Excessively large labia can be a significant source of embarrassment and pain for many women. Women who have large labia may find sexual intercourse to be too painful or have pain when sitting on a stool or riding a bike. Some women may have difficulty using tampons and may even experience discomfort when walking or running.
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Labiaplasty has rapidly increased in popularity for the management of functional and aesthetic problems associated with prominent labia. Women choose to have labiaplasty for a variety of reasons, including aesthetic purposes (1/3), functional impairment (ie, pain, discomfort, difficulty maintaining hygiene) (1/3), and a combination of both (1/3). There are a number of surgical techniques which can be used to treat labial hypertrophy (i.e., trim technique, wedge technique, etc.). All operations carry their inherent advantages and disadvantages, and there is little evidence to guide which is best for a given deformity. Potential complications of surgical labiaplasty include scarring, irregular edges, over-resection, wound dehiscence, narrowed vaginal opening, pain, paresthesia, dryness, and asymmetry. The reduction of the labia has both aesthetic and functional benefits. Many women report less discomfort wearing certain items of clothing and also during sexual intercourse.
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Many patients will have lived with the problem of large labia for many years. Women are looking to seek increasingly less invasive options for labia reduction and are keen to know what non-surgical labiaplasty options may be available in the UK. Any procedure that does not involve incisions, scars or general anaesthesia is always seen as being very attractive for patients as there is no downtime or recovery period. For many women, this means they can return to their normal activities of daily living very quickly compared with having a surgical labiaplasty procedure. It is important to be aware that despite there being a very large number of treatments that are claimed to be non-surgical labiaplasty, none of these treatments can produce results that are as effective as a labiaplasty procedure.
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At Centre for Surgery in London, we are renowned for offering a full range of non-surgical treatments for various aesthetic concerns. It has always been our philosophy to offer the least invasive treatment option that can give the best results. However, in many cases, surgery is the only permanent and effective solution to treating certain conditions, such as large labia.
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Are there treatments available to reduce large labia naturally?
There are many treatments which are advertised online that claim to be able to reduce the size of large labia without surgery. Many of these treatments involve applying creams, lotions or ointments to your labia. Unfortunately, none of these treatments has proven effective in reducing the size of big labia and we would recommend avoiding these treatments due to their high cost and unproven safety profile.
What is FemTite and is it effective for a non-surgical labiaplasty?
FemTite is one of the most recent treatments which have been claimed to reduce the size of labia without the traditional incisions of labiaplasty surgery. FemTite is designed to achieve shortening of the labia minora without surgery. Radiofrequency energy is applied to the labial tissue to stimulate the proliferation of newer and healthier tissue, with increased elastin and collagen formation as an electric current is conducted through the target tissues to achieve controlled temperature rises between 38°C and 42°C. This stimulates an inflammatory cascade which is meant to induce tightening of the labia minora and/or labia majora over the subsequent 3–4 months. The aim of the procedure is to reduce the size of the labia minora by applying radiofrequency energy.
Radiofrequency treatment for skin laxity is a well-established treatment in aesthetic medicine. However, application to the external female genitalia has only emerged in the last decade. Patients report very high satisfaction rates with surgical labiaplasty, and FemTite has potential risks and complications not associated with labiaplasty surgery. The generation of heat means there is a risk of burns with radiofrequency not seen with traditional labiaplasty. There may also be significant bruising and swelling after the FemTite procedure, which removes many of the advantages of having a minimally invasive procedure.
The surgical labiaplasty has a number of benefits over the FemTite non-surgical labiaplasty, which Dr Paraskevi Dimitriadi regularly performs, including little to no pain, less risk of complications, minimal to no downtime, and satisfying results. Although Dr Dimitriadi has performed FemTite on over 30 patients, we no longer recommend the FemTite treatment at Centre for Surgery.
Is a non-surgical labiaplasty worth it?
We would advise against any of the non-surgical labiaplasty treatments mentioned above.
A surgical labiaplasty achieves long-lasting and permanent results with minimal risks and complications provided patients follow their surgeon’s post-operative instructions in full. We would generally advise opting for labiaplasty surgery if you have large labia, as the procedure achieves more predictable results than any non-surgical labiaplasty procedure.
What is the best treatment for large labia?
The only effective treatment for large labia is a surgical labiaplasty procedure carried out by an expert cosmetic gynaecologist. Non-surgical labiaplasty options such as radiofrequency tightening or labia massages do not give significant long-lasting results.
Labiaplasty scars
Many women choose to have non-surgical labiaplasty treatments to avoid labiaplasty scars. This is understandable. However, expertly undertaken labiaplasty surgery results in scars well concealed along the labia border, with the vast majority of women being unable to see the labiaplasty scars after 3 to 6 months and as long as patients follow the surgeon’s post-operative instructions in full.
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Dr Dimitriadi is an expert in the scarless trim labiaplasty technique, which, although it takes longer to perform, leads to much more natural-looking labiaplasty results. With meticulous surgical technique and proactive post-operative care, your labiaplasty scars will quickly fade over the first three months and become unnoticeable whilst achieving a significant transformative result that can only be achieved with labiaplasty surgery.
For more information about labiaplasty surgery or to book a face-to-face consultation with an expert labiaplasty surgeon in London, please get in touch and speak to one of our friendly and knowledgeable patient coordinators at 020 7993 4849 or fill out the contact form below.
