With your team, you will hopefully get advice on the dilation process. Positioning your body is really important. When you know what you need to do, you can use the position you find most comfortable.
Here are some tips to help you get the right angles.
- Lie on your back with a pillow on your lower back and tilt your pelvis upward a little bit. It shouldn’t feel tight, just natural and relaxed.
- Locate your vagina. Before you start, go to pee and make sure you are not dilating the urethra—the place where the pee comes out. In general, your vagina is about 1/2 of the way between the urethra and anus. Please double check with your doctor and also use a mirror to make sure you can locate the vaginal tissue to stretch.
- When you have your dilator, aim towards your lower spine, not towards your chin. If you feel like you have to pee, chances are, you are aiming too far up. You should feel like you are pushing downward, like you will hit your tailbone with the dilator.
Remember, talk to your doctor about which size to start on—generally, people start with the smallest size. You can check with your doctor on when to use a bigger sized dilator. Having a physical check-up can be very useful to decide if you need to do more or if you are on the right track.