Dilators

I have had dilators for years and never really knew how to use them i.e I would just use them as and when without much continuity. I used them for a time a few years ago to help me get over my vaginismus.  It did help.

However, in the last few months I have been using Amielle dilators everyday to stretch the muscles in the entrance of my vagina, when possible anyway.  As I have stage 4 endometriosis I am unable to do anything due to extreme pain except lay down during my period  and i’m normally still in pain after I have finished bleeding so I leave it a few days before using them again.

Amielle Care Set - Vaginal Dilators come in a pack with four different sizes. The ones I have are made from a cream coloured plastic and are conical in shape. They come with a handle (personally I don’t use the handle but each to their own) there’s also a brush to clean them with and a little bag to keep them in. I like these dilators they are smooth which makes them easy to insert and they always feel a little cool and that’s always good when your vulva feels like its auditioning for Londons burning! 

I started by using the smallest size dilator and popping a little YES lubricant on the end. The company YES, http://www.yesyesyes.org/ do a water based  lubricant and oil based lubricant which are certified organic. They do two different sizes, the smallest  sized bottles fit nicely in the bag with the dilators for easy use. I would then insert the dilator into my vagina for 5 minutes a day then take it out to wash ,  followed by putting an ice pack on my vulva for 7 minutes. I set a clock for this as my physio told me that the ice pack increases blood flow and healing to the area up to this time but after this time it starts to decrease blood flow. I have been using  Nexcare Coldhot Cold/Hot Comfort Pack Large which can be put in the freezer for use as an ice pack or popped in the microwave for a hot pack.  I always wrap the ice in something to prevent ice burn. I love the ice! It’s really helped take away any of the burning afterwards. For me it's better than using lidocaine.

Then each day I would do the same routine again with this size dilator but add 5 minutes more until I had reached up to an hour, at this point I moved it around and in and out. Once I had done this then I would move on to the next size and start the routine again. This is really working for me and now I am on the largest size, if you would have told me that at the start I wouldn’t have believed you.

So now my next size dilator is my partners willy! I’ve asked him if he minds me borrowing him, as if he is a dilator i.e. do the same as the above with him instead of the dilators. We can see the comedy value here, I think it makes the situation a bit easier to deal with. So this is my plan. Wish me luck, I’ll keep you all updated.

* A handy hint from a sex therapist, if you use the oil based YES lube on you both then you can also put the water based one on top for extra slide. 


I personally like the water based one as it seems cooler than the oil but this is a personal preference.So I have been putting that one on and the oil based one on my partner.   

August 2011 Diary

Today, I am sat in my night shirt, baggy maternity bottoms (I’m not pregnant!) in a Lily-Lou shaped spot in the corner of the sofa, it’s become shaped like that as I have spent so much time there. I’m having another bleed, the second this month, which is unusual.

I can always guarantee they come at the most inconvenient of times. I had my six year old niece staying with me for the first time, luckily the peak of my symptoms were when she was asleep on Saturday night. This would normally last longer but perhaps as this is a second bleed this is what’s made it different.  I am wanting to try for a baby, how do you cope with having children around and being in so much pain, I’m hoping getting pregnant will help my pain.

 I sent my niece out with my other half on Sunday with a fun mission so I could stay laying down. I plastered a smile on my face for her as I didn’t want to worry her which was ok as Sunday was her last day with us before my other half dropped her off. How do you deal with this when you have children around all of the time?

I suppose you cross that bridge if you are lucky enough to. I also have Vulvodynia and Vestibudynia so having sex poses a problem, one I have been working on for some time. (I’ll talk more about that in another post)

Anyway as I said it’s the second bleed of the month, the first came at day 15 of my cycle, the day before I‘d had pelvic physiotherapy and on my return home I picked up a CD my cousin had sent me months ago. It was a new perspectives CD on Women’s health, called ‘Activate your healing energy’ based on Neuro-linguistic Programming by Olive Hickmott, she has a website entitled www.empoweringhealth.co.uk. It is a very positive CD and I recommend it to everybody. It has made me think of my cycle in a different way. I always had negative thoughts and feelings about my pelvis as it has caused me so much pain and upset. The CD talks about the various stages of being a women and accepting being a women and what it is all there for. It really made me think of that area in a different more positive way. I really think it’s worth a listen to as it is just the cost of a CD, and no expensive treatment as you do the meditations yourself.

The following evening I had a big bleed, I felt I was having a clear out of my system. Maybe something to do with the CD or maybe just a big coincidence?? As I’ve said this has never happened to me before. I’ve only ever bled (spotting) during taking hormones or when I was on the Mirena coil. This however wasn’t spotting and I’m not taking any hormones.

I went to the hospital to get checked out but they were unable to say much except for me to think about having another laparoscopy and send me for one of the glorious trans-vaginal scans! The scanning doctor also couldn’t say much except that he thought I would bleed again and my left side seemed to be stuck together. I don’t want more surgery at the moment, I’ll just have to wait and see what happens next.

Useful Books

One of the best and most empowering things I have done is to read to understand my pain so thought I'd pass on the following books that I have found really helpful. Please let me know if you have any others you recommend or if you have read any of these with your opinions. I have started the list with Endometriosis, next section covers Vulva Pain then onto Pelvic/Vulva Physiotherapy. If you click on the picture of the books I have linked them to Amazon to make it easier for you if you wish to purchase any of them. Happy reading!!

Specifically for Endometriosis 

The best book on Endo I have read which I highly recommend you to read is 'Endometriosis, A key to healing and fertility through nutrition' by Dian Shepperson Mills & Michael Vernon. Dian has Endometriosis and is a nutritionist, she has manged to get her symptoms under control by changing her diet and taking supplements. Other people comment throughout the book on how the endo diet has helped them with their symptoms. The book is also written by Michael Vernon, he is a reproductive physiologist. The book talks in great detail about the body, how it works and what happens when you have Endometriosis.

This is the first book I read just after I was diagnosed with Endometriosis called 'Endometriosis, Natural & Medical Solutions by Kaz Cooke & Ruth Trickey' its an easy to read small book written with a sense of humor. Kaz Cooke has a history of Endometriosis and Ruth Trickey is a herbalist with a nursing and midwifery background. It made me feel better after my surgery as I took longer for the pain to calm down and heal than was suggested on the leaflet given to me at the hospital, they suggested this was normal. 


The second book I read was 'What to do when the doctor says it's Endometriosis by Thomas Lyons & Cheryl Kimball' this is written by a doctor Thomas Lyons based in the states but teaches worldwide his surgical techniques for endometriosis. 






Vulva Pain
'The camera my mother gave me by Susanna Kaysen'. Susanna is an author of novels but in this book she tells the intimate and sometimes humorous story of her struggle to find out why she is suffering vulva pain. I found it easy to read and could understand where she was coming from through some of her story. Good to hear straight from another sufferer. 






'A Headache in the pelvis by David Wise & Rodney Anderson'. David Wise suffered for 22 years with pelvic pain and dysfunction and is and has been symptom-free for years. It is a good read and explains about tense muscles in your pelvic floor but I personally have found Isa Herrera's (physiotherapist) book below easier to read and follow and in more depth than this book. 




'The Vulvodynia survival guide by Howard Glazer & Gae Rodke' is a good read and covers various aspects of living with Vulodynia.










Physiotherapy for Vulva & Pelvic Pain
Often in women with pelvic and/or vulva pain the pelvic floor muscles shorten due to being tight and connective tissue problems can occur which then create more pain. Physiotherapy can help you lengthen these muscles which then allows fresh blood and oxygen to enter the area and heal muscles and tissue.


Another book that I highly highly recommend is 'Ending female pain, A womens manual' by Isa Herrera. Isa is a physiotherapist based in New York where she runs Renew Physical Therapy. It is such an informative book, with diagrams of your pelvic musculature so you can see the layers of muscles and nerves. It is made up of various exercises you can do at home to reduce your pain and work towards getting rid of it altogether. There are pictures all the way through the book showing you what position to be in for the yoga/Pilates etc... I keep it by my bedside table and refer to it everyday.


The second physiotherapy book is 'Heal pelvic pain by Amy Stein'. Amy is also based in New York and runs Beyond Basics Physical Therapy. Again this is a really informative book, it doesn't have as many pictures as Isa's book but it does have an added section of Eat right for a healthy pelvic floor. Well worth a read.

Welcome Introduction

I am a creative in the visual sense but certainly not creative in the writing sense I'm afraid, so please bear with me. My mission or reason for doing a blog is to share information that I have found useful to try and recover my health and to hopefully hear from you what has helped you.


I have stage 4 Endometriosis which was diagnosed 7 years ago  - and I also have Vulvodynia/ Vestibulodynia which was diagnosed 11 years ago.


What is endometriosis? - Endometriosis is the name given to the condition where cells like the ones in the lining of the womb (uterus) are found elsewhere in the body.
Every month your body goes through hormonal changes. You naturally release hormones which cause the lining of the womb to increase in preparation for a fertilised egg. If pregnancy does not occur, this lining will break down and bleed. The blood is then released from your body as a period.

Endometriosis cells react in the same way – except that they are located outside your womb.  During your monthly cycle your hormones stimulate the endometriosis, causing it to grow, then break down and bleed. This internal bleeding, unlike a period, has no way of leaving the body. This leads to inflammation, pain, and the formation of scar tissue (adhesions).  

What is Vestibulodynia? - The pain experienced by women is hyper-sensitivity on light touch to the vestibule, such as during intercourse and the insertion of tampons. The degree of pain is variable. Some women have pain but are able to tolerate penetrative sex. For others any pressure to the vestibule area causes symptoms of soreness and tenderness including tight clothes and even light touch to the area. An excessive sensitivity of the nerve fibres and even, on occasions, overgrowth of the nerve fibres in the area is believed to be responsible for symptoms.

What is Vulvodynia? - This condition is a cause of vulval burning and soreness usually as a consequence of irritation or hypersensitivity of the nerve fibres in the vulval skin. The abnormal nerve fibre signals from the skin are felt as a sensation of pain by the woman. This type of pain can occur even when the area is not touched. Another example of nerve-type (neuropathic pain) like vulvodynia is the pain some people experience with an attack of shingles. Once the rash of shingles has disappeared the area of skin where the rash was can be intensely painful and sore despite the skin appearing normal. The condition is called post-hepatic neuralgia.