Vaginal Rejuvenation: Is It for You?

Vaginal Rejuvenation: Is It for You?

By Jenny Block

If you don’t like your nose, you can change it. If you’ve lost a great deal of weight and you’re left with excess skin, you can be rid of it. If parts of your body leave you feeling less than happy, you can alter them.

Plastic surgery – whether you agree with it or not, it’s a reality of our looks-driven society. And, for some, having it can make them think about their appearance less, rather than more, by eliminating the imperfection (perceived or otherwise) that previously consumed them.

So, it probably comes as no surprise that there are plastic surgeries for ones’ private bits. But are these surgeries safe? What do they actually entail? Who are the most appropriate candidates for these procedures? And who should be performing them?

In an effort to clear up any confusion, I enlisted the help of Dr. Ramsey J. Chocair, a board certified plastic surgeon, formerly on the Harvard faculty and now on the faculty of University of Texas, and asked him a few questions about labiaplasty and vaginal rejuvenation.

Q. What is labiaplasty?
A. It’s basically plastic surgery of the genital area. Plasticos, which is the Greek word that plastic surgery came from, means to mold or to change. So, labiaplasty is cosmetic surgery to mold or change the vaginal area.

Q. What is the most common reason that women seek labiaplasty?
A. Because their inner vaginal folds hang down or protrude. You have to be careful. But it’s not complicated surgery. The cosmetic part is really cut and dry. If it hangs or it’s too big, you tidy it up. And, it’s a mucosal surface, so it heals really well.

Q. What are the dangers involved with labiaplasty?
A. You have to be careful not to damage the hood of the clitoral area. And, if you take too much, it can cause pain around the scar tissue. But if it done right, it’s really straightforward.

Q. What is vaginal rejuvenation?
A. It’s a surgery to make the vaginal opening smaller. In the past it’s been referred to as the “husband stich” since it was done to tighten a woman up after having a baby.

Making the entrance smaller has become popular because it supposedly helps people’s sex lives. Some people even have their partner come in and have the doctor measure them (to determine what size the new opening should be). The trouble with all of this is that, to make the introitus small enough to make a difference, well, those factors are much more involved. It’s hard for me to see that it really makes it better.

Q. Is vaginal rejuvenation problematic?

A.

 Promising a better sex life or implying that with the advertising is the real issue. There’s more involved with satisfaction than the anatomical part.

Q. Are these surgeries new?
A.

 These surgeries have been done for years and years and years, this designer vagina surgery. It’s just that it’s really been marketed (heavily) recently. Does porn have anything to do with it? I'm sure it does.

Q. What kind of doctors should women be looking to do these surgeries?
A. You’re really out of the plastic surgery realm when you’re talking about the vaginal opening. So that surgery should be done by an OBGYN. Labiaplasty [on the other hand] should be a plastic surgery since it has to do with skin.

Q. How do you choose a doctor?
A.

 It’s all about judgment. When you go to a plastic surgeon, you’re paying for judgment. The allure to look good is so strong that the trust factor makes people, even smart people, make bad decisions and fall victim to unscrupulous doctors.

Lots of things contribute to women feeling badly about their bodies. It’s a sad commentary that that sense of inadequacy has extended this far. But if a woman is experiencing physical discomfort or feels that her body has been damaged during childbirth, for example, she certainly has every right to restore her body to a state of comfort and happiness.

But just like any elective surgery, it’s all about doing it for the right reasons and having the right experts in your corner. Sex is as much a mental exercise as it is a physical one. So, if you’re expecting to go from zero to 60 simply from a cosmetic procedure, you’re likely to be disappointed. And, if you think it’s going to “revirginize you,” think again.

These surgeries are for women looking to restore their mental well being by altering their physical being. It’s not magic. But, for some women, it certainly can feel like it, when their insecurities suddenly do a disappearing act.

The politics may be complicated. But the bottom line is simple. It’s imperative not to have elective surgery for anyone but yourself , and it’s crucial to research carefully when choosing a doctor. And above all else, always remember, that no matter what your size and shape, nothing is sexier than loving the skin you’re in.

Jenny Block is a freelance writer based in Dallas. She is the author of "Open: Love, Sex, and Life in an Open Marriage." Her work appears in "One Big Happy Family," edited by Rebecca Walker and "It’s a Girl: Women Writers on Raising Daughters," edited by Andrea Buchanan. Visit her website at www.jennyonthepage.com or check out her blog at www.jennyonthepage.blogspot.com.