20 Days After Labiaplasty

I had just gotten out of the shower and was checking my messages when I had the thought: "Since I'm naked and holding my phone, I may as well take a photo of my twat". So, here it is, twenty days after the labiaplasty surgery:

It's settled down a fair bit, the right and left sides are looking a lot more even in thickness, which is good. One thing that bothers me slightly is how my left side labia is almost 'cut' in half - you can see how it folds away and the reappears about halfway down its length. When I feel it, it seems like the labia was almost cut down completely at that point. 

I'm still going to give it some time, and perhaps it just folds that way because of the position I sit in when I take these photos, but I really don't like the idea that my labia were "over trimmed". The only reason why I think my surgeon may have done that is because I asked her to cut all the brown parts out just before surgery. Maybe I will contact her and ask if that's what happened.

In other news, it looks like my private health insurance will pay for some of my surgery after all! They're at least going to pay for the hospital admission, minus the $250 excess. That means I'm expecting about $1200 back in a rebate. I won't go into the full details yet, because nothing has been finalised yet, but it means my upcoming cost breakdown post will be a bit delayed. I'm very relieved about being covered after all. Some miscommunication seems to have happened between my doctor's rooms and the hospital.


Another post I want to write soon is what I've learned from Reddit when I linked this blog in an AMA (Ask Me Anything) submission to /r/Sex and /r/TwoXChromosomes. Some of the comments there were pretty illuminating. I want to try one more AMA on the much widely read /r/IAMA board first though, so I'll hold off on that post til I gather more thoughts from the Reddit community.

But those posts will have to wait for now. I'll blog again later.

Follow-up appointment with my surgeon

Today I had the follow-up appointment with my plastic surgeon. The first thing she asked was if there was any trace of infection. Nope, none. How's the pain? Really haven't had any. After one week, the only time I took painkillers was for menstrual cramps. She was impressed. Apparently I have a high pain threshold. That's possibly true but I also think she just looked after my very well during surgery :)

My surgeon had a look at my vulva and was gushing about how good it looked. I was a little surprised about how pleased she was. Was she talking herself up or was it really that good? I brought up how I thought the right side looked a little swollen and rumpled (like I said in my last few posts). She agreed and pointed out that it's likely to go through dramatic changes over the next few weeks and that it's only around the six week mark that things will start to look more permanent. I had heard this previously, so I guess I better just wait.

I still have a few sutures in there which she thinks should fall out within a few days. Apparently I should be a bit more rough with a towel after showers - no need to just pat dry anymore. Apparently I can also start going back to more normal routine. I'm a little nervous about starting exercising again though. I may wait a few more weeks for that. Then again, I did just use a vibrator yesterday...maybe it is okay.

Here is today's photo, a vulva apparently worth gushing over:

You can see the last suture there on the bottom left of my labia. It's looking a little better compared to yesterday, but I still think it looked best just after the operation. I guess I'll take weekly photos from now on to compare changes.

I have another appointment to see her in about six weeks. I'm still very happy I had this procedure done. No pain, minimal bleeding and great management by my surgeon. I've even done crazy stuff like skydiving and playing with vibrators within a week of the surgery, with no negative effects.

I'll post again less frequently from now on, but feel free to ask any questions in the comments section.

So...uhhhh...everything still works :D

It's been a week since my surgery. Today I was horny as hell so I decided to play with one of my vibrator toys. I just wanted to report, that ...ahem.....everything is working as normal :)

I wasn't hugely worried about nerve damage to the clitoris but I have heard horror stories about others having bad outcomes after labiaplasty. It wasn't the best orgasm I've ever had but my vulva has been through a lot this last week. I probably pushed it too much. But I'm happy. It felt great and it's all normal. 

Here's today's photo (pre-vibrator fun):

Still a little swollen, but like I said in my last post, I'm not worried yet. I'll see how it settles over the next few weeks. Tomorrow I meet with my plastic surgeon for a follow-up appointment.

Five days later

I've been interstate on a trip - with no problems post surgery, with the exception of itching (which I was warned about). Sitting in the plane and car for several hours wasn't a problem (which is great, since my surgeon suggested that I would have problems with that) and I even did it without any icepack. 

I have been seeing a bit of white discharge over the weekend - I think this might be thrush. It's not bothering me yet though, so I'm going to continue with the antibiotics.

There really hasn't been much pain from this operation at all! The only time it hurts a little is when I pat my vulva dry after the shower or toilet, but that seems perfectly reasonable. So the only real downside of travelling so soon after surgery was that I wasn't able to swim at the beach on hot days! Oh, and I didn't have much alcohol either, given that I was taking antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. But that didn't stop me from enjoying the rest of my trip - I even went bungee jumping with no issues :)

Here is my vulva five days after the operation, post menstrual cycle and post bungee jumping!

To be honest, I think it's become more swollen and almost rumpled since the last photo I took. I know that the shape of it is meant to change pretty drastically over the first few weeks - and maybe jumping off a platform with a rope tied to my legs didn't help it. Hopefully it'll settle down soon.

The blood you can see there isn't menstrual blood - it's from the sutures. I had just had a shower when I took this photo, and cleaning it was a little painful. One suture also fell out, which may be why it's bleeding. I'm not too concerned about the blood - more about the look and feel of it. 

The edges of my labia seem harder to touch - I guess it's a mix of sutures and scar tissue - but I assume it'll get softer again over time. 

I'll be seeing my plastic surgeon again later this week. I'll be taking a few more photos until then.

The morning after

I slept fairly comfortably overnight. I went to bed with an icepack in my panties. In the morning, there were only a few drops of blood on it and almost no discomfort. Later in the day, I noticed that there was a lot more blood, but because I was feeling a lot of cramps, I'm pretty sure it's my period and not any problems from the surgery. I took painkillers for the first time since the surgery, but only for the cramps! I've also been taking the anti-swelling and antibiotics as preventative measures.

I've done a fair bit of walking today. I had some minor errands to run. There weren't any problems while I walked around, although the icepacks were rubbing against my legs sometimes. The post-op instructions said that I should have icepacks on for 20 minutes, then off for twenty minutes, but I've pretty much just worn them until they've melted and then replaced them.

Here is a photo of my vulva the day after the operation. You can see a bit more blood in this photo but I'm sure most of it is menstrual. It looks a little bit more swollen than yesterday but I'm still very happy with the overall look. Usually when I look down there, the long, brown ends of my labia were the first thing I noticed. Today, I found myself looking further to find them, as if I just hadn't reached far enough! But nope, they're gone! Bye bye, long and uncomfortable labia!

Home from Labiaplasty Surgery

I'm home from hospital now. The labiaplasty was apparently successful. I am feeling fine - very minimal discomfort but I'm using ice packs right now as a preventative measure for the swelling that is meant to occur.

The morning started early with a 7am admission to hospital. I had been fasting since midnight for the general anaesthetic that I was going to receive. The admission went smoothly and I paid $1565 for the theatre fee and a day bed. After a while, I changed and was rolled into the operating theatre. The plastic surgeon asked if I had any last minute requests. I confirmed I wanted to have my labia shorter than the outer labia, to have them as similar in length as possible and then I asked to have all the brown parts removed. So at the last minute, I did end up having some aesthetic requests after all. 

I asked about my period and the surgeon told me that she would remove the tampon during surgery and replace it with a wrapped up icepack.

The last time I saw on the clock was 9:05am. When I woke up in the recovery room, it was 10am, so the surgery took less than an hour. In recovery, they insisted I eat some sugary soft drinks and an icy pole, which I was happy to have. I was in recovery for about 2 hours - not because I really needed to be, but because the nurse on duty wanted me to have an escort to the taxi rank. After waiting for a long time for an orderly though, she relented and I left on my own. I caught a taxi and was home by midday. I was still a little groggy from the general anaesthetic so I changed the icepack and went to bed where I slept until about 4pm. 

I'm still feeling quite comfortable - a local anaesthetic was used as well as the general. I'm not sure when it will wear off. I've already used the toilet which resulted in some slight stinging but nothing major. I patted my vulva dry with toilet paper and then washed quickly in the shower. There was a little bit of blood on the paper that wrapped around the icepack. I can't tell if it's menstrual blood or blood from the sutures, but either way, it's only a few small drops, so I'm not worried.I have been given a number of medications (which were additional expenses out of pocket) to take. These include an antibiotic, which I think is more of a preventative measure than anything. The surgeon mentioned that if I suffered thrush frequently, I shouldn't take the antibiotics, but fortunately it's not a common problem for me. I was also given anti-swelling medication and two painkillers - regular paracetemol and much stronger oxytocin. I haven't needed to take any painkillers yet and I doubt I'll need the oxytocin at all.

I've taken a photo of my vulva now that it's been about 8 hours since the operation. It's looking significantly smaller and I can't see any of the old brown patches, which I'm very happy about. I'm told that the shape will change over the next few weeks as swelling and scarring settles - although the area is meant to scar very well. I'm planning to take daily photos for a few more days and then maybe one a week to see how it settles over time.

Overall, I have to say I'm feeling pretty happy about it all :)

No insurance, but still going ahead.

Well, the nurse called and didn't have the best news. Looks like my health insurance was too basic to cover labiaplasty. Apparently it will pay for some of the private hospital stay and anaesthetic costs, which the nurse estimated would be around $300. This means that the labiaplasty surgery will leave me out of pocket by about $5000, after the Medicare and private health insurance rebates. I guess I'll just have to dip into my savings.

On the plus side, the nurse said that having my period isn't a problem. I'll need to wear a tampon. After surgery, patients typically wear pads to catch any light bleeding from the sutures anyway.

Well, it's going ahead. Tomorrow I will hand in my admission forms to the private hospital and on Wednesday I will go in for an early morning labiaplasty! Wish me luck.

Why now?!

Wow, what terrible timing! Not four hours after I left my plastic surgeon's rooms with a surgery date and time letter, and my period has started! Can I still have labiaplasty surgery with my period? It looks like it'll have to be postponed after all. The nurse is going to call me later today with details of how much my health insurance will cover. I'll have to ask her then about whether my period is a deal breaker.

Getting labiaplasty done - really soon!

Today I had my first meeting with my plastic surgeon in over a year. She ran through the same kinds of labiaplasty details as she did last time, always double checking to make sure I understood, which I appreciated. Interestingly, she seemed to be much more focused on the aesthetics side of things than she was a year ago. I didn't mind too much; the main point for me was to make my labia shorter than the outer labia and equal lengths on both sides. The aesthetics that she was concentrating on would yield the same results for me, comfort-wise.

One minor down-side was when the surgeon said that it was very hard to get both sides exactly the same lengths though. All women are asymmetrical though, so I shouldn't worry about it. I said that was okay then, so long as they were shorter and out of the way. Her before and after pictures looked pretty promising though. My labia may end up being only slightly asymmetrical.

Another thing that was different from a year ago was her plan to trim my right labia up top, where it is quite thick. She commented that my labia looked like they could be from two different women - that's how asymmetrical they were. So in addition to the length, she wanted to change the thickness to match the left side. I asked if this would affect the clitoral hood. She said yes, it would cut partially into the clitoral hood, but it shouldn't affect any of the nerve endings in the clitoris. I am a little nervous but will have to take her word for it.

The surgeon then ran through post-op care: no sex for 4-6 weeks, no gym or heavy exercise for 4-6 weeks. Fortunately I'm single at the moment, so the sex restriction isn't a big deal. The gym restriction is a little annoying, since I'm supposed to be training for a hike in April, but at least I can do regular walking. And it's for a long-term gain, so I shouldn't complain much.

After discussing it all, she asked me if I was still interested in labiaplasty. I said yes, so she sent me to speak with the nurse that would book me into surgery.

The nurse was very friendly and helpful. She seemed to have a lot of knowledge about the procedure. The surgeon's fees hadn't changed in the year since I had last seen her, but the private hospital fees had increased slightly. The nurse took my private health insurance details and said that she would contact me later about whether I was covered. I hope so - it was the main reason why I've waited this long to have the surgery!

The nurse explained that in a "worst case scenario", I would be out of pocket by around $5300. Medicare would reimburse me for some of the surgery costs, but not all. This is a little disappointing, but considering I'm spending similar amounts on laser hair removal, maybe it's not that big a deal.

Then came the surprising twist - the next available surgery date was this Wednesday! And after that, there wasn't anything available for a few weeks. But I still wanted to do my hike in April, so I had to cater for the 4-6 week recovery time. So it looked like I was going to have my surgery in just two days! But was that okay? I had an interstate trip planned for the weekend.

The nurse asked what I would be doing on the trip. I said, nothing too exhausting - just walking and spending time on the beach. She said that would be fine, and perhaps even a good time to go, since labiaplasty patients tend to feel okay for he first few days after their surgery. It's after a week when the sutures start to fall out and feel itchy.

Okay then, looks like I'm going to have labiaplasty this Wednesday then! Wow, this is crazy soon! The nurse booked me in and I paid the surgery fee. This Wednesday! Just two days before my annoying labia is gone!

Why Have Labiaplasty? My Story.

As a teenager, before I had even heard the term 'labiaplasty', I didn't really like the look of my labia minora (which I will just call the labia from now on). They were different lengths - the right labia was about 15mm longer than the left one - and both protruded past the labia majora.

Labelled diagram of a vulva. Not my vulva!
From Wikipedia. Image is in the public domain.

At the point where they protruded past the labia majora, they suddenly changed colour from the pinky flesh in the rest of my vulva to a dark brown colour, which I, in my young ignorance, thought was due to not being cleaned well enough. You can imagine my disappointment when scrubbing hard, trying all different kinds of soaps and even nail polish remover (yes, ouch) didn't get rid of the brown. Eventually, I asked my mother about it and she said she had the same discolouration and asymmetrical labia and that a lot of women did. Feeling better, I just accepted my labia and carried on.

Fast forward a few years later into my late teens and early twenties: my periods had finally become regular, I had experienced thrush, I had a much better understanding about my sexual health and - critically - my lifestyle had changed - I was now sexually active and travelling frequently as a backpacker.

The lifestyle factors were primarily what caused me to think about my labia again. As a backpacker that frequently travelled off the beaten track, genital hygiene became more of a headache. I wouldn't always have access to showers and wet wipes would sometimes cause irritation. My preference for environmentally-friendly recycled toilet paper often left me with toilet paper lint - this was generally worse while I had my period. The lint was obviously unhygienic, but it also sometimes caused irritation rashes and was flagged by my family doctor as a possible cause of my recurring cystitis problems.

Recycled paper toilet roll. Great for the environment; not so great for your vulva.
Photo by Brandon Blinkenberg and used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic licence.

I started having Brazilian waxes which helped a lot with the hygiene - the lint and any other mess was no longer sticking to my pubic hair - but they still stuck to my labia and caused the old same problems. Labia skin can be very rumpled and mine are perhaps more so - given that my right labia is so much bigger, longer and thicker than my left. I guess "bigger, longer and thicker" are attributes that are only useful to male genitalia.

Yep, these are my labia. I was due for a wax when these photos were taken - excuse the hair!

The other problem I started to notice about my labia was that it was getting in the way during sex. As you can see in the diagram above, labia have triangular shapes. My right labia's longest point is next to the vaginal orifice. It sometimes 'tucks itself in' and can essentially block the entrance to my vagina, as if I had grown a new hymen. During sex, my partner's penis would push through (which can be painful in itself) and pull my right labia into my vagina. This is obviously uncomfortable but also sometimes painful, especially when there wasn't enough lubricant.

I want to stress at this point that I never received any negative feedback about my labia from any of my sexual partners. To be honest, I can't remember a time when I heard a partner say anything about my labia. The men I partnered with were all very respectful about my ladybits and most of them gave me a damn good time :) A few were concerned about the pain I sometimes experienced - but I never tried to explain to them that my labia were the cause. I usually just suggested we use more lubricant or keep going regardless. Quite often they would still worry and stop altogether.

I know that some women have had labiaplasty performed because of perceived negative comments from their partners - and I have no problem with their choice in doing so. But I want readers to know that in my case, my reasons for wanting a labiaplasty are about comfort, not male opinions and not pornography-driven aesthetics. I hadn't even seen another woman's vulva when, as a teenager, I decided mine looked weird. Having a neater-looking vulva is not something I'd be unhappy about! But the key complaint here is comfort, not looks.

The problem here isn't men. It's an over-sized labia.
Photo by Joshua Rappeneker and used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic licence.

I'll give one last example of how my right labia causes discomfort - although, to be fair, this doesn't happen often. My right labia has a tendency to tuck itself into the labia majora (making hygiene an issue) but every so often, it'll hang out and rub against my underwear. This causes it to get dry and red from irritation. Sometimes, I've had to go to the bathroom and tuck it back in again, just to have some respite from the discomfort. It's not fun.

So, there you have it. Over my late teens and early twenties, hygiene and comfort (particularly comfort during sex) brought my attention back to my previously acceptable labia. Their aesthetics didn't bother me anymore like it did in my mid-teens, but the everyday comfort issues were becoming worse, even after finding workarounds, like brazilian waxes and lubricant.

I first heard about the labiaplasty procedure six years ago. I actually first heard about it in a negative light - newspaper articles and feminist columnists were decrying the proliferation of "designer vagina" operations, which they claim were becoming more popular because of "unrealistic expectations set by the porn industry", etc.

But I didn't pay much attention to any of that. Instead, my ears pricked up when I realised that there was a solution to these comfort problems I had for years! I tried researching it more, but there was little information available that wasn't condemning labiaplasty outright.

The idea that I could get labiaplasty stuck with me, and every so often, a new article about it would cross my path. There was one article in particular that grabbed my attention. Instead of condemning the procedure itself, it criticised the GPs that were performing labiaplasty on the cheap in their rooms. This, the article argued, was the primary reason why problems from the procedure have risen in number.

Instead, women should go to surgeons who were best qualified to do the procedure, in properly equipped suites or hospitals. Patients who were trying to save money on the operation had sometimes suffered really bad consequences, such as loss of sensation in the clitoris. I certainly didn't want this, and I knew from unrelated past experiences that plastic surgeons are best qualified to cut away bits of skin safely. So I knew I had to see a plastic surgeon with experience in labiaplasty.

I did just that over a year ago. I received a referral from a GP and saw a female plastic surgeon with plenty of experience in labiaplasty. She was very thorough in her description of the procedure - very quick to point out the risks of the operation and also the risk of having unrealistic expectations. She also had several folders full of letters from previous patients, thanking her for her work. The signs looked good that I'd be in safe hands.

I was very happy with her photo portfolio and happy with her attitude. So I agreed to have the labiaplasty done by her. However, I didn't have any private health insurance. The costs at the time were too much for me, even after a Medicare rebate. It was suggested I come back with health insurance that would cover pre-existing conditions (which generally have a wait time of 12 months). That's exactly what I've done.

It's been over a year since I've been to the clinic. I'm booked in to see her again in under a week, so I'll report more then.