Electrolysis while erect

[Dana Michelle]

This might be a TMI topic for some. I will probably start genital electrolysis soon and am worried about getting erections during the treatment. I get erect when having genital exams at the doctor, but that lasts less than a minute, so I don't become fully erect until after my pants are back up. My concern is if this could offend the electrologist, or seem like being flipped off so to speak. I've also worried about offending doctors but it seems less likely since I was only partially erect while my pants were down. I know the pain could make it less likely to happen during electrolysis but I won't know for sure until it happens. Does anyone know if it is normal for this to happen either at the doctor or electrologist?  Does anyone know if they get offended when it happens?

Another concern is that I will have a video visit with the surgeon for vaginoplasty and the surgeon may have to examine my genitals to see the distribution of hair to determine which areas should be treated. I expect this to mean I will either have to show my genitals through the video visit or take pictures and e-mail them to the doctor. One thing that worries me about this if computer hackers could intercept it. Also, one time I took pictures of myself on a tablet and it automatically uploaded them to the Google cloud. I deleted them from the cloud but it continued to upload them and I could not figure out how to change the settings so it would not. I ended up having to delete them from the tablet as well. I really don't want a picture of you know what being uploaded (in case I would have to take pictures as opposed to showing it on the video).

I'd probably also have to put a chair next to the door to prevent it from opening while I have the video visit. The latch is not very strong. I'd be too embarrassed to tell my family not to come in my room because I'd have to show my body on a virtual doctor's appointment. They usually don't barge in when the door is entirely shut but occasionally do when they are mad/frustrated.

 

[VickySGV]

The electrologists who do the work on those areas are used to a variety of anatomical reactions from their clients and are pretty nonchalant about it.  A saving element is that you will be using a topical anesthetic which may reduce the "active risk" during the treatment, but you will be applying it at home, and any thrill will occur there.  You might want to think about postponing the treatments until you have about a year and a half on HRT when things do calm down and sensations change that affect spontaneous erections.  Calming down and using mindful breathing will also help, and time also simply helps out when fear has lessened.  When you associate actual pain with what is going on, it may also cut your reactions.  Electro does hurt, thus the topical anesthetic. 

 

I would suggest you wait and check with the doctor as to how they want you to submit photographic evidence of your genitals  I did not show my underside to my surgeon until two days before the actual surgery when she gave me the GI clean-out solution.  I am not sure whether you are dreading or hoping for unauthorized disclosure up there, but safest way is for your local doctor to send necessary information via a medical courier they and your surgeon agree on.  While you are at it, give information waivers for a two year period to  your GP, a pre chosen Gynecologist, and your Surgeon for the best preparation for aftercare.

[Dana Michelle]

1 hour ago, VickySGV said:

The electrologists who do the work on those areas are used to a variety of anatomical reactions from their clients and are pretty nonchalant about it. 

That's good to know.

1 hour ago, VickySGV said:

You might want to think about postponing the treatments until you have about a year and a half on HRT when things do calm down and sensations change that affect spontaneous erections. 

I've been on hormones for 2 1/2 years now. I have erections less frequently but still have them. I have not had a genital exam since starting HRT so I don't know how my body would react on hormones.

1 hour ago, VickySGV said:

I am not sure whether you are dreading or hoping for unauthorized disclosure up there, but safest way is for your local doctor to send necessary information via a medical courier they and your surgeon agree on.

I'm dreading the idea that a hacker or someone else unauthorized will see pictures of my genitals. I would rather a doctor examine me in person so I wouldn't have to worry about sending pictures through the Internet.

[Niamh]

I can't speak from any experience with regard to the treatments - so I'll leave that to others. However I can give you my views on the security side of things both as an IT consultant and photographer.

I think your concerns about the "cloud" aspect and being hacked are not the area you really need to address. There is so much porn out there, I really think chances of pics of your "bits" being used from hacking cloud communications are minimal. The area you need to be much more concerned about is your phone itself. How secure have you made that? Do you have a tight password/fingerprint recognition in place? Have you ensured that you've got encryption switched on?  And the reason I say about this is because, if your phone is stolen or even inadvertently picked up - the person doing that  is way more likely to know that phone relates to you which would make it as a minimum embarrassing and at worst - something which could be used maliciously against you.  And lets face it, it is only people we know in some way who are really of concern should they see these images. Also - once you've taken the photo, deleting it does not delete it - usually it gets moved into a trash/bin folder and then only later does it get deleted - but again it is not really deleted - it's still there on the phone storage/card and someone with appropriate software can find and extract it.

So worry about the phone, and less about the cloud. As to sending the photos by courier I'm not sure I think this is a much better option - particularly with physical prints. Personally I'd take my chances with electronic delivery but ensure some precautions are in place such as using an encrypted zip file.

[Heather Nicole]

For what it's worth, either for you, or for anyone in a similar position, I also have a strong background in tech and also in computer programming and security, and in my professional opinion, what @Niamh said is definitely accurate.

[Dana Michelle]

It turns out that I will have to send pictures of my genitals, but not until I've had several sessions of electrolysis (so the surgeon can see how much progress I'm making). I mentioned my concern to my therapist and she said that anything sent through the health provider's website is very highly encrypted (to comply with HIPPA). I'll probably take the pictures with my desktop computer (which has a lower change of being stolen than a phone) and I'll use the shred command in Linux to delete them once I send them.

 

[ThankOurTroops]

I'm new here and just started my HRT a couple days ago. I intend to go through electrolysis as well and am worried about the same thing happening.

 

I do agree with what VickySGV said about them likely being used to pretty much everything. If you're really that worried about it, just tell them it could happen. If it's not a surprise and you explain why it could happen, they shouldn't get offended.

[Dana Michelle]

18 hours ago, ThankOurTroops said:

I'm new here and just started my HRT a couple days ago. I intend to go through electrolysis as well and am worried about the same thing happening.

 

I do agree with what VickySGV said about them likely being used to pretty much everything. If you're really that worried about it, just tell them it could happen. If it's not a surprise and you explain why it could happen, they shouldn't get offended.

I wrote an update on another thread about genital electrolysis: https://www.transgenderpulse.com/forums/topic/81722-where-to-draw-the-line-for-genital-electrolysis/ . I did end up getting an erection at the beginning of my first session but the electrologist didn't react to it. For most of the session, I think it was in a partially erect stage (probably more flaccid than erect) for the rest of the visit. The second visit it only happened as I was taking my clothes off but it was going away by the time I laid on the table, and didn't really happen at the third (I've had three sessions so far), so it seems as I'm getting used to having electrolysis sessions while half undressed, erections are becoming less common. Although erections are caused by sexual excitement, for me they seem to be also caused anxiety related to sexuality or modesty.

[Heather Nicole]

@Dana Michelle: I'm glad to hear that you seem to be getting through it alright, and that it seems to be getting easier.

 

I may be a complete novice here, but I've always gotten the impression that professional workers who have the possibility of encountering erections during the course of their usual line of work tend to already be trained to be fully-aware of what all us AMAB's are already naturally well-aware of: that the "stuff" down there tends to have a mind of it's own!!!

 

[ThankOurTroops]

On 10/28/2020 at 9:03 PM, Dana Michelle said:

Although erections are caused by sexual excitement

That's what I'm worried about.  Mostly centered around who does it. If I'm sitting in the room waiting and a beautiful young woman walks through the door, then I'll be concerned. I might even say that it could happen. Although having anyone handle everything down there may cause it. We'll see.