I’ve had labiaplasty.

[FlagFlaps]

Anyone curious?

If you don't mind me contributing, OP, I had a labiaplasty approx 2 years ago and I'm very happy with it.
It cost me around £2000 total and it wasn't hugely painful for recovery. Ice packs helped.
I had mine for both aesthetic and physical reasons. Flaps got caught and certain activities like cycling and wearing jeans were irritating.
I was hugely worried about what men would think so abstained from sex for a long time.
My flaps changed in puberty, but I can remember the day they did:
I was in the bath at a holiday cottage at around 14 I think and these flaps kind of unfolded from inside of me. As in, I think from the vagina. I was horrified and mesmerized! They wouldn't go 'back in'. Anyone else had this experience????
The flaps didn't 'creep up on me' or gradually grow like breasts!
I don't remember having a childlike vulva/labia although given this experience, I clearly did.
Going back to having a labiaplasty... I now don't have to worry about having 'cold flaps' (don't know if this has anything to do with my bad circulation) or them pinching it sticking to my thighs in bed.
I more than likely made most of the problem in my head about men not liking them, but it's now not an issue thankfully.

Jaffa wow! I don’t remember having that experience. I do wish I had known what my vulva looked like through the various phases of my life. it’s weird that there’s such an important part of our bodies is mostly invisible to us

@FlagFlaps

No problem QuestionableMouse and thanks for coming back. Was it my username that made you think I was a troll??

I think it was because I was half asleep! 😳😞

Fair enough it is notable though, that the subject of labiaplasty is often considered either controversial or worth of scorn or mockery. I think it’s a shame

Thanks for the info, flags.

@FlagFlaps

Fair enough it is notable though, that the subject of labiaplasty is often considered either controversial or worth of scorn or mockery. I think it’s a shame

I actually agree. It shouldn't be taboo or something that's mocked. I'm lucky to have no problems in that area but have friends with birth injuries who have really struggled to find help because problems down there are seen as something women should just crack on with. Not quite the same I know but it shows the general attitudes.

I had one when I was 19 too - labiaplasty (wedge resection) and excision of excess clitoral hood tissue .I was diagnosed with PTSD at age 26 as a direct result .

Physically it changed my life - I had callouses and blisters from age 5, I was so sore constantly and - TMI - I used to wrap it clingfilm because it would get so sore . So that’s gone .

But mentally I still remember the aftermath being 19 on an NHS ward, 35 stitches, no buzzer, no pain relief, bleeding through my pyjamas and rolling around in agony . Sent home next day - I remember GP and two nurses coming round and giving me morphine on the sofa, GP was in tears when she had a look and said she’d never seen anything like it . Whole thing was just absolutely horrible .

The worst thing as an adult, everyone you tell thinks you’ve done it because you had too much sex or because you were vain . I wish I could tell them I’m still a virgin now and have never really looked at the results !!

Zelda the groping thing happened to me too . I’ve never told anyone about that before . My ‘friend’ ‘flicked’ it once and said I was ugly .

This is helping me to realise I’m not alone, I’ve never ever discussed it with anyone .

jaffa that was what my experience was - GP later explained (when I was 26 or so) that I had total fusion until about my eleventh birthday, they naturally separated then . Until that point I didn’t know I had a vagina iyswim - it was just a sort of line with a hanging bulge at the bottom . Making myself sound awful !

@justanotherneighinparadise is 'total fusion' the name for it before that happens then? Interesting that you had that too!!

[quote JaffaJaffJaffpussycatpuss]@justanotherneighinparadise is 'total fusion' the name for it before that happens then? Interesting that you had that too!![/quote]
I think it is - or something like that, definitely labia fusion . It was as if I had just one ‘flap’ before and nothing else - when I eventually did have the surgery they said that having such large labia, and having that fusion for so long too, had caused urinary problems because the urine got trapped . Bloody awful .

My downstairs is quite a mess to be honest with it all - I’m scared to look at it .

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labial_fusion

And that’s why I got mine done privately, noisaidellobuthatscloseenough. I have heard awful things about labiaplasty done via the NHS. I’m so sorry that happened to you.

The fusion thing is news to me. Wow. Isn’t it a shame that we “have to” hide these body parts away?

If we didn’t, a lot of problems could be avoided.

@FlagFlaps

If we didn’t, a lot of problems could be avoided.

Yes, I completely agree - if it were a male problem it would be discussed with a lot more respect and understanding I think . So many newspaper articles talking about vanity and designer vaginas, waste of nhs money and stuff like that ... not understanding at all that it can be done for medical reasons ... I remember at the time they said all women and girls have the same issues and it’s totally normal to have pain down there - at sixteen my labia actually got stuck to a pair of knickers (had to have the knickers cut off with scissors) and I kept getting what they called hair tourniquets... I’m quite sure that’s not an everyday thing for most women !!

Oh my goodness I had a hair tourniquet once and was absolutely terrified, I thought I had some kind of deadly parasite. I was a young teen and wasn’t yet familiar enough with my own appearance down there, and it scared the hell out of me!

I think labial fusion is quite common. My friend’s kid has it. Luckily it was noticed by nursery when changing nappy. Not sure what would happen if it was an older kid and not noticed. I’d never heard of it before. But I can imagine the experience of them ‘unfolding’ in your teens being quite alarming. Noisa your experience sounds awful.

Yeah, always had outer flaps, but the inner ones unfolded and came out from the actual vagina.
I tried to 'put them back in' as an adult too but needless to say it didn't work.
I saw them coming out in the bath so I started pulling and it was like a butterfly coming out of its chrysalis. Literally. It didn't hurt at all, but I was stunned. I couldn't have talked to my mum about that sort of thing.

ThickFast I’m surprised that it took a nursery worker to identify the fusion - how did your friend not notice? Does it take an expert to recognise it?

Not a clue, flag I didn’t ask. Maybe it’s not obvious if you’re not expecting it. I look out for it now. You can get a cream to help if it happens.

Thanks for this OP very interesting. May I ask if both labia were even and if roughly how many cm they hung down visibly ore surgery?

I've thought about this many times (one side only is the issue, I absolutely hate it ) but I feel too uncomfortable to even acknowledge it with another person/ doctor let alone taking time off work etc. It's incredible the amount of shame we feel about our bodies.

There's a female cyclist who wrote a blog about her troubles (flippin flapmash it something) she's wound up with numerous surgeries and very serious infections from long distance cycling.

That was pre surgery not ore surgery.

What's menopausal shrinkage? I really don't know any of this stuff!

I agree that it's not something really talked about.

@BiscuitLovers098124

What's menopausal shrinkage? I really don't know any of this stuff!

I agree that it's not something really talked about.

The vulval and vaginal tissues become thinner in menopause (known as vaginal atrophy) due to decreasing oestrogen and the labia minora (inner lips) can shrink. HRT can help.

This thread is really interesting. Thank for sharing OP.