G Anaesthesia

[Hope]

Hi Heather,

vaginisumus can be always treated under G.A for botox procedure ?

or local anaesthesia could also help for severe vaginisumus patients?

[Aimee Goldman, RWHNP]

Hi Twinkle
When treating patients for severe vaginismus we use conscious sedation for our botox procedure. Conscious sedation allows the patient to be put to sleep without having to intubate.
We find that conscious sedation is extremely useful for women who can not tolerate a gynecology exam.
After the patient is asleep we then inject a local or topical anesthetic into the vaginal walls. We then massage the introital muscles to ease any muscle spasms.
Next we inject the botox. The anesthesia and massage allow the muscles to relax so that a large dilator can be inserted.
So to answer your question we use a combination of two different types of anesthesia. Conscious sedation is similar to general anesthesia. We also use topical or local anesthesia as well.

[Helen Leff, LCSW]

It’s understandable to feel anxious about anesthesia when undergoing a procedure. Having information and getting your questions out there and answered generally allays fears and builds trust and confidence. The forum is a safe place to ask questions and share information. Thanks for joining the forum.

[Heather34]

Hi Twinkle. I was super nervous about being under anesthesia pre-procedure. To help with this, I talked and listened to Dr. Pacik and Ellen explain the incredible safety of this and I trusted them completely. I also had my hubby right there with me and he assured me it would be fine. But, like anything, the number one thing that helped was actually doing it and then waking up completely fine. This was my best evidence that the anesthesia was safe. Without being under anesthesia, I don’t believe the procedure would’ve worked at all. At my one past attempt at a gynecological exam, I had such high anxiety that I almost passed out and could not even let the doctor near me (felt like jumping off the table, legs tightly involuntary closed, extreme dizziness). By being under anesthesia for this procedure and waking up with a dilator in place, for the first time I mentally knew something could be inside of me pain-free. Thereafter, I got used to this and it entirely changed my way of thinking and very soon after, my husband and I were able to make love. Again, I don’t believe this would’ve been possible based on my extreme level of anxiety without being under anesthesia for this procedure.

[recessivegenequeen]

I second what Heather said – going under anesthesia was a scary part of the procedure, but there was no way I could have tackled my vaginismus without it. The power to be taken out of my own mind made it so much easier to understand what I was capable of and that I just had to put in the work to be ready for intercourse. Getting through vaginismus requires facing a lot of fears, but it leaves us stronger when we’re done!