Go Figure: Plastic Surgery Websites Are Creepy, Vague About Designer Vagina Procedures

By Anna Breslaw  |  November 24, 2012 | 6:30pm
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A study published in Obstetrics & Gynecology, one of the first of its kind, has used the Internet to take plastic surgery websites’ descriptions of hymenoplasty and similar procedures in the U.S. and the U.K. to task for their lack of clarity and… well, their scare tactics. Of the ten websites studied, vaginoplasty was recommended for a “sleeker,” “more appealing” labia, and three mentioned that the surgery could improve an overall negative feeling towards the vagina (which they term “pudendal disgust”) Hymenoplasty was to ensure “that you bleed on your wedding night and keep your head high.” Some employ cutesy terms for the procedures that sound like a boozy mid-afternoon facial deal you get while your kid’s at day care, e.g. “Wonder Woman” or “Mommy Makeover.”

As for the risks and success rates, all ten mentioned risks but four didn’t mention specifics and only one referred to “botched” procedures. Meanwhile, only two of the sites denoted their high success rates (95% to 100%), but didn’t mention what specifically constitutes success. (Perhaps just “not botched”?) Furthermore, none of the websites provide a minimum age limit for the surgery, which particularly disturbed the authors of the study given that anatomy changes as women advance in age. But this all amounts to a hill of beans when compared with Your Disgusting Fucking Pudendum, You Guys!!!

“This report highlights significant gaps in the breadth, depth, accuracy and quality of clinical information given by some service providers of female genital cosmetic surgery…and highlights a certain degree of distortion to the information provided by medical practitioners in an area that is imbued with value judgement.”

A Florida plastic surgery office called Strax Rejuvenation has come under scrutiny before for racking up three deaths since 2008, so obviously it’s a fantastic place to get “designer laser vaginoplasty,” more or less a facelift for the vulva/vagina. Or a hymenoplasty, a so-called revirginization procedure favored by, say, religious women who can’t otherwise receive a certificate of their virginity for marriage purposes.

‘Poor, often inaccurate web info on ‘designer vagina’ procedures’ [Science Blog]
“Designer Vagina” Procedures Often Misleading and Poorly Described, New Study Says’ [Broward Palm Beach Times]

Image via Jochen Schoenfeld/Shutterstock

 
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