NHS Labiaplasty, advice from UK members please?

Hi I justed to say I'm in Nireland and labiaplasty is still available on NHS but only if it's for pain/discomfort reasons. Not cosmetic at all. I got referred in July and my op is in 2 days time. It is being performed in the gynae dept of our local hospital. So there's hope if you are asking for the right reasons x

Your in Northern Ireland? Me too and I want to have a labiaplasty on the NHS. I am very uncomfortable walking because they rub on my clothes, whether they are tight or not. I also hate the appearance of them and think they look really ugly. It's really lowered my self-esteem. I got a referral to a gynaecologist at Causeway Hospital, which is tomorrow. What hospital did you go to? How is the healing? and how does it look? Do you think the NHS will do mine or not since the appearance matters to me too and it isn't entirely medical?

Me again. I just had my appointment and the gynaecologist is going to do a labial reduction! She isn't going to do anything about my clitoral hood but she assures me I won't look disproportionate afterwards. Hopefully she's right and everything will turn out okay. At first she said I would need an overnight stay but then said if everything was fine, I may be able to leave that day. I will be under general anaesthetic. She said she does about 6 a year, but that's more than I expected. Wish me luck!

aw princess fantastic news, u dont know how lucky you are that ireland still doing the op! my advice is to read as much information as you can beforehand so u are well prepared. ive not heard of anyone staying overnight as it is such a short procedure - about half hour max. if u have any questions please ask - as it was from going on these sites that got me thru it xx

Hi emzone! Sorry I didn't reply sooner but I've been without internet for a few days.I read that you had labiaplasty done 2 years ago. Was that on the NHS? How did it go? I think the overnight stay is just them being overly cautious. Maybe its because I've never had any form of anaesthetic or surgery before (I'm 19 by the way). I'm really nervous about the operation but I know I want it. I felt horrible when the gynaecologist measured my labia and then she drew a diagram. I knew one was bigger than the other but I didn't realise it was that much of a difference. My right labia is 3cm and the left is 4.5cm. I still wish she would remove the folds on either side of my clitoral hood because they are quite bulky. I may need to get that done privately if I can find somewhere in NI that does it, and it's gonna be expensive. All for the sake of 2 extra little snips during my labiaplasty!

hi princess - yep nhs, i was one of the last ones in my area it was funded for (herts and north herts area), and slowly but surely it has spread across england, and now v few are actually funded, so wrong!

the anessthetic part of the op is the best bit ha ha, i had the op done at 11, was back on the ward at 11.30 and home by 3.30! the most wonderful bit is tea and toast after the op -honestly u wont taste a betta cup of tea ever!

at least your gynae is a lady - imagine a man measuring your bits omg! mine was roughly same as yours but near on 4cm for one and near on 5 for the other - gross! no-one can appreciate the effects this has on a girl mentally and physically unless they have this. it took me 20 years to pluck up courage to get it done - god wish i had it done at your age. personally i wouldnt let anyone remove anything around the hood bit - far too delicate to risk anything going wrong. so i basically had it near enough all removed apart from an inch or so from the hood - to be honest i wasnt expecting her to do that and no idea why she did  - but its the best thing i ever did, so happy happy now not to have anything hanging down or the horrible discomfort of rubbing all the time and the embarrasement of what i looked like - not that my husband or previous boyfriends ever said anything - my husband didnt even know i felt the way i felt!

u will read lots of horror stories, but we are all different in our recovery. for me i only needed 1 pain killer - honestly only 1. i took 10 days of work - but, really 2 weeks would have been better - she also re-did stitches from where i was cut having one of my daughters 18 years ago - so had that to contend wtih as well! = and didnt know about her doing that until i woke up!!

my tips for you - get emla cream- this is a numbing cream which you can put directly on the area in case u are in pain, get a rubber ring - omg what a godsend that was as sitting is really awkward as u can feel the stitches pulling, every time u wee pour warm salty water over the area - weeing never stung me, but its a good way of keeping the area scrupilously clean - so important to keep clean as u dont want an infection - no bath for a week as u dont want stitches to disolve early! just shower after 24 hours - no soap down there. ice - on and off every half hour for the first few days - heaven - not directly on the area - i wrapped ice in a muslim cloth and then put it in a surgical glove-  what must i hve looked like! rest rest rest- so important.

anyway, hope u havent lost the will to live reading all this ha ha. keep me updated x

Thanks for all the information and I haven't lost the will to live! I think I've read every single bit of info and every horror story of labiaplasty there is online and it hasn't put me off. I think it will all be worth it in the end. At least I hope so. I know what you mean about people not understanding unless they have had the same problem. I really hate it when women say that it's superficial and only stupid, selfish women get labiaplasty because they want to look like porn stars, and then go on to say that they already have perfect, small labia!
We should all be free to do whatever is necessary for us to be happy!

To emzone or anyone else who had labiaplasty on the NHS, did you get a chance to speak to the gynaecologist again before your op? I still have some questions to ask her and I don't want to wait 2 weeks to see a GP to get another referral and then wait another 2 months to see the gynaecologist again! I may even have had my op by then! I'm panicking now about my clitoral hood. I tried to explain to her about them being bulky but she just said that if my labia weren't causing me pain, she wouldn't be doing anything at all.

hi princess, yes very briefly before the op - u wont get referred again - as u are already booked for the op, honestly i wouldnt let anyone touch that area its just too risky! and u will find once the sides are trimmed rite down the top part wont be as bad

Hi i've just been told by my doctor that i'm being referred to a Gynaecologist but i'm just wondering how long others have waited to get a gynaecologist appointment for the surgery? Im from Newcastle. So happy though!

how lucky are u razzle that your area will still do this op! ask your doctors if they use choose & book for appointments - bascially u get given a choice of your local hospitals and you book the appointment yourself - this is how it works down south. otherwise its a case of how long is a piece of string in terms of how long u have to wait - all i can tell u is that from my area (im a doctors secretary) we give appointments to see the consultant within about 3 weeks of seeing the doctor and u will then be listed for surgery, personally for me, i was seen in april and had the op in july - so think its about a 3 month wait, but again, depends on your area best of luck to u

Hi Razzle92! I live in Northern Ireland and I saw my GP on the 27th of July and didn't see a gynaecologist until the 3rd of October! But I just received a letter a few minutes ago to say that I'm having my labiaplasty op on the 30th of October! It's all so sudden! I am so nervous now! I don't know how long it will take from your gynnae appointment til your op but I heard someone waited 2 months, which was what I was expecting. Good luck!

omg princess wow!! now get yourself out shopping for all the things u are going to need. keep us update how u get on x

Wow im so pleased for you Princess! i'm 19 and truly believe if this op goes ahead it will totally change my life..i've read dozens of posts and we're obviously all on the same wave length in terms of discomfort etc.. love that i can come here for advice now, only just told my Mam the craic.

Loobylu - My doctor told me that i had a choice of hospitals i just said whatever had the shortest waiting list, i believe she rang me the same day but when i tried to ring back there was no answer. I'm unsure what to do..should i continue trying to ring the number or do you think i will receive some kind of letter confirmation?

 

Thanks for any replies!!!! x

 

sorry...forgot to put a display name in, the previous post is from me in case i've confused anyone.