Vaginoplasty

“Plasty” means “forming or repairing”, so vaginoplasty can refer to anything from tightening the vagina to removing excess scar tissue from an episiotomy or other vaginal trauma. Most commonly, it refers to an outpatient surgery under general anesthesia where the excess lining of the vagina is removed, and the underlying muscles are sutured together to reduce the size of the vagina and add support to the pelvic floor. Most patients are surprised at how little discomfort there is after surgery. There will be restrictions on strenuous activity for the first two weeks and restrictions on sexual activity and tampon use for 6-8 weeks.

vaginoplasty or vaginoplastia is a surgical procedure that we use to create, reconstruct, repair, or tighten a vagina. The term vaginoplasty or vaginoplastia can refer to several different surgeries depending on the medical context. In fact we have an entire blog dedicated to understanding all of the vaginal procedures we offer in our practice.

The major vaginoplasty surgery types include:

Gender-affirming vaginoplasty
These vaginoplasty surgeries are often performed for transgender women and nonbinary people as part of gender-affirming care. In this type of surgery we actually create a vaginal canal and external genital structures (such as the labia and clitoris) using existing tissue.
Reconstructive vaginoplasty
This type of surgery is performed in order to repair congenital conditions, injuries, cancer-related changes, or other medical issues affecting the vagina.
Finally Cosmetic or functional vaginoplasty
This surgery is primarily what we are referring to when we perform this surgery in our practice. In this case vaginoplasty surgery is used to tighten vaginal muscles or tissues, often after childbirth or aging-related changes. This is less medically necessary and more elective. However, there are non surgical options which use laser therapy in order to provide solutions for our patients who are not interested in surgical options for one reason or another.

Recovery and risks vary by the version of procedure being performed, but these surgeries can include:

Pain and swelling during healing
Infection or bleeding
Scarring
Changes in sensation
Need for follow-up care or dilation (in gender-affirming surgery)

Vaginal Rejuvenation & Vaginoplasty surgery is covered in more depth under our procedure pages. You can also read more about vaginoplasty cost in this article.

Feel free to check out our vaginoplasty before and after images in our labiaplasty gallery for a better understanding of the procedures aesthetic results.