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American Health and Beauty Article on Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation and Labiaplasty

[ No Comments ] Posted on 07.13.08 under Uncategorized

Short, but excellent summary on Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation, labiaplasty, and perineoplasty on American Health and Beauty for Houston, Texas.

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Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation is gaining in popularity and acceptance - Once considered a taboo topic, more and more women are saying that sex isn’t the same after childbirth. Many gynecologists are offering a procedure called “Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation” which can restore women to more like their pre-childbirth form.

www.americanhealthandbeauty.com/articles/?Article=88 - 23k

Labiaplasty, Vaginoplasty,Vaginal rejuvenation - What do these terms mean?

[ No Comments ] Posted on 07.11.08 under Uncategorized

With the evolution of cosmetic gynecology comes a plethora of confusing terms.  So what’s the difference between labiaplasty, vaginoplasty, and vaginal rejuvenation?

These procedures are divided into two main categories: Vaginal tightening for anatomic looseness and decreased friction during intercourse - and aesthetic enhancement to the external structures (labia and clitoris).  Labiaplasty refers to improving the appearance to the external genitalia, while vaginal rejuvenation or vaginoplasty indicates pelvic reconstruction to the internal vaginal muscle and ligaments.  Both conditions result from tissue trauma from childbirth and natural aging.

Some women desire both procedures, while others just want aesthetic enhancement  and others just  the tightening of the vaginal canal.

Dr. Birken is a board certified gynecologist and uro-gynecologist who has been doing pelvic reconstruction for almost 30 years.  Dr. David Matlock, of the Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation Institute in Beverly Hills, California, has taught Dr. Birken his innovative techniques for cosmetic gynecology including Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation and Designer Laser Vaginoplasty.

Dr. Birken is founder of Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation of The Woodlands with offices in Houston and The Woodlands, Texas

Vaginal Rejuvenation in Houston, Texas

[ No Comments ] Posted on 07.10.08 under Uncategorized

Until Dr. David Matlock offered to teach other surgeons his methods for laser vaginal rejuvenation (LVR) and designer laser vaginoplasty (DLV), patients seeking these procedures had to go to Beverly Hills, California.

Now, with Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation Institute Associates, patients can have these surgeries performed without traveling out of state.

Dr. Randy Birken, a board certified gynecologist and associate of the Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation Institute, performs vaginal tightening as well as labiaplasty surgeries in The Woodlands, Texas, a suburb of Houston.

“It’s exciting to offer patients these important surgical corrections for vaginal looseness as well as for cosmetic gynecology.  By using Dr. David Matlock’s unique laser techniques, these outpatient procedures are safe, easy to heal from, and produce excellent results for women with these types of problems,” Dr. Birken said.

For more information, go to www.lvria.com

Better Sex with Vaginal Tightening - Article from MSNBC

[ 2 Comments ] Posted on 06.30.08 under Uncategorized

David L. Matlock, M.D., stands poised before Rosemary Staltare’s vagina, preparing to inject her G-spot with a dense dollop of collagen that will plump it to the size of a small stack of quarters. Through an opening in a plastic speculum of his own design, the gynecologist navigates a needle into Staltare’s frontal vaginal wall, pumping it up with his “secret” variation of the substance that for years has been used to swell women’s lips. Dr. Matlock, known for his appearances on the E! channel show Dr. 90210, insists that enlarging a woman’s G-spot renders it more accessible and sensitive to the touch for a period of up to four months.

Staltare, a 33-year-old restaurant publicist who has had the $1,850 procedure twice before for free — and is getting it gratis again today in exchange for letting me watch — couldn’t agree more.

“It’s like having a mini-heartbeat in my crotch,” she explains, a sensation that arouses her even during yoga and spinning classes, or when she drives along bumpy roads. During sex, Staltare says, she has volcanic, multiple orgasms “like huge waves that keep lifting me higher and higher.”

Better sex life?
For now, it’s impossible to know if vaginal surgery is more likely to improve a woman’s sex life or devastate it. One person who would love to answer that question is Debby Herbenick, sexual health education coordinator at the Kinsey Institute for Sexual Research in Bloomington, Indiana. During the past several years, she has approached specialists in the field of cosmetic genital surgery about gathering patients to participate in a long-range study of sexual enhancement related to these surgeries. Not one has agreed. So far, the only studies are two surveys by Chilean doctor Jack Pardo Schanz, M.D., another graduate of Dr. Matlock’s class. In surveys at the Clinica Las Condes in Santiago, he found that 90 percent of women who underwent vaginal tightening surgery said their sex life was either greatly or significantly improved. (He noted that the study had “several shortcomings.” There was no control group; the results were based on subjective experiences; and the follow-up period was only six months.) Dr. Matlock says that his patient surveys for the G-Shot show an 87 percent satisfaction rate, but that he could not share details of his unpublished research with SELF.

Vaginal Tightening and Better Sex - Article from WebMD

[ No Comments ] Posted on 06.28.08 under Uncategorized

The Facts of Life, and Vaginal Tightening

Susan, a 32-year-old mother in Temecula, Calif., sought treatment for urinary incontinence that began after the birth of her children. What she got was an unexpected surprise: better sex.

“My urinary incontinence wasn’t severe,” she says. “But they say in time it can become severe. My surgeon said he could re-tighten my pelvic muscles and inner walls to solve the problem, and he did.”

What Susan didn’t know was that the surgery would add new spark to her lovemaking as well. “My husband and I had great sex before, but now it’s magnificently great,” she explains. “Everything’s so much tighter. I can really feel the difference. It’s like I’m starting all over again.”

Susan is among a growing number of women who are discovering the benefits of surgeries designed to improve sexual function.

“After childbirth, the vagina may become stretched,” says Dr. Jane E. Norton, a plastic surgeon in Palm Desert, Calif. “And men get smaller as they age due to less testosterone in their systems, which can affect the size of their erections and their stamina as well. By tightening the vagina, this can enhance pleasure for both the woman and the man.”

With childbirth — and aging — pelvic muscles relax and the internal and external diameters of the vagina increase. Difficult deliveries can cause serious stretches, tears, and rips — and generalized weakening of pelvic supports.

It’s a price that some women must pay for the reproductive burden of bearing children. If the vagina loses its tone and strength, if the pelvic muscles get too loose, even Olympic-caliber regimens of Kegel exercises won’t help much. And sexual pleasure during intercourse may be diminished. In short, a woman won’t feel as much sexually. Neither will her male partner.

Gynecologists have long performed surgeries to repair damage caused by labor or trauma. But now, doctors are adapting their surgical techniques to deliver what many patients want: enhanced sex. Los Angeles ob-gyn Dr. David L. Matlock calls the procedure “laser vaginal rejuvenation.” The procedure provides a tighter, more resilient vagina, physiologically optimized for lovemaking.

Some women aren’t waiting for bladder leakage or pelvic pain before going in for vaginal tune-ups — they’re doing it because they want better sex. Others are doing it to gain greater self-confidence before dating anew after divorce. Still others want a piece of that elusive fountain of youth and are willing to put themselves under the knife or laser — and pay out of their own pockets — to get it. In this regard, it’s not that different from plastic surgeries like liposuction or breast augmentation.

Dr. Matlock says he does about 25 laser vaginal rejuvenations a month. The surgery costs between $3,500 and $8,000, depending on the specific procedures performed. This includes surgeon’s fees, fees for the surgery center, surgical assistant, anesthesia, and pre-op and post-op consultations. It’s an outpatient procedure that takes about an hour. Within a couple of weeks of the surgery, women can resume most normal activities; sex is not advised until six weeks have passed.

To many people, the whole concept may seem foreign. In fact, such surgeries have gone on without much fanfare in the Middle East and Asia for many years. But it’s not a topic that many American ob-gyns will broach with their patients. And the scientific literature in this area is sketchy at best.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which represents nearly 39,000 physicians, doesn’t have an official position on female sexual enhancement surgery. Neither does the American Medical Women’s Association, with some 10,000 women physicians of all medical specialties as members. The American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists doesn’t have an official position, either.

If these medical organizations have nothing definitive to say about the surgery, imagine how baffled the average doctor is about it.

“This is about quality of life,” emphasizes Dr. Matlock. He points out that Viagra and other drugs represent only the beginning of a shift away from treatments exclusively for disease toward those designed to enhance well-being, vitality, and yes, even sex.

“These procedures are available to women who want them,” says Dr. Norton. “You shouldn’t be embarrassed. Sex — and the joy it can bring — is a big part of life.”

But, say some sex therapists, the procedure shouldn’t be considered a sexual panacea. They point out that having a reconstructed vagina will not reconstruct faltering relationships.

“I would be highly suspicious of a quick fix, especially when it’s an invasive procedure that carries with it risks that are involved with any type of surgery,” says Dennis P. Sugrue, a licensed clinical psychologist and certified sex therapist in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., who is president-elect of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists.

“The causes of sexual dissatisfaction sometimes can be very complex,” he says, “and it’s very easy to reduce it down to, say, ‘rejuvenate your vagina and you’ll rejuvenate your sex life.’ But that’s too simplistic.

“Before even considering an invasive procedure like vaginal tightening surgery, it’s absolutely critical for a woman to consult with a sexual health professional to make sure that the cause of the sexual dissatisfaction is thoroughly assessed and diagnosed. Noninvasive treatment procedures should first be employed. Only if all of those steps are taken and fail to bring about satisfaction should surgery even be considered.”

Of course, not all genital surgeries are performed to improve sexual function.

Procedures designed to enhance the aesthetic appearance of the external female genitalia are also gaining in popularity.

Karen, a 25-year-old from San Diego, first noticed her labia minora were too large when she was a little girl.

“I was into athletics, and when we were changing, I could tell what was normal and what was not,” she explains. “I just knew that something wasn’t right.” She says she wasn’t unhappy with her body. “It was more of a sense of embarrassment and being shy,” she says. “I wished that I was different.”

Years passed before she found a doctor who had a track record doing surgeries to reduce labia size (called reduction labioplasties). For a long time, she didn’t even know the option was available to her. As it turned out, the reduction was a simple procedure, and she’s very pleased with the results.

“I saw eight women last year for this,” says Dr. Christine M. Rodgers, a plastic surgeon in Denver. “Some of these ladies have very long labia, which make them feel that they look too old, and they want to look young.”

“With the advent of explicit magazines, videos, and apparel, female genitalia are much more on display,” notes Dr. William H. Canada, a Las Vegas plastic surgeon. “Women may become self-conscious of their external genitalia’s appearance on the beach as well as in the bedroom.”

Doctors are now offering a range of surgeries, including unhooding of the clitoris, elevation of the pubis, and more. Patient demand seems be driving these procedures.

“Genital surgery for cosmetic purposes is increasing,” says Dr. Gary J. Alter, assistant clinical professor of plastic surgery at the University of California at Los Angeles. “And it’s not going to go away.”

Dr. Birken Accepted to the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery

[ No Comments ] Posted on 06.25.08 under Uncategorized

The American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery has accepted Dr. Birken as an associated member of their prestigious society.

Houston Labial Reduction

[ No Comments ] Posted on 06.22.08 under Uncategorized

Interesting article on labial reduction.  Quotes from Dr. David Matlock.

http://www.51plus.com/intimate_makeover.htm

Houston’s Channel 2 - Web story on cosmetic vaginal surgery

[ No Comments ] Posted on 06.09.08 under Uncategorized

http://www.click2houston.com/health/4249920/detail.html

Houston Chronicle Article - June 2 2008

[ 1 Comment ] Posted on 06.02.08 under Uncategorized

Medical doctors attracted to cosmetics

An OB-GYN for nine years, (Dr.) Hardwick-Smith spent the last two of them building up the aesthetic side of the business. These procedures can be as simple as Botox injections or as complex as laser vaginal rejuvenation — to tighten the birth canal — and labiaplasty — plastic surgery to alter the genitalia.

Dr. Elvis Torres, who bills himself as a cosmetic gynecologist, still delivers babies “for the fun of it.”\\

Torres and Hardwick-Smith say they’re committed to medicine, but they acknowledge demand on the cosmetic side of their practices is huge and could threaten to take over.

Torres also says many procedures perceived as cosmetic, such as plastic surgery to alter the vagina, can be medically necessary.

Houston Press Article on Vaginal Rejuvenation

[ No Comments ] Posted on 05.31.08 under Uncategorized

A Houston Press article on Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation (May 2006) includes an interview with Dr. Troy Hailparn, a San Antonio gynecologist and director of Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation Institute of San Antonio.  She specializes in cosmetic gynecology for feminine aesthetic enhancement. Here is part of the interview:

She markets these procedures as ways for women to aesthetically enhance their genitalia and to improve sexual gratification. Hailparn’s patients have ranged in age from 14 to 74.  Some came to her complaining of discomfort: their labial lips were too long, and chafed when they wore tight-fitting clothes.  Others were bothered by their appearance: The pigmentation was too dark, making them self-conscious.

Insensitive comments proved devastating. “Having sex with you,” one woman was told, “is like throwing a pebble into the Grand Canyon.”

Another woman was mortified when her young son saw tissue hanging down and asked: “Mommy, do you have a penis?”

Hailparn insists the surgeries improve her patients’ quality of life.

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