By: Dr. Tanya Judge
Someone recently asked me, “What in the world is a Labiaplasty” which lead me to realize that knowledge of this little procedure is not as commonplace as it should be. And mostly because it’s such a sensitive subject to talk about for many women. So I’m just going to give you some info here from one female to another.
I’ve been seeing a lot of patients recently in my office for labiaplasty and I am so proud of anybody who garners the courage to come in and talk about an area of their body that most of us are pretty sensitive and vulnerable about.
It takes no amount of small courage to walk into my door and sit down and say “Hey, I think there is something a little off about this area and is there anything to be done about it”
So for those of you who are considering it or those of you who have never even heard about it and didn’t even know there was an option, let’s talk about labiaplasty, woman to woman.
When we have an enlargement of the labia minora, what are the issues that we may have. If you have ever experienced discomfort with riding a bike or pain or discomfort during sexual intercourse or if you’ve ever had the area show in yoga pants or you feel uncomfortable wearing fitted pants because you feel there is a bulge or fullness of the area? Or if you have some hygienic issues too due to the excess tissue. If any of these things ring true, read on to get an understanding of what can be done.
When we are talking about labiaplasty we are generally talking about correction of enlarged labia minora. Your labia minora are the thin folds of skin on either side of the vagina that are then surrounded by your labia majora (the soft puffs on the outside). The thin folds of tissue that are your labia minora ideally should be behind your labia majora but can many times extend beyond. And that’s where issues exist for MANY, MANY, MANY women. You’re not alone! It has to do with the fact that the minora extend beyond the plane where we would like it to end. And rightfully so, it’s just proportionally uneven.
We are all born incredibly asymmetric and disproportionate and having extra tissue down there is a normal variant, but there is something to be done about it in a very simple and beautiful way. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO BE EMBARRASSED ABOUT!!! We all have differences in our anatomy (my right earlobe doesn’t attach to my head like my left earlobe) but the beauty is you get to decide how you want to embrace or alter the look to your liking.
How is it done? It’s exactly what you think it is…there is too much tissue, remove the extra tissue. We need to trim back the excess so that the labia minora are proportional to your labia majora. The finesse comes in with creating a beautiful result after removal of the excess tissue so that even you at a certain point after the procedure, can’t see any signs of “surgical intervention”. All you should appreciate is the beauty of your own anatomy so you can feel comfortable in your own skin. Wear those yoga pants, ride a motorcycle, feel confident.
I know what you’re thinking at this stage, because I had the same thoughts knowing the sensitivity of our lady bits. Does it hurt? How long is the recovery? What will it look like?
The procedure itself is very well tolerated. And by that I mean, so far I haven’t had a single patient tell me they felt a single thing. It’s not magic, I swear. I’ve simply come up with a good stepwise approach to get you nice and comfortable. Oral sedation + numbing cream + local injection = happy and comfy patient. Afterwards the discomfort is well managed with some pain meds and some time off. The procedure is done in the office. No need to go to the operating room and be put fully asleep.
Take about 4-5 days off from work, put your feet up, and Netflix & Chill while your body heals. You shower, pee, poop all the same, just be a little gentle down there.
The idea is to leave a proportional labia minora that matches your labia majora. The excess is trimmed and the result is what you’ve been imagining in your head this entire time.
So if you have noticed that your labia minora are hanging out a little bit beyond your labia majora and you’re feeling any of the things we talked about: discomfort, embarrassment, or the inability to wear the clothes you want. There are solutions that provide minimal discomfort, a fast recovery and beautiful results.
