Went for the Labiaplasty Using Wedge..so Far, So Good! - Chicago, IL

I went to see Dr. Placik for cosmetic consultation and saw that he also did many labiaplasties. My labia are something that always caused me some insecurities, but still within the normal, but larger size with some mild asymmetry. I felt so comfortable with Dr. Placik and his nurse that I decided I would see what he thought since I was already there. I read some horror stories online and I recognize that this is not something that I needed, but something that I wanted, so I decided to take the risk anyways after feeling more at ease with the procedure and talking with him. On the morning of the procedure, I was surprisingly pretty calm except for being nervous about the local injections. They called me in some numbing cream ahead of time, along with pain pills, antibiotic and valium. I was instructed to heavily put the numbing cream on 1 hr ahead of time. His assistant Jewel came in before the procedure and put more on and talked with me about what to expect, aftercare, etc and made me feel continued calmness. She said the numbing cream usually takes care of about 90% of the pain with the local injections. When the doc came in, he took some pictures and went over the procedure one more time and made some markings. Then he did the local injections and said that this was the worst part of the whole thing and guess what, I barely felt a thing! There was some very minor discomfort with a couple of the shots, but it was very tolerable and the rest of them I didn't feel at all!
The procedure itself took an hour and it was about as awkward and fun as going to the gyno except you stay spread for an hour. If you've given birth though, it's not that big of a deal as you kind of get used to this. I listened to calming music on my iPod and just completely tried to zone out and disconnect with what was happening. I didn't feel any pain or discomfort the entire procedure. I could feel him pulling the stitches through, but it did not hurt at all. I was surprised at how many stitches there were, but he said this was normal and that he does 3 layers of them. Afterwards, I just got up and walked out and was on my way. I was still numb so didn't feel a thing. I never ended up taking the valium as I didn't think I needed it so I was good and coherent afterwards and immediately went and got some food. I laughed a little as I stood in line for some food, thinking I just had my labia trimmed and here I stand with everyone and you would never know!
Post-op so far has honestly been pretty easy. I am on day 4 and have been taking it easy, icing it and trying not to look at it as they instruct since it will look worse before it gets better. I have had no bruising yet, minimal smelling and just twinges of pain and itching here and there, but it truly is not that painful. I keep thinking it might get worse or something, but so far so good. I take ibuprofen, nothing else. I took hydrocodone on the first day thinking I would need it, but the second one made me feel sick so I've been sticking to ibuprofen. I've been up and walking, cleaning, etc, with no problems, but trying to tell myself to keep taking it easy. I have gotten a couple peeks at it and everything looks really good, no major swelling and everything is tucked in so I'm scared to look or mess with it beyond that.
So, sometimes I still can't believe I did this, but also seeing how relatively easy everything has been so far and hoping that my recovery continues without any complications, I think it has been worth it! I will keep you posted on continued recovery and outcome.
Dr. Placik told me that this procedure is becoming very common at his office and that it has one of the highest satisfaction rates. This was partially why I decided to go for it. I'm not saying that women should take this decision lightly and I also believe in trying to find greater self acceptance for how we are in all of our uniqueness, but even after trying to do this within myself, I still wanted to go for it and I just had to believe that everything would work out well. So far, that is what I'm experiencing. I didn't have anything else done down there such as clitoral hood reduction. I had a pretty straightforward labia trim using the wedge method. I will continue to stay positive and post updates.