Many women struggle with urinary incontinence, especially after childbirth and age. For some of these women, vaginoplasty can help address this issue. Is this procedure right for you? The answer depends on your unique health situation and your goals in treatment.
What Causes Urinary Incontinence?
Urinary incontinence can be caused by several different health problems. In most cases, it is due to weakening of the pelvic floor. The muscles and connective tissue that make up your pelvic floor support your vagina and your bladder.
When these muscles become weak, women often struggle with dribbling and other urinary incontinence issues. The muscles that help us to keep urine in the bladder are simply too weak to hold urine inside us when they are placed under stress. In extreme cases, this can lead to a condition called cystocele, in which the bladder slips down into the muscles that separate it from the vagina.
This is an incredibly common issue, especially for women. When we age, our muscles gradually become weaker and more lax. Menopause causes changes in hormones that can exacerbate this. In addition, being pregnant and giving birth can loosen these muscles. As a result, many women suffer from stress incontinence, a condition in which they lose urine when sneezing, coughing, running, or even simply hearing water run.
What Is Vaginoplasty?
Vaginoplasty is a procedure that tightens and reshapes the vaginal muscles and connective tissue. Many women have this done for increased sexual pleasure or a more aesthetically pleasing appearance. However, in some cases it can also help with urinary incontinence that is caused by stressed or lax pelvic floor muscles.
Vaginoplasty can be performed with or without other procedures in the same region. For example, some women elect to have a vulvoplasty performed at the same time. A vulvoplasty is a procedure that makes the external genitals look more youthful and pleasing. Although vulvoplasty does not address incontinence, a vaginoplasty sometimes can.
In most cases, the recovery from a vaginoplasty is easy and straightforward. It is performed in a sterile operating room under full anesthesia. There are only a few sutures, usually located in an area where any scars will not be visible or noticeable. Depending on the procedure, women may be released the same day or stay overnight. Most women need pain medications only for a few days. After this, you cannot have intercourse, wear tampons, or otherwise insert anything in the vagina for 4-6 weeks.
There are a few contraindications for this surgery, as with all medical procedures. It is important to tell your plastic surgeon about your medical history, all of your current conditions, and about all medications that you are currently taking.
Although many women have vaginal plastic surgery procedures to address issues with the pelvic floor, these procedures have the additional benefit of increasing sexual pleasure, confidence, and sensation. In fact, many women have vaginoplasty for these reasons alone.
Can Vaginoplasty Help Incontinence?
In some cases, a vaginoplasty can reduce or eliminate stress incontinence. During this procedure, the muscles and connective tissue that support both the vagina and the bladder are tightened. They can then perform their essential role in supporting the pelvic organs.
Surgery is not the only way to address stress incontinence. Some women can successfully use a pessary, which is a small device inserted in the vagina to support the pelvic floor. Other women can tighten their muscles using pelvic floor exercises. However, this solutions are both imperfect. Pessaries must be removed for intercourse and other activities. Pelvic floor exercises can be unsuccessful despite months of dedicated practices. In many cases, a vaginoplasty is a faster and more permanent solution, which is why it is growing in popularity as a treatment for urinary stress incontinence.
Everybody is unique. A high quality plastic surgeon will examine you, listen to your medical history, and then help you to make an informed decision about whether a vaginoplasty is right for you.
Finding the Plastic Surgeon Who Is Right for You
If you want to help address your urinary incontinence, it is time to make an appointment with a plastic surgeon who is experienced in this procedure. Dr. Donald Roland, MD is a plastic surgeon in New York City, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. He offers consultations to patients considering this and other procedures so you can make an educated decision. Dr. Roland has been performing this and other procedures for more than sixteen years, so he is experienced in how vaginoplasty can affect your body.
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