day 12 Post Procedure and I decided not to dilate for the first 3 days because I have such a heavy flow. I was a little nervous about stopping because I was dilating everyday faithfully and wanted to continue with my progress. Fortunately, everything was fine when I started dilating again when my flow was a lot lighter. I started with the smaller blue silicone, which I had never even used before but I wanted to make sure that I had no pain (which I didn’t it was more anxiety than anything else). The small blue went in so quickly I forgot that I was dilating. I was nervous that I was not going to angle it right since I had not dilated in 3 whole days. It was really funny because I try to think about something else when dilating and when I got the thought in my head it was completely in!!! I had to laugh at how anxious I was about the procedure and how my body reacted to dilating again. Like I said before “I need to catch up emotionally to where I am physically.” I was able to dilate back up to the pink with no problem. Now I am on to conquering Mr. Blue and making penile penetration possible!”

Finally, Dr. Pacik has posted on the question of whether you should dilate on your menstrual cycle:

“It depends on how heavy the cycle is. For lighter cycles some dilation is possible, for heavier cycles skip the first few days. Even 5-10 minutes is valuable. This however is an excellent time to use a tampon. This is another form of penetration which most of my patients have been unable to use. Dr. Pacik”

[Becca]

I went searching through the Forum for something related to periods and dilating. 🙂 I should be starting my period (the first one post procedure) any day now. For the first time in my life, I am excited for my period to be here! I am getting a little drained and sore from dilating and am looking forward to a little “mini break”. My first two days of my period are usually pretty heavy, so I don’t plan to dilate those two day anyways. I have read that others have still been able to dilate again after their periods, so I’m not too worried about missing the two days.

Also, the last two nights I have woken up to sharp, stabbing pain in my vaginal area – I’m assuming caused by my dilators somehow. The first night I was sleeping with the #5 and last night was the #4, and both times I could not get comfortable again and had to take it out. I am really not sure what could be causing it but was wondering if the vaginal area might be more sensitive since I am close to starting my period? I have heard some friends say they have noticed more sensitivity around that time, so just curious if that may be what’s going on for me? Has anyone else experienced this?

[Heather34]

Hi Becca. I have always felt much more sensitivity with dilating and intercourse in the day immediately prior to my period and a day or 2 afterwards and then this goes away. I never dilated and I do not currently have sex on my period b/c it is very heavy but, again, in the days near it, I always experience a lot of increased sensitivity.

I also wanted to share the following thread concerning “Dilating while on period” which also describes this sensitivity for others:

http://www.vaginismusmd.com/vaginismus-md-forum/?mingleforumaction=viewtopic&t=108

Sending hugs!!!