How can I overcome if I’m terrified of even the thought of dilators?
I was absolutely terrified of every aspect of dilating prior to my procedure with Dr. Pacik. In fact, because of this fear, I almost asked my husband to turn around on our trip up to NH. Until I went through with it, I just could never envision being successful with the dilators as I had never been able to even insert a q-tip. I couldn’t have been more wrong and was able to successfully dilate post-procedure. What helped me so much personally was waking up with the dilator in place and, later, being able to insert as I did not experience the normal wall of resistance that I always had as the Botox took effect.
Dr. Pacik addresses this very question as well and writes:
“Most women with severe vaginismus and severe painful sex are unable to use dilators on their own. During the treatment with Botox under anesthesia, a long acting anesthetic is injected so that the entire vagina is numbed for about eight to twelve hours. By the time the patient returns the next morning, having maintained a dilator for 24 hours, the vaginal muscles are sufficiently stretched that dilation to the larger dilators is easy and not painful. During this time a topical anesthetic is used to coat the dilator and this adds to the comfort of post procedure dilation. Later, patients are able to continue their dilation program easily without the need for topical anesthesia.”
