I've seen all kinds of myths, fearmongering and general stupidity regarding male to female neo-vaginas, the surgery, the outcome, function, etc. Well, I'll address these memes and disinformation here and update it if I come up with new issues to address or hear some new dumb statements from people who talk out of their rears.
-Pubic hair grows inside the vagina and makes hairballs-
I see the hairball meme all the damn time. It's not true. That is unless the patient went to a sub-par surgeon, never received a hair removal procedure on their genital prior to surgery and the surgeon does not surgically scrape off the follicles in the skin used to create the vaginal canal so hair never grows back. You see, transsexuals undergoing SRS get hair removal, often laser hair removal or electrolysis on the skin on and around the genital area to kill the hair follicles. Hair doesn't grow anymore. This is often compounded by the surgeons themselves during the surgery taking the tissue used to build the vagina and using a scalpel to skin off the hair follicles. This prevents any survivors of the hair removal treatments from ever growing back ever again. It is physically impossible to grow hair inside the vaginal canal if these procedures were done. Transsexuals getting SRS should ask about hair removal with their surgeon, otherwise, yes, you might grow a bush inside your vagina. And that is friggin' gross.
-It's an open wound that bleeds, pusses and gets infected-
Yes and no. It's a surgical site. Your genitalia have just been disassembled and reassembled in a completely new shape. Yeah, it's got cuts, incisions, sutures, bleeding, bruising, swelling, pain, maybe puss, scabs and everything else associated with a healing wound. It even comes with the typical risks of any surgical procedure: infection and even necrosis. For the vast majority of transsexuals who undergo SRS, they do not encounter such complications. The healing process takes approximately three to four weeks. At this point your incisions and sutures should be healed and the stitching dissolving and falling out as it should. There is no more bleeding. There is no puss. There is no infection. If you have excessive bleeding or continuous bleeding passed one month post-op, you should contact your doctor, surgeon or go to the emergency room immediately. If you have signs of infection, you should contact your surgeon or go to the ER immediately. After three to four weeks, it is fully healed skin. The vaginal canal they constructed is also fully healed. It is no longer an "open wound".
-Dilation takes hours a day for the rest of your life to stop the wound from healing-
At first, yes. The vaginal canal the surgeons built is not the same as a real vagina and therefore does not have a lot of the necessary natural features that keep a female's vagina from shrinking or sealing shut. Dilation is necessary on a daily basis for the first year or so after surgery. It can take upwards of three or four times a day, for 30 minutes each time to help maintain the vaginal canal's depth and girth. Over a period of several months, this procedure ramps up from once a day to twice to three or four times and back down to twice and then once a day. Typically by one year post op, most transsexuals will be dilating once or so a week. Dilation becomes necessary once a week for 20 to 30 minutes for the remainder of your life. Is it to stop the wound from healing? No. The internal pressures from your organs and muscles squeeze on the neo-vagina, causing the tissues to smush in. If not dilated, the tissue used to build the vagina will begin to atrophy, basically it gets shorter and tighter. Eventually it would atrophy to the point of no longer being sexually usable or even recoverable via dilation, which would necessitate surgery all over again. Dilation simply keeps the canal open and deep. Over that first year period, the body adjusts to the canal's and the rate of atrophy is significantly reduced. For those with a sex life, dilation may be entirely unnecessary after a year. The act of having sex on a frequent basis doubles as dilation. The rule is simply put: use it or lose it. Addressing pain, no, dilation is not painful forever. The first few weeks of dilation can be hard, especially the first one or two. Pain medication is already necessary as you're healing, so dilation shouldn't be THAT bad, but it is tight, sore and uncomfortable. Dilation should be painless by week three or week four.
-It smells like rotting flesh, feces or other putrid scents-
False. The neo-vagina will smell like nothing, or smell like any other part of the body. It is up to the individual to maintain hygiene standards. Anyone who fails to take showers is going to start to smell. Maintaining good hygiene is important to the healing process anyway. If the vagina does have a strong odor, like in actual women, transsexuals can be prone to infections such as vaginosis, which is notable for the vaginal odor it produces. A normal healthy post-op vagina is largely scentless like any other body part that is clean. There is no rot. There is no smell of feces. If there is rot or necrosis, you should go to the ER immediately. If there is a smell, you might want to go see your doctor. Bacterial Vaginosis is a possibility. Vaginosis infection is particularly higher risk for most post-op transwomen due to the way most post-op vaginas are constructed. Real vaginal canals are a moist excreting membrane. This moisture allows for a particular growth and balance of healthy human bacterial flora to exist. Some of these bacterium are purposed for maintaining vaginal health and reducing the risk of infections. In women with a micro-flora imbalance, they can develop infections such as vaginosis. Transsexual vaginas do not typically have a naturally lubricating moist membrane... not until recently. As a result, transwomen do in fact develop much of the same normal vaginal bacterial micro-flora, however the lack of a proper vaginal environment results in higher risks of infections like vaginosis. The peritoneal graft method of SRS I received provides SRS patients with a naturally moist excreting membrane in the vagina, which may change this. Because the peritoneal method is a recent development, research into how vaginal bacterial micro-flora develop in peritoneal vaginas does not exist. I would assume because the environment has the proper moisture necessary for certain bacterium to grow would allow for a better balance and reduce risks of infections like vaginosis. Sciencey stuff aside, no, post-op vaginas don't smell like rotting death.
-They use colon tissue to make the vagina, so it smells like feces and leaks anal fluids-
The use of colon grafts to create neo-vaginas is an uncommon form of SRS today. Rectosigmoid Vaginoplasty involves to taking of a chunk of the large intestine, also known as the colon, to create a naturally lubricated, moist vaginal canal in transsexuals. The problem with this method is the type of tissue is a mucus membrane. It secretes fluids to help with digestion and moving fecal matter along into the rectum. As the result, these fluids can have a bit of a scent to them and are prone to developing bacterial flora commonly found in the rectum and colon. Because it is an excreting membrane, it constantly produces fluids, which throughout the course of the day, leak. This is the same with the peritoneal graft I received. It too continuously produces peritoneal fluids, although scentless, as self lubrication, resulting in gradual leakage. This necessitates the use of a panty liner to absorb the fluids. The colon graft method of SRS is uncommon in the U.S. and most Western countries. Most surgeons avoid doing these procedures but many do offer the option, usually as a last resort in patients who require vaginal reconstruction after the first surgery suffered severe complications or in cases of patients with micro-penises. Does it smell like poop though? No. Most transsexuals receive a generic penile inversion. The entire vaginal canal is constructed out of the same skin as the penis and part of the scrotum, which is incapable of excreting any fluids.
-Post-op transsexuals cannot orgasm-
I've seen this around a number of times. Oh, yes we can. Really it comes down to the surgeon's skills and potential for complications affecting the nerve endings. Nerve damage can result in numbness or loss of sensation. In the case of the colon graft method mentioned above, the colon has no pleasure sensation. For most transwomen, the surgeons construct the external female genitalia (vulva) and the internal vaginal canal. The clitoris is often fully functional with pleasure sensation and with work, can achieve clitoral orgasm. Part of the penile tissue used in SRS also contains pleasure nerve endings, allowing for penetrative vaginal orgasm. The prostate is also often left in place or moved during the surgery, creating a third spot for sexual pleasure than can induce orgasm with stimulation. Basically we usually have three points of stimulation to induce orgasms. Because I am only two months post-op at the time of writing this, I am limited in my sexual activities. However, I am capable of achieving clitoral orgasm with ease using a vibrator. I've tested the interior for sensation by inserting a dilator and holding my vibrator against it to make the dilator vibrate inside me. My vaginal canal has pleasure sensation and the vibration feels good, but I do not know what I am capable of at this time. Surgeons who do excellent functional work can allow their patients to experience powerful orgasms.
-Post-op transsexuals cannot cum-
Most surgeons leave the prostate intact during the surgery. It's really the only part of the male genitalia left behind and functional. Cum is made up of a number of things. Primarily the sperm cells and some fluids are produced by the testicles and additional fluids from seminal vesicles. While on hormone replacement therapy (HRT), most transwomen's testicles cease functioning which results in infertility. We no longer produce sperm. However the prostate also produces a sizable portion of male ejaculate and this does not stop producing fluids even while on HRT or after an orchiectomy (the surgical removal of the testicles). The prostate produces approximately 0.6mL to 1.5mL of fluids in a healthy male. Post HRT, the production of fluids is decreased, but still present. If you can still cum fluids after long-term HRT use, you will be able to cum fluids after surgery too. Before surgery the amount of cum that came out of me when ejaculating seemed to vary based on how aroused I was at the time. Sometimes a good amount would come out, sometimes very little or almost none. Post-op, I have had only one orgasm so far where I leaked fluids. Because we no longer possess a penis and the muscles and erectile tissue needed to pump and shoot semen, post-op the fluids simply drool out from the urethra instead.
To be expanded...
No comments:
Post a Comment