Vaginal Rejuvination
VAGINAL REJUVENATION: COSMETIC SURGERY THAT HITS BELOW THE BELT
Elective cosmetic surgery has become a multi gazillion-dollar global industry. Every year millions of women and a steadily rising number of men elect to go to plastic surgeons for procedures they feel will improve their looks and self-image. Traditionally, the most common areas of bodily concern include the breasts, face, and even buttocks.
Women are flocking south of the border for more affordable cosmetic surgery. But in recent years plastic surgery has itself become more focused on bodily landscape that is also, as it were, located ‘south of the border.’
Vaginal rejuvenation, a procedure that tightens the vagina and perineum, is considered by some a new low in body enhancing medicine. Nevertheless, it is taking off in a big way among women who have had several children, women who believe the surgery will make sexual intercourse more enjoyable for their partner, or women just seeking to stay young in every way.
Vaginal Rejuvenation Not Completely New
Until now, women seeking vaginal rejuvenation have largely done so for practical rather than cosmetic purposes. For decades women have undergone vaginal rejuvenation for non-cosmetic medical reasons, such as to correct incontinence. Other women, often of Middle Eastern descent, have been known to ask plastic surgeons to reconstruct a long-lost Hymen membrane. Because of some religions’ emphasis on virginity, this form of vaginal rejuvenation can be a life-saving procedure for soon-to-be brides in some cultures.
Western women have often pursued less invasive, if more quirky avenues. There have long existed ointments and creams that claim to rejuvenate the vagina. The names of these prurient panaceas often leave little to the imagination. One such potion calling itself Gripper Vaginal Formula claims not mere vaginal rejuvenation. One dose, it brags, “will keep your vagina contracted for 7 days.” One could be forgiven for wondering, though, if that is a promise or a threat.
The Downside of Vaginal Rejuvenation
Some doctors caution that the risks of cosmetic vaginal rejuvenation outweigh the benefits. Many question whether or not the procedure actually improves sexual pleasure. Others suggest that thinking ahead and taking preventative measures would be wiser than waiting until surgery is needed.
Using an EPI-NO childbirth training system during the final 3 weeks of pregnancy, for example, lessens a woman’s risk of having to undergo an episiotomy during childbirth. Dr. V. Leroy Young, a prominent Illinois plastic surgeon, warns, “anytime you make an incision you cut nerves, induce scarring and there is a downside risk, including pain."