Labiaplasty: Here's Why Women are Desperate to Get Vaginal Plastic Surgery

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There's a new rising trend among women and it involves getting plastic surgery down there. Vaginal plastic surgery or labiaplasty is a procedure where the vagina's vulva or labia minora is reshaped or reduced in size, per News Health.

According to the American Society for Aesthetic Surgery (ASAPS), there's been a 49 percent rise in the number of women undergoing labiaplasty between 2013 and 2014, from 5,070 to 7,537. Also, women from under 18 to 64 years old have undergone vaginal plastic surgery, with the biggest number coming from patients between 19 and 34 years old (4,155 women).

Dr. Jen Gunter wrote on her blog that labiaplasty significantly decreases the size of the labia minora at more than four to five centimeters. Women usually want to have a smaller labia for “entirely cosmetic to misperceptions about size (it is normal for the labia minor to stick out past the labia majora), about symptoms (labial size doesn’t affect vulvar symptoms or cause yeast infections) or sex (smaller labia does not enhance sexual pleasure)."

Dr. Michael Edwards, former president of ASAPS, told TIME that the increase of labiaplasty procedures is due to the rising public awareness that it exists. Edwards said that women are "self-conscious" about the size of their labia, and those with a protruding labia feel "devastated," especially when it bulges while wearing swimsuits or doing activities like running.

Fashion trends like yoga pants have encouraged this procedure as women do not want to have a "camel toe" or "twisting" while working out, per New York Post.

Gunter notes that having a smaller labia has been the cultural norm, but argues that when it comes to size, there is really no standard and it can vary among women.

"The labia minora are a bit like the nose in that way, there is no ‘normal’ size medically although there are cultural ideals. Labia minora can range in size significantly," Gunter said.

In an interview with NBC News, Barbara Levy, MD, the VP of Health Policy at the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said that because of the popularity of Brazilian waxing, which removes pubic hair, women tend to be more aware and observant of how their vaginas look. Plastic surgeons used this awareness to create the need for women to alter their genital's appearance.

Meanwhile, Springer Link posted a study about the psychosexual outcome after labiaplasty. By studying 49 women who received the procedure, it was discovered that labiaplasty helped them to be more satisfied with their genital appearance and sexual functioning.

Levy concludes via News Health that labiaplasty is not a need for everyone as each body is different. She says, “It’s one more body part that we as women are being told to be insecure about.”

What do you think of Labiaplasty? Would you consider doing it?