Vaginal rejuvenation is a fast-growing field in medicine. This is because technology and technique improve all the time and because more women are interested in it. But what exactly is it and how does vaginal rejuvenation improve your sex life?
The vagina changes throughout our lives as we experience puberty, childbirth, and menopause. The purpose of vaginal rejuvenation is to bring the vagina back to what it used to be before childbirth and/or menopause. For this reason, I think that “restoration” is actually a more appropriate term than “rejuvenation”.
What Does Vaginal Rejuvenation Entail?
A vaginoplasty is a type of vaginal rejuvenation that involves surgery. There are other non-surgical, in-office options, typically performed by a gynecologist or a plastic surgeon, which is what I’m discussing today. These non-surgical options all have the goal of improving function and feeling in the vagina by building collagen.
Collagen is a protein that’s necessary for strong and elastic skin and is also an important component of muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and bone. Production of collagen within the body begins to decline around age 25 and this accelerates after menopause. In the vagina, the effects of this reduction of collagen include loss of lubrication leading to dryness and laxity, or a feeling of “looseness.”
The most common treatment is currently use of the CO2 laser. A specialized laser targets the internal and external lining of the vagina, heating up the tissue to promote production of collagen. Another common modality is radio frequency, which involves a device that administers electromagnetic waves to heat the tissue to promote collagen production. As a bonus, it’s also great at improving urinary incontinence. Finally, stem cell therapy/Platelet-Rich Plasma (RPR) is another option. Here, blood is drawn and platelet-rich plasma is separated and then injected back into the body, either the clitoris or G-spot (or both). This plasma helps to produce more collagen in the vagina.
How Vaginal Rejuvenation Improves Your Sex Life
Vaginal rejuvenation through stimulating collagen production can improve your sex life in a number of ways. Some of the biggest complaints of menopausal and post-menopausal women include vaginal dryness that makes intercourse painful and a feeling of looseness that makes it less satisfying. Increased collagen in the vagina strengthens the vaginal walls, improving laxity, and increases glycogen and improves the ability of the cells to create lubrication. Collagen also helps strengthen the muscles that support the urethra, which improves incontinence.
In short, vaginal rejuvenation can:
- Increase vaginal moisture
- Strengthen vaginal muscles
- Improve painful intercourse
- Reduce urinary leakage and urgency
- Improve vaginal looseness
- Increase vaginal sensitivity
Taking Control of Your Sexual Health
For too long, women have suffered in silence, believing we shouldn’t discuss our sexuality or take steps to improve our sex lives – especially once we’re past a certain age. But times are changing, and women are discovering there’s a conversation to be had about sexual health in later years, as well as the technology to improve it. If you want to recapture the feeling and function you used to enjoy, consider vaginal rejuvenation.
If you’re interested in learning more, give my office a call at 520-447-1772 or schedule a consultation and we’d be happy to talk through the procedure with you!