Hi I've read a lot of posts about peoples experiences when undergoing the labiaplasty/labia reduction procedure and found them very helpful so I thought I'd share mine and hopefully get some advice from anyone else going through this or answer anyone's questions who are considering the surgery :)
I'm 17 and suffered from enlarged labia majora since the beginning of puberty but only this year had the courage to do something about it and decided to see my local GP. I explained my problems such as the discomfort and pain is caused me daily to which he understood but although he agreed my labia were enlarged, he was skeptic still as they weren't quite as large as those who normally meet the criteria to have this surgery on the NHS. However as soon as I hesitantly answered the question of whether it causes me pain/discomfort during sexual intercourse with that my labia have affected me so much that I am still a virgin because of the sheer embarrassment they cause he was able to see that my problems also fall under psychological distress, allowing me to be referred to a gynecologist on the NHS, hooray!
5 weeks later I had my appointment on July 29th with the NHS gynecologist who also examined me and quickly jumped the topic of surgery, I was relieved that I didn't have to plea my case again to have this done. He quoted me about 6 weeks until the surgery date checking that it didn't cause any inconvenience but I mentioned I started sixth form on the 3rd of September so instead he was able to arrange my surgery date for just a week later on August 6th to also allow time for me to recover before starting sixth form. I was shocked at how attentive they were and how they were able to cater to my specific needs!
August 6th quickly came and I was nervous, I had the surgery done under general anesthetic and it took about 30-45 minutes using the trimming method. When I woke up I was pain free but about an hour later when the anesthetic wore off I began to feel and tight stinging, at this point I was beginning to regret my decision as I was so aware I had been cut down there. The nurses quickly gave me 2 codeine which didn't really help so then I was given liquid paracetamol from a drip which finally relieved me of the pain. About 4 hours after the surgery I walked out of there and was taken home to rest after having a long after care discussion with a nurse.
The pain was minimal and I barely had to take any paracetamol, I felt no pain when lying down just a tight feeling of discomfort from the stitches when I got up. The first couple times going for a wee weren't pleasant and stung but after that absolutely painless and every time I go to the toilet I gently pour a cup of luke warm water over the area to wash any urine away to prevent infection. The day after the surgery I took my first shower which wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. I didn't thoroughly wash down there as it was still tender to touch so just rinsedwater from the shower head over it and that worked just fine. I haven't used any soap down there as I don't want to risk using one that could irritate the area or cause infection. I haven't taken a sitz bath yet as I don't want to prematurely dissolve my stitches.
It's now the 11th of August and I haven't bled at all, not even spotting, which I believe is a good sign. My labia are slightly black/blue on one side from bruising and still very tender to touch. I haven't had any itching which I read quite a lot about. They are slightly swollen but even so they're still shorter than what my labia were before which I am very pleased about! The labia around my clit which my gynecologist said he would stay away from to preserve feeling in the clitoris are noticeably bigger than the rest of my labia which I'm slightly worried about it not looking normal (sticking out) but I just have to keep reminding myself that they are swollen and it's only day 5 of the healing. I really hope everything will begin to even out soon so I don't have to worry but either way I can already tell that once healed it will look a lot better than it did before!
Feel free to share your experiences or ask any questions, I'd love to hear them! :)
-Olivia
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