Vaginally stenosis

kimmy7589
kimmy7589 Member Posts: 2
in Anal Cancer #1

No one has talked about vaginal stenosis which is scar tissue from the radiation. This made any kind of penetration painful. My radiologist gave me vaginal dilators in different sizes.

Comments

  • b3strong
    b3strong Member Posts: 5
    #2

    This is a very common side effect of the Nigro treatment for anal cancer. All of the women I know with anal cancer had this outcome, including me in 2012. (We were a part of the Blog For A Cure anal cancer blog which retired a few years back.) The younger you are, if you use the dilators, then it seems stenosis marginally improves over time or may be resolved altogether for some. I was 56 at the time and could not bring myself to use the dilators enough to improve the situation. I opted to go with ThermiVa vaginal rejuvenation from my GYN about 10 months after the end of chemo-radiation which gave me significant improvement. And, I think the younger you are the more ThermiVa helps. Downside is ThermiVa is pricey. I really wish insurance companies would come on board and cover vaginal rejuvenation as part of recovery costs. By the way, if they gave you the hard wax dilators in 3 sizes, know that there are better alternatives (e.g. the Milli dilator). Good luck to you and I hope you have a speedy recovery.

  • mis714
    mis714 CSN Member Posts: 3
    #3

    Have the same problem :( im trying dilator as well. Wen I went gyno she said basically 'if u don't use it...ya lose it' and said to keep trying. It does hurt but getting lil better. I broke up w bf in 2023 but haven't sex since 2022. Which is Not like me at all. It's very disheartening. But ya gotta stay positive n keep stretching. I went to pt for pelvic floor therapy and it taught me abunch of exercises....look into it

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