Demand for ‘designer vagina’ surgery in the UK has doubled over the last five years as more and more women opt to improve their shape, size or proportions. But for many, it’s not just a cosmetic procedure. Vaginal rejuvenation can also rectify years of emotional stress caused by incontinence and unpleasureable sex.

The latest technique in vaginal cosmetic surgery – Designer Laser Vaginoplasty - has arrived fresh from the US to sculpt the genital area to perfection. But it’s not just porn stars and socialites going under the laser.

We spoke to gynaecologic surgeon Professor PKW Dartey, who has performed hundreds of vaginal surgeries at the UK Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation Centre in Harley Street, to find out more about the procedure, who gets them done and the cost involved. Plus, read our case study on Michelle, who says that having vaginal rejuvenation changed her life.

What are the most common reasons for getting this procedure done?

Some women have long inner lids which are very unsightly, and can even cause pain exercising or horse riding – a lot of athletes get this problem. Many go to their gynaecologist to ask for help and are told, ‘You were born like that, so forget about it’. But this new laser surgery is designed to refashion the inner lids. The woman decides with me or her doctor how she wants it, either to be clean or just to protrude out of the outer lids, so it looks very nice like a Playboy girl.

Or if a woman has had children, often the baby’s head stretches the pelvic floor and the muscles become lax. If she’s had more than two children the bladder may also push down, so she may experience problems with incontinence. And since most women enjoy sex by friction, they no longer feel anything so they just fake it to satisfy their husbands, and continue to suffer silently. When they go to the ordinary gynaecologist they are told to go and do pelvic floor exercises. But they don’t always help because you really need to tighten the muscles again and build the pelvic floor. So they come to me and we use the laser to narrow the diameter of the vagina, build the pelvic floor, tighten things and push the bladder neck up to narrow the diameter of the urethra, to prevent stress incontinence when they sneeze and cough. A lot of women have been suffering silently; they find us on the internet and pass it on to their friends.

How is the new laser surgery different?

We use a pinpoint precision laser, which evaporates cells, it doesn’t cut them, so there is very little blood loss or none at all, healing is fast and scarring is extremely minimal. All this can be done under local anaesthetic – women arrive in the morning and go home three hours later, as opposed to with an ordinary gynaecologist who uses a scalpel. Then there’s a lot of pain and blood loss and women need to stay in hospital for 3 or 4 days. With laser surgery, they go straight home the same day. It’s the modern way of doing things.

What’s the average age of women who get this done?

We’ll do it for any woman who is sexually active. The youngest girl I’ve done it for was 17; she was brought in by her mother because she had very long inner lids like bats’ ears. She was embarrassed to undress in front of her friends. Other women won’t undress in front of their partners with the lights on. Some even refuse to have boyfriends because they think they’re so unsightly. It’s very psychologically embarrassing, so we do it for the woman not the husband.

What proportion of people would you say do it for purely aesthetic reasons?

It’s a combination; it’s never purely aesthetic because there are psychological effects. We interview them very carefully to make sure it’s what they want.

What about surgery to restore the hymen?

Usually that’s for cultural reasons. We’ve had a few Asian and Muslim girls who were raped by their uncles or someone in the family. The parents did not know and these girls were supposed to be virgins before getting married – so in order to avoid honour killings they come to us quickly and we do it for them.

What do you think has driven the trend for designer vaginas?

Women who have the funds are thinking, I’ve done my face, I’ve done my breasts, now I want my genitalia to look youthful too. Already in America it’s very popular. The British are still conservative but it’s becoming very popular passing by word of mouth. When their friends see the results they want to have it too.

Are there any fashions you’ve noticed in what women are asking for?

We have an album of procedures we have done and show it to them, and they choose one they want to look like. Women of around 45 come in and want their vaginas to look 25.

How much does it cost?

The cost varies depending on the combination of procedures being done – it ranges from £2,000 to £8,500. At the top range, the women can have the inner lids trimmed, outer lids reduced, the vagina narrowed and the space between the anus and vagina smoothed to look more youthful.

How long does the procedure take?

Between one and four hours depending on the combination of procedures being done.

What are the health risks?

Like any operation, there is the risk of pain, bleeding, infection and that the person will be unsatisfied and come for a re-do. And obviously occasionally there have been cases of people dying from operations.

How long does it take to recover?

We recommend no heavy lifting for 2 weeks. Your body is back to normal after 6 weeks and you can start exercising and having sex after that.

Do you think it could start a trend of unqualified people trying to do this procedure, as with procedures such as botox and teeth whitening?

Yes, but I wouldn’t recommend it – the Healthcare Commission wouldn’t allow it anyway. Plastic surgeons have been doing vaginal surgery, but it’s like taking your car to the butchers to repair it for you. I would like to bring people’s attention to it. In America people do these things in their offices – but in the UK restrictions are more strict.

Case Study: Michelle, 42, is a paramedic and lives in Scotland.

After having her second child, now 15, Michelle suffered vaginal damage and developed stress urinary incontinence. But after living with the embarrassing condition and an unsatisfying sex life since 1993, she was so fed up she started considering surgery as a viable option.

“I had researched online and initially they only seemed to do the operation in America and it was too far to travel. Then maybe a year later I searched online again and I found that they did it down in London.”

Two years ago, she got divorced. Then in October 2007, she had laser vaginal rejuvenation to repair the tissues and ligaments supporting her bladder, as well as having her vaginal canal tightened for improved sexual pleasure.

She had met someone new and didn’t want her gynaecological problems to continue and jeopardise her new relationship. “I was married for 12 years and I think it had quite a big impact on my marriage breakdown,” she says. “I’d had years of having a poor sex life and I thought, I don’t want to get into another relationship and have the same problem.”

The operation took about an hour under general anaesthetic, and cost £4,500.

“It was definitely worth the money,” she says. “That day I wasn’t really in any discomfort, but once the pain relief wore off I had maybe two days of quite mild discomfort. It was much better than I was expecting. I’m an ambulance paramedic and my job involves lifting so I had to stay off work for about six weeks, but I think an easier office-type job I could have returned to a lot quicker.”

Michelle says the impact the operation has had on her relationship was fantastic.

“What a difference,” she says. “I’d become involved in a new relationship and I hadn’t been intimate with this person before I had the surgery done. I just thought, I’m not getting into this again and getting hang-ups about it. And once I’d had the surgery done and everything was fine I did pursue that side of the relationship. They said I should wait six weeks but I waited maybe eight, and it was so much better than it ever had been. I think I had a lot of hang-ups about sex before and that’s definitely gone now. I wouldn’t criticize someone else for getting this surgery purely to get a designer vagina, but it’s a completely different thing to what I had - it wasn’t for cosmetic reasons for me.”

Michelle’s one regret? That she had to wait so long before the surgery was available in the UK.

“I’m so glad I got it done,” she says. “I toiled with the idea for about three or four years and I wish I had got it done sooner.”

Cosmetic surgery is a serious commitment and carries risks. Please talk to your GP, research the procedure fully and check that your practitioner is registered with the Health Care Commission beforehand. For a cosmetic procedure checklist, Click Here.

Visit www.profdartey.com