Labiaplasty, vaginal rejuvenation interest growing in aesthetics

LOS ANGELES — Labiaplasty and vaginal rejuvenation, and the various treatment modalities are becoming topics of growing interest, according to a speaker here.

“The interest in labiaplasty and vaginal rejuvenation is growing,” Heather Furnas, MD, a Santa Rosa, Calif., plastic surgeon, said during her presentation at Plastic Surgery The Meeting on surgical practices. “The satisfaction rate is very high. I would like to encourage our specialty to teach these techniques in our plastic surgical programs.”

Heather Furnas

Furnas reported that the goal of labiaplasty is to reduce the redundancy of the labia minora, so they are flush with the labia majora. Before embarking on labiaplasty, it is important for surgeons to become familiar with the variations in the prepuse or clitoral hood and the labia minora, she said.

“I prefer to do my surgical procedures with sharp scissor dissection, but other people prefer radiofrequency or laser,” Furnas said of her surgical technique.

Sherry Thomas, MD, a gynecologist and reconstructive surgeon in California who has focused on reconstructing the pelvic floor, also spoke at the session.

“You have a great ability to change women’s health with lasers, with radiofrequency and with pelvic rejuvenation,” she told the audience. “I taught at UCLA for 10 years, and we’re just not teaching this anymore.”

She spoke about fractional superpulsed laser to treat the vaginal area, and reported she has treated patients with the modality.

She also advocates treating patients with lasers after radiation treatment, which relieved vaginal dryness. Sexual satisfaction scores also improved after laser treatment, Thomas reported.

“All in all, for patients who are menopausal, ... [estrogen] has limited ability to work,” she reported.

She has used several modalities in vaginal treatment, and reported that she prefers fractional CO₂ laser, because it will prompt the vagina to rejuvenate, works well, and is superior to other treatments she has used. She reported using ablative lasers for labiaplasty. – by Bruce Thiel

Disclosure: Furnas reports no relevant financial disclosures. Healio.com/Aesthetics was unable to determine Thomas’ relevant financial disclosures at the time of publication.

Furnas H, Thomas S. 701. Hot Topics in Plastic Surgery. Presented at: Plastic Surgery The Meeting; Sept. 23-27, 2016; Los Angeles.