What's under the hood

[KathyLauren]

(Pun intended in the title.) 

I found my clitoris!  Okay, that may not sound like big news, but it is for me.  It's a part of the female anatomy that I was not very familiar with. 

 

I kind of knew roughly where it was supposed to be, and I could tell it was there, because it hurt when it got aroused.  Which happened a lot, because it was trapped under the clitoral hood.  The sensation was like having an erection while wearing a gaff that was too tight.

 

According to the written instructions from my surgeon, I was supposed to start "exploring" it at about week 8.  I had actually emailed my surgeon's office to ask if it there was a problem, because it had become so uncomfortable.  But they only have one nurse on duty during the shutdown, who answers emails once a week.  I got back a generic "keep exploring" response that was not particularly helpful. 

 

After googling up various poorly-drawn diagrams, and photographs that didn't correspond to what I could (or couldn't) see, I finally came across some "explore your clitoris" instructions for cis women.  Turns out you are supposed to pull the inner labia out and up.  And there it is!  Doing that has un-trapped it, and it is no longer uncomfortable.  Yay!  I intend to take it for a test drive soon.

 

My reason for posting is that many of us are mostly asexual, and do not have a lot of experience with this particular part of the female anatomy.  I wish I had known this a month or more ago.

[KathyLauren]

1 hour ago, Suzanne1 said:

Interesting post.  Never thought that sort of exploration. 

 

Always assumed that if climax is is attainable, all is well & as it should be.

 

[Reminds me of a story I once heard about an American Tourist at a formal dinner in Scotland.  The host was properly dressed in a kilt, and during after-dinner conversation the tourist inquired of her host about what was worn underneath.  The host huffed up and stated, "Madam, I assure you that nothing is worn; everything is functioning as it should." ?]

 

Pain is a strong motivator.  I had to find out why it hurt.

[Emily michelle]

I’m glad you were able to find it and now you can start enjoying it. Hopefully one day I will be able to do the same.

[KathyLauren]

Well, it is two months since I started this thread.  I spoke too soon.  The problem briefly got better, but it's been back for a while.  No thoughts of having fun with it, because it still hurts too much.

 

I had an appointment with my doctor today to discuss this and a couple of other problems: I still have a lot of swelling in my labia and the area between my vulva and my anus; and my urethra seems to be aimed in the wrong direction.

 

The bottom line is that she can't see anything obviously wrong.  This is good news.  With my limited knowledge of the anatomy that the surgery was trying to reproduce, I worried that something might have been assembled wrong.  But, no, everything looks fine.

 

She sees some swelling, but it doesn't look out of the normal range.  She figures that I just heal slower than most.

 

She can't really tell much about the urethra just by looking at it.  When I pee, my clitoris gets a power-wash, and it sprays everywhere.  That ain't right.  So she is going to refer me to a urologist who has experience with trans women.  It could be months before I get an appointment, but at least it is progress.

 

For the clitoris, she thinks things might just be a bit tight in there.  She is prescribing a topical estrogen cream in the hope that it will loosen it up.

 

So, there is some small progress.  My wife will be happy when I can walk far enough to walk the dog.

[Jani]

I'm sorry to hear you are still having issues.  It will take all the swelling to go down before your urine stream will settle down.  That's good you've gotten referral to a specialist.  Be careful about taking too long of walks until things settle down more. 

 

Jani