23 Year Old, No Kids, Wanting to Tidy Up - Nottingham, GB

For as long as I can remember (probably around 10-11 years old) I have always been conscious that my labia weren't 'right', and this was many years before I had even seen another vagina before.

They just didn’t feel right, they felt a bit long and in the way, and it was always on the back of my mind. I would sit in the bath and fantasise about getting a pair of scissors and cutting it off (obviously I knew no better at this age and the thought of that now horrifies me!)

By the time I had my first boyfriend at age 17, I was extremely self conscious to show him what I looked like, especially as he was older and had been with other women. When I eventually did, I immediately asked him if he thought it was 'nice' or 'normal looking', to which he replied it didn't bother him, but he had never seen any 'like that' before. When I met my second boyfriend, we were together for a couple of years before he, out of the blue, asked me 'what it was', which made me freeze up a bit and again reminded me that it wasn't, in my eyes, 'normal'. Again, he said it didn't bother him but he had 'never seen one like it'.

No one had ever made a negative comment about my labia, apart from myself, and it was very much me who had the problem with it.

Aside from the aesthetics, I find it near impossible to wear lacy underwear, or some styles of thongs and G strings. It is so uncomfortable to the point of becoming painful, and having to go to the toilet to readjust and 'tuck myself in' was something I dreaded. Often I have the feeling of 'falling out' of my underwear and having my labia rub on my jeans, which again is uncomfortable and painful. Having to move my labia out the way to use tampons is also an inconvenience.

Having first heard about the labiaplasty procedure a few years ago, I instantly thought I want this so badly! One day.... When I've save up the money etc etc

After reading up on various labiaplasty procedures, I realise that my case is perhaps not as extreme as other women’s, but as it is something that affects me almost daily I still want to rectify it!

Having done on and off research for the past couple of years, this year I decided to start taking it seriously, and began searching for surgeons in my area. I found not a lot of surgeons actually carry this out in my area, and I would have found myself travelling to Liverpool or Manchester which would have been a 3 hour journey. I would however have been okay to travel had I not found a really local surgeon.

I found Stephen McCulley, as he operates at 3 different hospitals, 2 within 1 miles of my house. I will be honest and say initially the main thing that attracted me to him, apart form being so close to home, was his prices. He has guide prices on his website, and these were far cheaper (almost be £1000) than anywhere I had seen elsewhere. Doing further research on Mr McCulley himself, I found loads of positive reviews which made me feel ever more so like he was 'the one'!

I contacted his secretary back in March, who advised it was £150 for a consultation. Initially this price put me off as I had had various consultations for other things at different cosmetic surgeons and these had always been free, but a month later I called back and asked to make an appointment. Unfortunately, I can't get an appointment for a consultation until June, so I will have to update then!

So after relentlessly trying to get a consultation with Dr McCulley I was always told every time I rang he was fully booked, eventually I was told the earliest I could get a consultation was November and the earliest I could have the procedure was next year!

I really wanted this doing before the end of this year, so I decided to start looking elsewhere, and came across Dr A Eskander who works in London. He is a gynaecologist (rather than a cosmetic surgeon) with many years of experience (I believe he qualified in the 70's) and opened his own gynaecology centre in 1999 just off Harley Street.
After scouring the internet for reviews, I only found one negative review of him which to me just sounded like a one off unhappy lady, who didn't have labiaplasty, but countless five star and glowing positive reviews of him.

Everything seemed great, the only thing holding me back was the fact it was in London, and I didn't want to drive the 130 miles to London for a 30 min consultation. I took the plunge and rang them anyway, explaining what I wanted and told them where I lived. They were able to give me a mini phone consultation, and gave me the option to come down for a consultation, and then have the procedure on the same day if I felt happy with everything. This was so tempting I ended up spending the next week researching the centre and the doctor every single night, and eventually decided to go for it!

I have booked in for the consultation (and hopefully op!) on Saturday 19th September. My consultation is at 10.45am and the op is pencilled in (if I'm happy) for 1pm the same day. I have the whole of the next week booked off work for recovery. The consultation is £190, and the price of the procedure is £2300, including sedation. I had to pay a £500 deposit, and will be paying the remainder and the cost of the consultation on the day.

So that's it now! I just sit and wait. Upon writing this, it is in 5 weeks and 6 days! I will upload photos closer to the time.

Has anyone had any experience with sedation as opposed to General Anaesthetic? Anyone let me know what it's like/what to expect?

P.S. on a side note, I recently read if you have an op you're meant to remove acrylic nails? Done a bit of Googling and it seems inconclusive, can anyone shed any light on this?