POSTED UNDER Labiaplasty REVIEWS
Botched Labiaplasty and Hood Reduction - One Labia Fully Amputated and Now Clit Just Dangling
ORIGINAL POST
I was self-conscious about my labia since my teens...
phanosanieOctober 25, 2017
$6,059
I was self-conscious about my labia since my teens and even though I was confident in my sexuality there was always this underlying shame whenever my large lips had to be jumbled around and drawn apart to get access.
So at 25 I finally decided to own it and get my surgery. I deeply regret being concerned with the price - Dr. Onuma had the best reviews and the best prices in my city on. I think I was won-over by the price (in the end it cost just as much as the others due to the anaesthetist fee and the follow-up surgeries!) but I didn't look further into the fact that the reviews were for his other vaginal surgeries - and only in hindsight do I really realise how he is more of a gynaecological surgeon rather than a plastic surgeon.He has a lovely manner and talks you through it well - he raved about the trim technique so I trusted it, even though my intuition said the wedge made more sense. Anyway I thought we had an understanding that I wanted it to look natural - not too much taken off!One of the first distressing things was having to go to a hospital for the surgery, I was questioned a lot by the nurses as to what I was having done - I could tell that they weren't used to having people getting cosmetic surgery. The surgery itself went fine but the next few weeks were very painful and frustrating. For the hood reduction he cut a section out of the column above the clit to pull it up but that fell open at 3 weeks so I had to go into the hospital again to get it stitched back up (he thankfully did this at no extra cost). AND my body wasn't dissolving the dissolvable stitches so had to have quite a few very painful visits to Dr. Onuma to pull them out! All throughout I was extremely worried and distressed about the huge size of my clit and the lack of any visible labia.I was able to exercise have sex at about 7 weeks, but I would say it took a full 6 months for the swelling to completely subside. At this stage I was unhappy about this big gap between the one labia I had left and my clit so I went in for the THIRD surgery which we did under local in his rooms. Three more weeks later and after removing the stitches the tissues rejected each other and I was left with the gap!So I'm in the process of having to accept it as it is now. One of the worst things now is during foreplay the labia used to provide a nice path to glide a finger up to the clit, now the clit kind-of just stands alone and is more knobly and flips around the place. I've never regretted anything more in my life - if I could go back I would definitely go to a COSMETIC surgeon who does the wedge technique. It makes a lot of sense now that this would look much more natural - keeping the natural edges of the labia and de-bulking the clit without making it pop out.Anyone reading this, you're probably already one step ahead of me doing more research before your op. Please learn from my mistake and even if you do go for the trim technique, ask to see plenty of pictures of their previous surgeries (both from the front and from below), compare their "befores" with your own anatomy to make sure they've dealt with similar anatomy to yours before.
So at 25 I finally decided to own it and get my surgery. I deeply regret being concerned with the price - Dr. Onuma had the best reviews and the best prices in my city on. I think I was won-over by the price (in the end it cost just as much as the others due to the anaesthetist fee and the follow-up surgeries!) but I didn't look further into the fact that the reviews were for his other vaginal surgeries - and only in hindsight do I really realise how he is more of a gynaecological surgeon rather than a plastic surgeon.He has a lovely manner and talks you through it well - he raved about the trim technique so I trusted it, even though my intuition said the wedge made more sense. Anyway I thought we had an understanding that I wanted it to look natural - not too much taken off!One of the first distressing things was having to go to a hospital for the surgery, I was questioned a lot by the nurses as to what I was having done - I could tell that they weren't used to having people getting cosmetic surgery. The surgery itself went fine but the next few weeks were very painful and frustrating. For the hood reduction he cut a section out of the column above the clit to pull it up but that fell open at 3 weeks so I had to go into the hospital again to get it stitched back up (he thankfully did this at no extra cost). AND my body wasn't dissolving the dissolvable stitches so had to have quite a few very painful visits to Dr. Onuma to pull them out! All throughout I was extremely worried and distressed about the huge size of my clit and the lack of any visible labia.I was able to exercise have sex at about 7 weeks, but I would say it took a full 6 months for the swelling to completely subside. At this stage I was unhappy about this big gap between the one labia I had left and my clit so I went in for the THIRD surgery which we did under local in his rooms. Three more weeks later and after removing the stitches the tissues rejected each other and I was left with the gap!So I'm in the process of having to accept it as it is now. One of the worst things now is during foreplay the labia used to provide a nice path to glide a finger up to the clit, now the clit kind-of just stands alone and is more knobly and flips around the place. I've never regretted anything more in my life - if I could go back I would definitely go to a COSMETIC surgeon who does the wedge technique. It makes a lot of sense now that this would look much more natural - keeping the natural edges of the labia and de-bulking the clit without making it pop out.Anyone reading this, you're probably already one step ahead of me doing more research before your op. Please learn from my mistake and even if you do go for the trim technique, ask to see plenty of pictures of their previous surgeries (both from the front and from below), compare their "befores" with your own anatomy to make sure they've dealt with similar anatomy to yours before.
Replies (21)
October 29, 2017
How you doing hun? Im in a similar sitch to you as far as appearance is concerned... effing waste of time!:( XXXX
October 30, 2017
Yeah I'm doing okay thanks, I definitely have times where it still massively gets me down - I occasionlly get distracted at work just thinking about it even though I know that won't fix it. I'm literally having to work through mental exercises to make sure it doesn't completely draw my mood down for the whole day.
How are you doing with it? Any tips for trying to accept it?
I had a phase of trying to convince myself that I liked it but I it just doesn't work when you know it isn't true!
Thanks for your support though, I literally haven't told anyone about it IRL so it's nice to be able to talk about it xx
How are you doing with it? Any tips for trying to accept it?
I had a phase of trying to convince myself that I liked it but I it just doesn't work when you know it isn't true!
Thanks for your support though, I literally haven't told anyone about it IRL so it's nice to be able to talk about it xx
November 22, 2017
I m in a similar or even worse situation, so sorry about your bad experience. In Australia there are no proper vaginal cosmetic surgeons as in USA, here it’s just plastic surgeons who offer this. I had mine done by one of the top surgeons in Sydney with massive experience, but ended up with devastating neurological condition, partial loss of sensation and distorted anatomy an aesthetically not really great. You can read my review. How is your sensation? If it’s the same then you are blessed. We just now have to accept it and live with our decision. Wedge doesnt always produce great results, and often separates, but many botched LPs with wedge hard to repair. It’s just a dangerous surgery and must be avoided.. i wish I had just accepted the way I was and respected my body, now paying the ultimate price.
November 22, 2017
It doesn’t look bad at all, but if you really want I think it can be revised for better results. However no in Australia..
November 26, 2017
I'm so sorry that your sensation was affected, that is truly devastating and has definitely put mine in perspective, as my my sensation is thankfully all in tact.
It is crazy how even top surgeons make these mistakes, I've seen poor outcomes in reviews of even the top surgeons in America. However the majority seem to get good outcomes, which makes it hard to accept that essentially a stroke of bad luck and we live with this forever.
Revision is tempting but I just do not have the money or the time unfortunately. Thanks for the support though, I can appreciate that my situation could be a lot worse!
It is crazy how even top surgeons make these mistakes, I've seen poor outcomes in reviews of even the top surgeons in America. However the majority seem to get good outcomes, which makes it hard to accept that essentially a stroke of bad luck and we live with this forever.
Revision is tempting but I just do not have the money or the time unfortunately. Thanks for the support though, I can appreciate that my situation could be a lot worse!
November 27, 2017
Yes, in my case the nerves must have been reaching the edge of my labia and were cut off during surgery. I needed my labia for the whole organ to function properly, even internally sensation is gone. The explanation is that nerve inervation is unique for everybody and shouldn’t be disrupted. That’s why this surgery is dangerous for many women, it a pure gamble as surgeons don’t see what nerves they are cutting. My gyno said it’s barbaric and must be banned, Because he sees many women with issues post this surgery, many more than we think, not all post on here. Please think carefully about revision, some girls on this site had issues after revision, so consider this too.. if your sensation is fine an no ongoing pain then maybe best not to tempt the fate.. however, it’s up to you of course, it only matters how you feel
November 28, 2020
Shellee, since you have nerve damage (and I’m so incredibly sorry what what happened to you), can you feel it when you tighten your pelvic floor?
February 20, 2018
September 10, 2018
December 4, 2018
I'm in this exact situation! =( I'm 8 days post op, I didnt realize a Dr or surgeon would EVER fully remove labia. My suregon completely cut mine off and im so afraid its going to cause alot of issues for me. He didnt do a hood reduction at all so I have a HUGE clitoral hood and absolutely no labia minora. My surgery was mostly to repair my body as I was torn open from my almost 9lb babys but I also asked him to make my labia minora smaller because they would occasionally get pinched or pulled on during sex, I think im already regretting this decision.
How are you doing now? Has it changed your sexual life?
How are you doing now? Has it changed your sexual life?
December 9, 2018
Hi I've had a look at your pictures and it does look like you're in a similar situation to me, but trust that the swelling will reduce a lot as you are still in the early stages. I am doing alright, I am mulling over the prospect of a revision and am thinking of getting a consultation about it in the new year (life has gotten in the way over these past 18 months). From my research it seems like the only good surgeons for revisions are overseas so it would be a massive financial and time cost that I can barely afford. In terms of my sexual life I am still active and enjoy it but I definitely have an underlying embarrassment about it, especially during oral sex (but I guess that was also the case with my natural labia). I haven't had the courage to tell any of my subsequent sexual partners about it, even though I dated one for 7 months! No one ever commented on it so it was easiest not to bring it up (though I feel like if I meet the person that I can see myself spending the rest of my life with then I hope I will feel comfortable enough to tell him). I hope that yours heals well and doesn't affect your sexual life, you will undoubtedly go through some rough periods coming to terms with it but I've found it important to put things in perspective and see all of the amazing parts of my life, myself and my body (as cheesy as that sounds). Don't hesitate to send me a message for any more discussion and support as I know it can be hard to find people you can talk to about it!
As lovely as Dr. Onuma is, he does not know the meaning of a "natural" result. You can even see on his website that he clearly amputated both of another woman's labia too, I really can't believe I didn't pay attention to that.
If I could rewind time I would probably have consulted with Dr. Richard Hamilton at Hamilton House as it says he does the wedge technique, and he does the surgery in their private theatre. Trust me, you do not want to go to a hospital for this.
I would love to hear how everything goes for you. I didn't talk to anyone about it until now, which makes it a very lonely and confusing journey.