Both can give you great results, but just make sure your doc knows what they are doing and provides you detailed post-op insturctions! Good luck and may everything go well! :)
You can read more about the differences of wedge/trim. http://vaginal-surgery.info/labiaplasty-technique
Hello girls :) PLEASE KEEP READING, this is long but has VITAL, HELPFUL information I promise haha. LOOK, I know you have read heaps of horror stories, and don't get me wrong, you have to take into consideration the risks and complications that can occur. PLEASE DONT LET THIS DISCOURAGE YOU. As with ANY procedure, some will be happy and some wont, its a risk only you should decide if your willing to take the risk. I personally think the risk its worth it, rather then spending the rest of my life in pain, self conscious when being sexually active, and less overall self esteem. So what have I got to loose? Even if the procedure doesn't end up being perfect? I still went ahead with my procedure and only got it performed today. I am ESTATIC! I look FANTASTIC already!!! I am already feeling a boost in my confidence!!!!!! I am only 19 years old, and had to be very brave in order to do this, as you will too. Now, to the important stuff. I realize alot of people on this forum aren't from Australia, so some of this won't apply to you, but some very important details will in most of it so please keep reading.FIRSTLY, the MOST IMPORTANT thing to do is to PICK YOUR SURGEON RIGHT. Do NOT go with a gynecologist!!!!! Although I realize some are genuinely qualified, ALOT aren't. Some gynos claim to be trained in areas they are NOT. Most are NOT SURGEONS AT ALL. All they have to have is a medical degree and then they can legally say they can perform certain procedures they have no experience operating on. I did not even put a gyno as an option for me. I agree some are happy with gynos work but I didn't even want to chance anything going wrong with the most personal, private and feminine part of my body that I have to live with FOREVER. Even if it takes you a few more years of saving. I know the price can vary but I would GREATLY recommend waiting and saving for a PLASTIC SURGEON or COSMETIC SURGEON. Finding the right surgeon can take MONTHS of researching. I think I spent about 60 hours on the computer, and many hours on the phone to clinics, so I KNOW what im talking about. Picking the right person can be a highly confusing exercise and I have stacks of paper with written scribbles on it, comparing surgeons and their qualifications, and researching the differences in methods. This next part is important to read and was copied off a website: Not all practitioners claiming to be surgeons have the same training. The Royal Australian College of Surgeons is the only statutory body for training of plastic surgeons in Australia. The letters FRACS (plastic surgery) indicate your surgeon has full fellowship of the College in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. This fellowship represents years of training (at least 10 years) and rigorous examinations. In fact FRACS is the only recognized surgical qualification in Australia and is the gold standard by which all other aspirants in this area are measured. Make sure your surgeon has a fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons by checking for the letters FRACS and is a member of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons. You can check this on the ASPS website. The way you can do this in Australia, is by going on THIS WEBSITE AND THIS WEBSITE ONLY. It is the OFFICIAL website for plastic surgeons in Australia. Type 'AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY OF PLASTIC SURGEONS' into google. Some of these surgeons don't perform labiaplasty so you will have to find one that performs it, and preferably, someone who specialities in it. I typed each ones name into google and looked at their website (some don't have one, so I didn't bother much with them as I think the more professional they are, they will have a website) I left numerous emails, phone calls and voicemails. I decided to get three consultations (They cost $150 each and I got around $71 back on each consultation with Medicare, but your out of pocket expensive may vary with each surgeon, depending on the initial cost for the consultation. As some surgeons cost a little more then $150, maybe $170 for example)I went with Paul Belt firstly, who has an excellent reputation (FORTITUDE VALLEY, BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA) He was FANTASTIC and EXTREMELY professional and sensitive. He went to great lengths to make the physical examination as less envasive as he possibly could, he was honest and realistic about the expectations and possible complications with labiaplasty. He discussed with me the technique he prefers and is more experinced in performing (he uses the trim method, which means exactly as the name indicates. He trims of the labia without touching the cliterol hood at all. He told me he would not perform anything around my clit as its a risk of sensation loss and he personally didnt think I needed it. He said to me that he did not like to perform the wedge technique as he has seen so many complications with it and he said 'why complicate a simple procedure'. I was inclined to agree with him (this later changed upon researching the trim method more, I changed my mind on how i felt about it; ill explain this later) After his consultation I was %99 per cent sure I wanted to go with him, but thought for my own peace of mind, ill go and get a few more consults anyway, more out of curiosity then anything, as I truely didn't believe anyone could be as caring and professional and understanding as he was. However, I was concerned about some girls complaining of the long painful scar that the trim gives, the unnatural appearance, and the fact that many girls had had their labia amputated or cut way too short. I then went to Andrew Broadhurst (FORTITUDE VALLEY, BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA) I was EXTREMELY disatisfied with his consultation..... He did NOT EVEN HAVE A BED FOR ME TO LAY DOWN ON!!!!! He told me to 'just stand up for me and drop your panties'. He did not even have me lay down and touch me to spread my legs and lips so he could examine me properly. Oddly enough, I found this SO much more invasive then Paul's, even though with Paul's, I had my legs completely spread and he quickly touched the area just to spread the my legs and labia. He was very considerate by not touching or looking around that area longer then necessarily, although he did a through review, unlike Andrew Broadhurst!!! As soon as I walked into his room and realised he had no bed for me to even lay on, my mind was already made up. Obviously he didn't perform these procedures enough to even warrant having a bed to examine people that are consulting for this type of surgery!!! And that to me, indicates less experience then Paul Belt. Andrew Broadhurst performs the trim method or the wedge method, whereas Paul was only really keen on the trim as he believed too many complications happened with the wedge, as mentioned earlier. Andrew was honest about the healing process, and this I did like about him. He told me that alot of surgeons photos on their websites are airbrushed, and that on reality, you will look pretty unsightly for a while. He also explained many surgeons talk to you about it as a minor surgery with minimal pain, and although it is minor compared to other surgerious, you will still be in pain and will have trouble sitting. It's a very inconvenient place to have surgery in that regard. I did love Andrews honestly about the pain afterwards. Although his receptionist ( I went to the CONOSA (think thats the correct spelling, clinic in OXLEY, BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND) was less then encouraging. My mum who came with me said that the receptionist spent the whole time whining about how tired she was, and looking at her clock and yawning, even though my appointment was at 11am. Not only that, my mother could still hear the muffled voices of Andrews and my very private discussion, over the receptionists LOUD phone calls to other patients, on which she was discussing their personal issues so that my mother could hear, and also I could hear her voice over Andrews, between a closed door. She made no attempt to be discreet with the words she was using, discussing their full names and the procedures they were getting in great personal depth, and was not even attempting to quieten her naturally very loud voice. I believe thats very unprofessional of the receptionist to behave like this when we are spending thousands of dollars on a very discreet surgery and unprofessional of Andrew to have someone so careless working for him. Just gives an air and vibe of unprofessionalism and didn't exactly make me want to get my procedure done by him. This may sound petty, but I examined every area of fault within the surgeons and their clinics and staff. It's also unprofessional that my mum could even hear our muffled voices and some clear words spoken between Andrew and myself. Luckily, there was not one else in the waiting room besides my mum. This is very off putting when your spending so much money on something as serious as surgery, particularly one as private as this. After much time thinking, I decided I was not overly satisfied with the two most common procedures (trim and method) as they all seemed to have their benefits, but they mainly had complications I was not willing to risk. The trim makes you look most unnatural, and cuts off nerve endings ( I don't care if anyone on this forum wants to debate this, as it is CUTTING OFF BLOOD VESSELS and your flesh where nerve endings are) This is the same with the wedge. I did not like the fact that the trim and wedge method has every possibility of making you appear 'top heavy' once it is performed, especially if you have a little excess skin around your cliterol hood. I did not feel that I needed a complete surgery on my cliterois skin, although I did feel that without a slight procedure to cut off a tiny bit of skin around the SIDES (not top) I would appear a little top heavy.... Then my problem would just be the opposite after healing. Instead of looking too big on the bottom, I'd now look too big on the top. I hope this all makes sense. Paul Belt felt as if this wasn't necessary, although I did to a slight degree. Andrew said he would perform a wedge or a trim and then could do a operation around my clit to even it out. Although I still didn't like the idea of the trim method as it can leave a very unnatural appearance and can leave a very long scar from the bottom to the top, on the edges of your labia, and that this could be a painful scar ( any technique can leave a painful scar however, but moreso a risk with the trim)
I preferred the fact that the wedge left a smaller scar and leaves a more natural appareance, as they are keeping the frilled edge and colour, but with the trim method, it completely cuts off your natural edges; wedge does not do it as much, only in the spot that they actually cut out, which obviously you will never even see anyway as it will be stiched together. They literally cut a V into your labia and then sew it back up, from the inside of the scar to the outer part where they connect the skin back again. It's like cutting a peiece of paper in a circle, and then cutting a v shape into the center of the circle, ( kind of like the pie graph in school mathmatics haha) then joining the two edges together. So intimately, a big chunk of your skin (and nerves, blood vessels) have been cut out. This causes some, and I have to stress this, SOME to cause loss of sensation, but not all; I just didn't like the idea of it. There is then also a risk that the scar will not heal properly and split open, which is then very difficult to reconnect because of scar tissue. It can only be successfully reconnected in some instances. If it cannot, you will in essence end up with two labias on one side. Then if it happens to the other labia, you will have four labiaplasty in total. Iv seen photos and its HORRIBLE. No only that, it is extremely hard to revise and fix, as your labia has been cut into a V shape. There is not much left to work with for a revision ( At least with a trim, if they dont cut off enough, you can easily get a revision and have more cut off. But you also run the risk with the trim of them cutting off too much or even amputating them completely, like some women on some forums have said) I personally, did not like the sounds of each of these procedures. AND THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO, IS TALK A SURGEON INTO A METHOD THEY ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH!!!! It YOU who will come off worse!!!! This is why I did not go back to Paul Belt and ask him if he could perform the wedge on me, because I already knew this was not his preferred method. It is unfair on the surgeon, and you will be cheating yourself out of a nice looking vagina if you try to convince a surgeon to do a method they have less experience in. After both consultations though, I decided I did not want either. I thought this meant I was just stuck, and would just have to choose the trim or wedge, knowing that both didn't sound great in my opinion. I started researching again and came across DR GEORGINA KONRATS website. It states on her page that she performs an entirely different method. HOORAY!
SO
I decided to book a third appointment with Dr Georgina Konrat ( ANNERLY- I think that's how it's spelt, BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA) and she was FANTASTIC. She is a COSMETIC SURGEON. Which I believed meant she had more expertise in making it appear nice in the end rather than a plastic surgeon. I feared that a plastic surgeons main objective is to eliminate the functionality problem ie. the pain of long labia, and would not be as concerned with the overall appearance as a cosmetic surgeon is. Although functionality IS the main issue obviously, a cosmetic surgeon will be just as concerned about the appearance after. ALTHOUGH BOTH PLASTIC SURGEONS AND COSMETIC SURGEONS ARE GREAT AND BETTER THEN A GYNECOLOGIST. I have to stress, the main reason I decided to get this was because of functionality, it was painful, although I also did not want to come out of this still being self conscious about its appearance as I was before. She explained that she does not do either the wedge or trim, as she thoroughly agreed with me, there are too many possible complications and a less appealing and natural looking finish. She uses a technique called the DOVE. It is a relatively new method that she developed herself. And let me tell you, it is the WAY TO GO. She does NOT CUT ANYTHING OFF, she uses a laser and thins your labia and connects it back to itself, basically folding it over ( To be honest, it was very hard for me to even understand what exactly she does in the consultation, as I believe it's even a bit difficult for her to even explain ) but basically there's nothing cut off. The top part of your labia is just pulled downwards and the longer stretched part of the labia is sort of 'tucked in' if that makes sense. That is what she did with her fingers on my labia, whilst she was explaining what it will look like. When I first heard this I was worried that if she was folding the excess skin over the labia, it would come off thicker then before. But she explained that the skin of the labia itself is very thin so will not come off with a thicker appearance on each labia then before. I was very impressed at how engaging she was, and how at ease i felt with her. she gave me a mirror and very casually said 'Okay sweetie, hop up on the bed, take your pants off and grab that little mirror and we will have a look together'. She was very caring towards me, she did not embarrass me at all. I went back for a second consultation as it was still a tad confusing for me to totally understand, although, it is a much more complex procedure then the trim or the wedge. This is why it also takes much more time. The trim only takes 15-20 mins, cause they just snip it off, and the wedge takes a little longer, perhaps 40min to an hour, but the dove takes an hour to two hours. Although, mine took 2 hours and 35 mins as I had labiaplasty and slight trimming of the cliterol skin on the sides. (Georgina did not rush my operation, and in actual fact, she was running an hour late for my operation because as was still working on someone else) This did not bother me in the slightest, as I knew the same patience would be given to me. Once Georgina examined me in my first consultation, she agreed with EVERYTHING I had thought about coming off appearing top heavy. She said to me 'yes, you definitely don't need a full cliterol hood reduction, but you would benefit from a little excess skin taken from the sides in order to 'even out' the appearance so that the transition from the cliteriois skin to the labia, is more proportional. I was so happy that someone finally understood my concerns! I had read many reviews from girls on the internet getting the wedge or trim, and then once its healed, they realize that theres too much skin around the hood in comparison to their now small labia, and say that they will go back and get a revision to even it all out. This ends up being more expensive as you are getting two procedures at separate times, and also healing time will be longer overall. I loved the fact that Georgina was a female also, as I personally believe ( considering she has her own haha ) that she would understand more from a females perspective what another female wants like to look like down there... And not to mention, it was more comfortable going to a female, even as nice as Paul Belt was. If you want to go ahead with a trim, i STRONGLY recommend Paul Belt. i would have definitely had him perform my procedure if i wanted a trim. There was an air of professionalism right from my first dealings with him and his staff, up until the end. His clinic was big and clean and modern, his staff were impeccably dressed, polite and professional, des crest and also returned my calls as emails promptly. I even wrote an email after midnight and received an email straight back from one of his receptions.THAT is dedication. Unlike Andrew Broadhurst, i had to chase up phone calls that were promised and never made. Inalso had to chase up an email I needed from him in order to get the surgery funded. Paul Belt did this email for me on the spot, in the consultation. Andrew Broadhurst took a week and a half. Andrew didn't give me a receipt when i handed him over $150, Paul did. This meant i had to chase up the receipt from Andrew in order to get a medicare rebate back, and the gap funded by my insurance. ALL OF THESE LITTLE THINGS YOU HAVE TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION. You have to have an overall feeling of trust with the surgeon. If you have ANY questions, and I mean ANY, do NOT hesitate to email me. I would LOVE to be able to give advice as I know myself that I researched SO many different reviews trying to find all the peices of information I wanted, as many didn't provide all of that in one review.... Hence the reason I have wrote such a long one. As for now, I am feeling so great, in no pain at all. Its more of an uncomfortable feeling as many people have describe on the net. DO NOT let those horror stories freak you out... I do realize I still don't know if I will have healing problems, an infection or what not, but what I can say, is I'm hardly swollen and I look better then what I did before the surgery! MUCH BETTER. I can send photos to people if desired. I have before photos taken an hour before surgery, and numerous photos taken today, one of them only 15 min after. As i had re edited my spelling mistakes from when i first wrote this, I now also have 2 days post op photos. I look forward to hearing any responses and sorry if there's spelling mistakes, autocorrect is the devil! Haha Australian this all cost $5,180. Although it will cost less if you are wanting just labiaplasty and nothing near your cliterol hood. I went in as a day surgery under twilight sedation and local anesthetic. I am now at day 2 and no longer need any medication. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND GEORGINA, even if you have to travel interstate!!! HOPE THIS HELPED :)
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HI, im looking into getting this surgery. your post was very helpful. i see the site took off your email, bc its not allowed, but id really like to get in touch with you. is there anyway for us to make that possible?
Hi, I'm 16 years old and had labiaplasty last Wednesday - 28th November.The first few days I was perfectly fine, the third day I woke up with pain and a cold, but painkillers helped a lot with that. On Monday 3rd Dec I woke up and went to the toilet to have a wee - as soon as I started weeing it stung so much! I just stopped and went downstairs, made myself a drink of water and went to take a painkiller... and passed out. I went to the Doctors and she took a look for me - she said it was healing fine and to pee in the shower. Peeing in the shower made no difference, it still stung SO MUCH! And I don't mean stinging like a water infection, it was much much worse than this. So Tuesday 4th (The next day) i went back to the doctors, I was given antibiotics for a water infection (although I was pretty sure it wasnt an infection) and told to pee in the bath, yes I know lol!. The antibiotics have made no difference, peeing in the bath is easier than on the toilet or in the shower, but it still hurts so much. For example, this evening at 8pm I ran myself a cool bath. I sat in and tried to pee, it was EXCRUCIATING!!! I have to pee in little bits, I can't just sit there and pee. I was in the bath for 2 hours, crying my eyes out. Has anyone experienced anything like this? Please please help me, I'm really scared and feel I have little/no support at all. I'm worried somethings gone wrong. Thanks!!!
aw bless you, you poor thing and you are sooo young! only thing i can suggest is to run warm salty water over the area every time u wee, but to be honest im suprised it is as painful as u describe, particulalry if the doc is certian u havent got the area infected - and if it were infected the antibiotics should sort that out - but bear in mind that will take 7 days to work - make sure u finish the course. apart from that are u ok in terms of pain the rest of the time? are u able to speak to your mum? oh and wot ever u do please ensure u drink lots as this will dilute your wee, strong wee from lack of drinking wont help x
Thanks for sharing Im 43 also from Australia and have found it hard to find stories from women who have had it done,I have a surgeons appointment on the 18th Jan. One thing that is holding me back is the thought of no exercise I currently go to the gym 4 times a weekand walk my dog 4km daily I also worry about the long term effects if something goes wrong Its a huge thing weighing on my mind
hi there - forget exercise for about 6 weeks - ie aerobic classes. u will prob be ok with gym after about 3-4 weeks - no running!! walking prob after about 2 weeks - u will def not want to walk very far at first i can assure you as it feels like you have a brick hanging from below due to the stitches, quite hard to describe, but remember evetryone heals differently. u have to do lots and lots of research on this and make your own mind up - as you can see from all the stories there are good and there are bad. best of luck to you
I just had my labiaplasty done literally one hour Ago. I haven't even looked at my vagina yet except for just standing in the mirror and let me tell you it's nice not to see that skin hangin there anymore. Honestly it wasn't a cosmetic issue though it was comfort, I have a boyfriend of two years who I plan on marrying and he was fine with it. But it always got in the way during sex and was usually swollen afterward which made it awfully uncomfortable to wear jeans sometimes. Also it's only one side, but it was very long.
So I had it done here in my town and the price was a shock to me. Only 1000. it would have been 1500 but it was only one side so. Still waiting to heat if insurance will help at all.
The way my procedure was done, was different than what I read a lot about. First I had two shots injected in the area. I had heard some horror stories about this part but hey it wasn't too bad. Waited about fifteen min for it to fully set in and then she went to work. (by the way had a super nice surgeon which it a lot easier to go through) she used like a hot (sp?) saudering type device and basically just burnt her way thru it. I could spell burnt skin which was a bit gross but the way she did it with heat made it so no bleeding occurred. Then she stitched it up and they will dissolve in a few days.
so far a good experience. I will post again tomorrow and let you know if it got really painful and how the looks turned out.
I had it done about 8 hrs ago and have never been in so much pain. Painkillers Jo not working, I'm bleeding so much. Has anyone had such bleeding? If its normal I won't go back to the hospital, but if it isn't normal to bleeding, to the point of changing the gauze every 30-45 mins, I have to go back. I'm in so much pain but I will try to avoid them touching it or rest itching if Conan
i had to go back the evening after having the op as was losing a lot of blood - they cleaned the area up and then it seemed fine, i wasnt in any pain, so not sure y u are in so much pain, keep taking painkillers- if u can take paracetmaol and then 2 hours later ibuprofen and keep doing that so u are keeping the anagesia continuously topped up and icing the area. when u wee pour warm salty water over it, rest as much as u can and try not to sit up. keep us updated
do any of you all have before and after pictures? Would love to see before I get mine done.
I DO NOT trust her either....It is impossible to recover in 16 days.... Please do not lie...
Labiaplasty removes a lot of the nerve endings that are there naturally for pleasure. You could feel less or different