RECONSTRUCTIVE
.....Girls as young as 11 are getting reconstructive surgery, causing alarm in
the UK.
IN THE same way men across
the world compare the size of their penises, women in the UK apparently compare
the shape of their vaginas—and those who find them looking "weird and
ugly" are opting to spend RM15,000 to have them surgically enhanced to
become "designer vaginas".
Britain's National Health
Service (NHS) recorded over 2,000 labiaplasties—plastic surgery for the
vagina—carried out in 2011, although experts believe the actual count is much
higher. "It's a massive boom industry in the private sector," said
one medical watcher.
The operation, which reduces
and reshapes the inner side of the vagina, costs around UK£3,000 and has seen a
fivefold increase in the last five years.
Consultant gynaecologist Dr
Sarah Creighton said her clinic sees girls as young as 11 seeking surgery.
"It's shocking, particularly because we’re seeing girls who are really
young. They're asking for surgery that's irreversible and we don’t know what
the long-term risks of the procedure might be."
Dr Liao Lih-Mei, a
consultant clinical psychologist at University College London Hospital, said
women seeking labiaplasty need more chances to discuss their concerns. She said
a woman's anxiety or dissatisfaction with certain areas of her life could
manifest itself as body image concerns.
"Surgery may have its
place, but it needs to be seen as an extreme solution. Worries about the labia
are quintessentially psychological. When a woman says she's worried about her
labia, surgeons may hear the words 'labia' and 'operate'. I hear the word
'worry'," she told the BBC.
One woman who did get
herself a designer vagina was Jessie. She told Wellcome Trust, a London-based
organisation that aims to improve human health, she spent hours flicking
through magazines looking for women with a similar vagina to hers but couldn't
find any.
"This was another piece
of evidence that there was something wrong with me," she said, adding that
it made her feel like a "complete freak".
Jessie experienced recurring
nightmares where she would imagine her vagina as a scarf that would wrap itself
around her neck, and there would be people standing around laughing and
pointing.
"Shortly after the
operation, I would dream that they would grow back and I'd wake up in a bit of
a panic," she said. One year later, however, she no longer has those
nightmares and said she feels "really silly talking about it", but it
was significant enough to cause her daily anxiety.
Another patient, Emma, said
she thought her genitals were abnormal, too. "It was very long, dark and
stretchy. It looked disgusting and shrivelled up. It was the only thing in my
life that made me feel depressed."
"I was very excited
about having labiaplasty. I thought it was going to be the end of all my
problems. I thought it was going to look lovely, like a little designer
vagina," she said. However, Emma confesses she's still unhappy with her
vagina after the reconstruction.
Dr Creighton said although a
small percentage of women do have abnormal vaginas, she found in the majority
of cases those with concerns had what she would consider normal sized vaginas.
The trend for more extreme pubic grooming leaves the vagina more exposed,
something that has contributed to more women seeking surgery, she added.
Dr Creighton believed the
future demand for designer vaginas would be big, due to society's wider and
growing desire for cosmetic surgery and changing expectations about the
desirable appearance for women.
Meanwhile, Wellcome Trust
has launched an animated film, hoping it will encourage debate about the surge
of the trend. Called Centrefold, it features three women—including
Jessie—discussing how labiaplasty has affected them.
As for the NHS, there are no
guidelines on the size and shape for female genitalia—except for what's in a
patient's head. (BBC)
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