Majora Non-surgical Options: Lightening, Fillers, and Skin Tightening

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Plastic Surgery, Universidad del Valle Plastic Surgery, Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia

Keywords

Genital lighteningLabia lighteningLabia whiteningGenital whiteningNon-surgical labia majora enhancementLabia tightening non-surgical labiaplasty

Enhance-beautify, with no downtime

We can never forget the 747 study from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) that shows us plastic surgeons the easiest way to lose patients: by not offering non-surgical options! In that analysis we could see how, once a patient trusted his/her physician with a non-surgical procedure, it was easy for that physician, even if not a plastic surgeon, to end up performing a plastic surgery on that patient, making a point of the fact that non-surgical options serve well, not only as a complement for aesthetic surgeries but to help us keep our patients.

Labia majora are covered by skin; darkness of that skin can be treated similarly to dark spots in other bodily areas; wrinkles and loose skin in labia majora can also be dealt with just as we treat the face when starting to age.

And since labia majora are covered by skin, and we all know scars never disappear, it is important to understand that scars on this area can be more noticeable in darker skin patients, which is another reason why non-surgical options are good for labia majora.

Anatomy

Although labia majora are two cutaneous folds, one of their most relevant features is that they are rich in subcutaneous tissue fat.

In young girls they tend to be puffy, thus hiding labia minora and clitoris hood.

Assessment

In order to understand the patient’s wants and needs, it is very important to listen to her first and then hand her a mirror so she can show the surgeon what is the problem; remember: patients don’t know anatomy well, so they may refer to certain areas with different names, which could mean other structures to us, so always make the patient show you what bothers her while standing and in lithotomy position.

What Will the Patient Tell Me?

“I do not like all these wrinkles on my labia.”
“I don’t like the dark color on my genital area.”
“I do not like my skin growing darker on my vaginal labia, my crotch, and even around my anal area.”
“I am unhappy and uncomfortable with my labia majora.”
“Why are my labia so old, how can I make them look younger?”
“I feel my labia majora deflated.”
“I would like my labia minora to be hidden under labia majora.”
“My labia majora look asymmetrical, how can that be fixed?”
“I do not like that I can see the inside of my vagina, can something be done about it?”
“I do not like what my vagina looks after losing so much weight.”