Hi ladies. There is an excellent new blog up today that discusses vaginismus treatment for the couple:
http://www.vaginismusmd.com/vaginismus-treatment-for-the-couple/
Specifically, regarding dilating as a couple, excerpts include:
“[W]hen I woke up from the procedure and began to remove the dilator and re-insert it (pain-free), I was so shy and apprehensive about doing this with him there as well. One of the recovery room nurses, Andrea, talked to me and explained that it was very important to have him remain while I practiced dilating as vaginismus is something that we were working on overcoming as a team and together. I really listened to her and allowed him to stay right by my side and it was such an important decision. By allowing him to witness me inserting, removing, and re-inserting all of the sized dilators and by him even helping me to do this, I began to trust him so much more and he could see, for the very first time, that something was inside of me and could be entirely pain-free. It helped us both tremendously and also brought us that much closer together. If you’re nervous about involving your partner, as I was, I can’t stress enough how important this part of the treatment is and how much it helps to have their support and assistance throughout.”
Ladies, involving my husband with dilating was a very important aspect of this treatment for me. For the veterans, did you also involve your husband/partner in the dilating part of the program? If so, in what ways (i.e. keeping track of the time you were dilating, placing his hand over yours while dilating, or even assisting you in the process of dilating himself)? What is your advice to future patients regarding your husband/partner’s involvement with dilating?
