Labiaplasty: Cure, Or Just Nasty?

Some women turn to genital plastic surgery, seeking prettier look or better sex…

The latest thing in cosmetic surgery centers on something more intimate: a woman’s genitals. The marketing pitch, delivered mainly via the Internet, tells women they can look younger, feel prettier and have better sex if they’ll just fix the most private part of their body.

For Jean Johnson, who lives in South Carolina, the hope of a better sex life brought the mother of two to Stern’s office last June. “I wanted to feel more sensation,” says Johnson, 38, who had a vaginoplasty, in which the vaginal tissue is stitched tighter. “I wanted to feel more confident, like it was worth it for my husband and for me.” It was her idea, she says. Then, after consulting with Stern, she had another procedure done at the same time: a labiaplasty, in which the labia are reduced and reshaped.

A labiaplasty in progress...

Pamela Loftus, a board-certified Boca Raton, Fla., plastic surgeon, has seen patients from ages 14 to 67. She’s done labiaplasty and hymen repair for 20 years. Hymen repair involves stitching together the torn pieces of the hymenal membrane. “Patients come to me (for hymen repair) mainly for religious and cultural reasons,” she says. They fear stigmatization, or even death, if their sexual experience is revealed.

In addition, there’s power in numbers. Though the percentage of surgical procedures is down 8 percent from 2000, the numbers of minimally invasive cosmetic procedures have soared, mainly because of Botox treatments. Overall, the numbers are at an all-time high: 9.2 million cosmetic procedures in 2004, up 24 percent from 2000.

Labiaplasty runs between $4,000 to $6,000; vaginoplasty $4,500 to $5,500 or both, $7,000 to $8,000. Hymenoplasty: $4,000 to $5,000.

From the industry that brought you flub-a-dubs that scoff at gravity and Tyler Durden’s special soap comes TWAT IN A CAN.

I mean, sure there’s medical benefits to having incredibly sharp things near a woo-woo, but I’d rather wait until the lipmeat made it impossible to ride a bike.

Related Article: A Survey of Vaginal Cosmetic Surgeries