Labiaplasty

[MountainandRoad]

thanks for the comments, this forum is really great for discussing things you can't bring up with anyone else. and its absolutely true Any surgical procedure carries risk, which was what I was asking about. Was wondering if anyone else has had this problem, and has gotten surgery. Having been through a few other surgeries now, what is really key is the doctor...one needs to know without doubt, they are in competent hands...still, there is no life without risk.
How do you deal with not being able to have sex, runner girl? That must be a tough one...I'm almost in the same boat, since I really don't want anyone to see this, its not THAT weird, but I'm self conscious about letting anyone see it, so I"m living the life of a nun...LOL

[Yasmin]

Sorry to read of your dilemma Mtn&Road.I cannot advise you firsthand as I don't have that problem. However, my husband is a surgeon & I asked him about it once after I'd read it in a magazine. He doesn't perform this type of surgery (he's a neurosurgeon) but has heard about the procedure. I thought it was just a matter of trimming a little skin, but he says it's more complicated than that. He has heard of "stuff ups" & would advise anyone to thoroughly shop for a good surgeon. Don't go with the first one you see but get at least 3 opinions. I know this is time consuming (& you sound like you want it over & done with) but it'll be a life time of relief if you pick the right person... & a life time of hell if you don't.
You're right, the girls here are terrific when it comes to discussing things you can't bear to discuss with anyone else. I can feel your anxiety & I wish you all the best whatever you decide to do.

[Irulan]

since I really don't want anyone to see this, its not THAT weird, but I'm self conscious about letting anyone see it, so I"m living the life of a nun...LOL

um, how do you know you are or not not within the range of "normal"? Or is this just a choice you are making on your own, cycling issues aside?

i.

[Eaglewalker]

I must preface my remarks by saying that this is not in any way intended as a criticism of MountainandRoad, who may in fact have a real problem.

When I saw the title of this topic, I thought, "What? It can't really mean what it sounds like?" So I did some research on the Internet, and was horrified and sickened to discover that American women are choosing to engage in the female genital mutilation that is perpetrated on girls in some parts of Africa, and is generally considered an outrage. There were a couple of web sites with "before" and "after" photos, and 90% of the pictures were of normal, healthy vulvas -- but they were the vulvas of adult women in the "before" pictures, which were diced up in order to look like the vulvas of pre-pubescent girls in the "after" pictures.

I'm thinking hell; I'm thinking handbaskets.

From the sports angle, I'm really confused. What the average man has between his legs is far larger than what any woman has between her legs, but I have never heard of a man wishing to have his manly parts removed in order to prevent chafing. Maybe I'm just reading the wrong magazines?

[RoadRaven]

Like Eaglewalker, I am stunned anyone would consider this for any reason other than purely medical... we have seats with channels, we have wider seats to suit our hips so we are positioned well, we have padded shorts in many shapes and styles...

Which is why I will reiterate my earlier comment - get loads and loads of opinions before you even begin to consider thinking about saying maybe to this - the potential for constant pain is huge...

And regarding the "range of normal" comments in several posts... again, I support the questioning about how does one know? Many of the girly mags/web-sites (which are the easiest place to find pix and make comparisons) are "touched up" (scuse the almost-pun)... uneven lips, extra wrinklybits and even colours are edited... and this gives completely "neat" but completely unrealistic ideas of "perfect"...

And Eaglewalker... its not just Africa that still mutilates girls (sometimes as young as 3) and women's genitals... it also happens in some parts of Asia, and in some parts of the Middle East... often without the use of anaestheticor hygiene as we know it in Western hospitals.

[Eaglewalker]

I'd forgotten about the Middle East -- didn't know about Asia -- excuse me while I go find a closet to hide in while I have a nice quiet freak-out moment.

[RoadRaven]

I'd forgotten about the Middle East -- didn't know about Asia -- excuse me while I go find a closet to hide in while I have a nice quiet freak-out moment.

Save me a spot, Eagle... every time I think about it... or worse, incorporate it into my teaching and tell a group of women about it, I feel physically ill.

In fact, don't just save me a spot in your cringe-closet, bring me a sick bucket too...


Mountain and Road... please don't think Eagle and my freak-out session is aimed at you and this research and ultimate decision you make. At least the choice you make will be informed and for good reason with sound medical feedback and support.

[Tokie]

Hi Mt and Road. I work at a hospital based outpatient surgery. One of our patients was a teenager whose labia were disproportionately long. She had sustained rather serious trauma to it due to it's size when she was riding her bike- bounced on the seat or top tube or something, and had quite a painful recovery. So having it reduced to "normal" proportions was an easy choice for her. Another patient, also a younger woman, had one labia that was quite a bit larger than the other, and subject to chafing and trauma - it seemed like something I would do if it were me too. I would certainly look for a gynecologist who had done the surgery more than a few times and could discuss reasonable outcomes, your expectations,risks, etc. Good luck! Tokie

[SoCalQT2]

Wow, this sounds really scary. I'm sorry you have to go through this and I wish you the best of luck however you decide to proceed

[amg]

And regarding the "range of normal" comments in several posts... again, I support the questioning about how does one know? Many of the girly mags/web-sites (which are the easiest place to find pix and make comparisons) are "touched up" (scuse the almost-pun)... uneven lips, extra wrinklybits and even colours are edited... and this gives completely "neat" but completely unrealistic ideas of "perfect"...

And Eaglewalker... its not just Africa that still mutilates girls (sometimes as young as 3) and women's genitals... it also happens in some parts of Asia, and in some parts of the Middle East... often without the use of anaestheticor hygiene as we know it in Western hospitals.

I read somewhere that the reason girly mags have women with smaller labia was because of some law that decided larger labia were more provocative and so were too suggestive to have in the magazines...and so over the years people have been "programmed" to see only the one type as the ideal woman's genitalia. I'll have to see if I can find where I read that - I'd done a Google search one day after reading that some plastic surgeons are offering labiaplasty as a cosmetic procedure. I think it's one of the signs of the huge effect mass media has on our lives Before, no one knew what labia were "supposed" to look like, so there was no right or wrong way to look. Now we have to look like the women in magazines, because isn't that how the "beautiful" people look?

However I can see how someone might want to get it done if there was a definite physical reason. That's a delicate area, and constant irritation might make it more prone to infection, wouldn't you think?

A little addendum...heard a documentary on the radio a while ago...genital mutilation often involves removal of the entire clitoris and the stitching up of the vagina - a bit more extreme than labiaplasty - although both make me want to cross my legs!

PS - why is this discussion under nutrition??

[doc]

Genital mutilation virtually always includes the clitoris. The usual "point" of it is to reduce female pleasure thereby making females less likely to be promiscuous. I'm sure it works as there is often so much pain with urination, let alone sex, after the butchery that the women try to avoid sex at all costs.

That aside, I am deeply deeply saddened by some of the things that have become important in our society. The idea of cosmetic labiaplasty is truly horrifying. As a doc, I have seen zillions of labia over the years. All of the "before" pictures on those web sites are completely normal. I honestly can't imagine why any of those women had surgery. It makes me so sad to think that women are so disconnected from what is really important in life to think that cutting off a 1/2 inch or less of one of their body parts will make life better. Especially when it is a body part that only very few others would ever see, and is doubtful they would care about the symmetry. Plus, those few others should be people who care about the woman. The surgeons should be ashamed of themselves. Any woman who comes to them for surgery should instead be sent to counseling.

Of course none of the above rant applies to someone who has a functional problem. It is very rare, but not unheard of, that labia can be large enough to cause physical problems. But this is extremely uncommon. Of course anyone who has difficulty performing normal physical acts deserves the best modern medicine can offer.

[mary9761]

I can attest to just how painful ANY surgery to the afforemented areas is. I had to have a very rare [I was told] angiomyofibroblastoma removed that had swollen to the point it appeared I had grown a testicle, it was so painful before the surgery especially since the skin was stretched so much. The tumour [thankfully benign] was mistaken for an abscess and then a bartholen's {sp?} cyst and they tried lancing it multiple times and it did nothing but BLEED. After about a month of terrible pain, I was scheduled for surgery to remove [at that time] the unknown growth.
When I woke from surgery, I was in the worst pain I'd EVER felt. There was a doctor with evidently an AUDIENCE [not sure because my eyes weren't opening yet] that was telling them there was no possible way I was hurting as badly as I was putting on [turned out SOMEONE forgot to give me a PAIN BLOCK so I wouldn't wake in so much pain], as he grabbed my bits which were swollen to the size of a ham hock and ROUGHLY administed a pain injection. If I'd had my faculties enough to have moved my legs, that doctor would have found out exactly WHAT PAIN WAS, as he would have been kicked squarely in HIS BITS!!! Awww, that CAN'T POSSIBLY HURT THAT BAD....
Anyways, making this as short as possible, [too late I know] during recovery, some of my stitching came partially undone so I had raw edges and nerves exposed during the already painful healing process. Why someone would want to put themselves through all of this for COSMETIC only reasons I will never understand. There are times that I still get a twinge of pain for no apparent reason in the area.