Dr. Ariana Smith

And some women, they have aesthetic concerns about that appearance and the asymmetry of their labia.

And they may feel like the labia are actually protruding when they're wearing tight clothing or bathing suits.

So

The labiaplasty can be performed to treat this aesthetic, but it could also be performed to treat discomfort.

There are certainly patients that I've seen who've complained that their enlarged labia are chafing or irritating them during regular activities, exercise, or even during sex.

And the excess tissue, it can be removed in a lot of different ways.

There are several techniques that have been described, some of which essentially trim linearly and others that take a wedge resection out of the central portion of the labia.

But this is really one of the first things that comes to mind for me when I think of vaginal rejuvenation.

I think for labioplasty, exactly what you said holds true here as well.

I think when we start talking about some of the laser or radiofrequency therapies, that's where I have not seen insurance covering those procedures and probably rightfully so given the lack of evidence to support some of those therapies and the claims that are made around that therapy.

I think that's totally fair.

I think when we talk about the laser and the radiofrequency therapy, these really are two different types of therapy.

Both use energy, and they both heat up the surface.

The laser heats up the surface really in the top layers of the vaginal lining, and then the deeper layers can be treated more with the radiofrequency therapy.

And the real goal is to stimulate

collagen and elastin production and we know this works in the skin dermatologically as karen said for addressing some of the signs of aging the claims in the vagina that they improve all sorts of things the problem may in fact be that they're true but the right studies haven't been done or the right design of study hasn't been been implemented and the companies that are marketing these devices to women are are making claims that probably exceed the reality of what they can do that

They really can enhance lubrication and sexual pleasure and, you know, bring you back to a time in your life where there was not a worry in the world.

I mean, I think some of these things sound kind of silly.

And we know that as physicians, when we hear these claims that they're probably not true.

all true.