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I just wanted to share my story of my vestibulectomy surgery. I read a very good post by Amy before I had mine done. I had a different experience so I thought it might be good to have two different perspectives for those considering this surgery to read. I have to caution that I had extensive incisions as far as depth and length as my "damaged" tissue area was large. Many women have a more conservative surgery with excellent results. Also, my doctor diagnosed me with vulvadynia, not VV, but he has had success with this surgery for both conditions. Some doctors will not do this surgery for patients with vulvadynia only.I also had little discomfort with intercourse but would be in horrible pain by about 4 hours later. Every case is different as can be seen in the difference in Amy's and my experiences.
I had my surgery on March 6, 2007. I did not have any pain when I woke up in recovery as my doctor does local blocks to help with the first 24-36 hours of pain. I also kept an ice pack on the area for the first 2 days to help the swelling and bruising. I was very swollen but that is normal. I also had moderate bleeding for about three days and then it slowed down. Another very normal occurance as the area has a lot of blood flow. I took two vicodin for the ride home and was fine. I also had been given zofran while asleep in surgery and I didn't have any nausea or vomiting.
After about a day and half the blocks wore off and I started having a lot of pain. I took an extra strength vicodin every three hours. I used the ice pack also until 48 hours were up. I then started doing a sitz bath every 3-4 hours (the hospital forgot to give me mine so I got one from a local medical supply store). The vicodin didn't really start helping until about the 4th day. At the end of the week I was still having to take the vicodin every 3 hours. My doctor took me off work for another week.
I was not having any pain walking or standing after the second week but sitting was still uncomfortable. Putting a small pillow in the chair helped a lot with sitting comfortably. My first week back to work I did 8 hour shifts instead of my normal 12 hours. This worked well as I was down to one vicoding every 6-8 hours. By the end of 4 weeks I was only having a little discomfort in the very tip of the side incisions. By six weeks I was having no pain at all. On exam my vulvadynia score was zero compared to the normal 20+'s I had over the last year.
I think that my doctor's skill and experience at this surgery have a big role in my success. I would not want an inexperienced doctor doing this type of surgery, for sure. I am grateful for his very gentle encouragement to have this done. I was not expecting total relief of pain so am very amazed at my results. I would definitly do this again.
I had my surgery on March 6, 2007. I did not have any pain when I woke up in recovery as my doctor does local blocks to help with the first 24-36 hours of pain. I also kept an ice pack on the area for the first 2 days to help the swelling and bruising. I was very swollen but that is normal. I also had moderate bleeding for about three days and then it slowed down. Another very normal occurance as the area has a lot of blood flow. I took two vicodin for the ride home and was fine. I also had been given zofran while asleep in surgery and I didn't have any nausea or vomiting.
After about a day and half the blocks wore off and I started having a lot of pain. I took an extra strength vicodin every three hours. I used the ice pack also until 48 hours were up. I then started doing a sitz bath every 3-4 hours (the hospital forgot to give me mine so I got one from a local medical supply store). The vicodin didn't really start helping until about the 4th day. At the end of the week I was still having to take the vicodin every 3 hours. My doctor took me off work for another week.
I was not having any pain walking or standing after the second week but sitting was still uncomfortable. Putting a small pillow in the chair helped a lot with sitting comfortably. My first week back to work I did 8 hour shifts instead of my normal 12 hours. This worked well as I was down to one vicoding every 6-8 hours. By the end of 4 weeks I was only having a little discomfort in the very tip of the side incisions. By six weeks I was having no pain at all. On exam my vulvadynia score was zero compared to the normal 20+'s I had over the last year.
I think that my doctor's skill and experience at this surgery have a big role in my success. I would not want an inexperienced doctor doing this type of surgery, for sure. I am grateful for his very gentle encouragement to have this done. I was not expecting total relief of pain so am very amazed at my results. I would definitly do this again.
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