What Is Vaginoplasty and Who Needs This?

Both men and women can take advantage of it. Such an operation is held in order to eliminate any defects of the genitals, or to change their shape.

What is Vaginoplasty?

Vaginoplasty is a surgical change in the parameters of the small and large labia. Most often, this operation is performed for an aesthetic purpose, but sometimes it is carried out for purely medical reasons. This operation was first conducted in the 70s and today doctors have gained considerable experience in this sensitive procedure.

When should Vaginoplasty be done?

A changed appearance of the labia causes not only insecurity of a woman in her sexual attractiveness, which entails dissatisfaction with intimate life, but also delivers quite tangible physical inconveniences. This can be expressed in pain during sexual intercourse, discomfort when sitting and walking, problems with the selection of clothes and narrow clothes, irritation, and inflammation (vulvitis).

Subjective reasons leading to get a labioplasty: asymmetry of the labia, their excessive or insufficient size, or increased pigmentation. But all this is not a pathology, but the following medical conditions are direct medical indications for intimate plastic surgery:

• birth injuries when the integrity of the soft tissues of the perineum is disrupted due to excessively active labor
• burns
• cicatricial changes of the labia tissue

In all these cases, the intervention of plastic surgeons is recommended, since such changes in tissues lead to a significant deterioration in the quality of a woman’s life, and not only sexual. The fact is that a violation of the symmetry and size of the labia can lead to the fact that the woman's vagina is exposed, unprotected, and it increases the risk of developing infectious diseases.

Four Types of Vaginoplasty

Type One:Correction of the shape of labia is the most popular and often performed operation, which is usually addressed to eliminate the elongation (or lengthening) of the labia, their asymmetry, hypo- or hypertrophy, pathological changes that often occur after childbirth or various injuries. In such cases, surgical resection of excess tissue, liposuction, or, on the contrary, the artificial introduction of biopolymer fillers, or the patient's own fat cells into the labia is most often used.

Type Two: Reducing the size of the labia majora is the elimination of excess fat and skin volume, made by resection or liposuction.

Type Three: An increase in the size of the labia majora—in such an operation there is a need for a congenital malformation of the labia majora, or for age-related atrophy or asymmetry caused by various injuries.

Type Four: Reducing the size of the labia minora is required for both aesthetic and hygienic reasons. Often, due to asymmetry, one of the labia minors protrudes beyond the bounds of large, then surgery literally saves the situation, saving the woman from both the risk of inflammatory diseases, and intimate discomfort and aesthetic problems.

Risks of Vaginoplasty

No one is insured from the possibility of falling into "bad hands." Modern, highly qualified doctors say that only a doctor with the education of a surgeon and a gynecologist should perform such operation. An ordinary plastic surgeon often does not know about many of the details involved.

If some problems occur during surgery, they can lead to different complications. In the best case scenario, everything will be limited to edema inflammation, or an unpleasant sensation of the prolapse of the labia. In addition, there is a risk of hemorrhage, discomfort when wearing clothes, reduced skin sensitivity in the area of the operation, and rupture of scar tissue during childbirth.

As a result of the operation, you can partially or completely lose the genital lips, which have an important protective function. It may make the vaginal mucosa suffer, and the woman will suffer from cracks, irritation, and a tendency to inflammation. One of the worst effects of vaginoplasty is a bare clitoris. In this case, the girl cannot even put on her underwear, and recovery requires another two or three stages of the operation.