POSTED UNDER Labiaplasty REVIEWS
24, Labiaplasty FINALLY!
ORIGINAL POST
After years of wanting labiaplasty, I finally got...
NataliaBatesApril 3, 2016
$4,500
After years of wanting labiaplasty, I finally got it done on April 1st! I'll continue updating as the days go on, but here's my experience so far.
Procedure day: I was a mess! so nervous, could barely eat. When I got into the operating room, my doctor explained what was going to happen and drew lines on my labia so I could see how much he'd be taking off. All good at this point. Next came the needles and omg I knew to expect pain but I was not ready for this kind of pain. To make matters worse there was an area that wouldn't freeze and he had to inject more during the procedure because I could feel it. The procedure itself wasn't bad, the weirdest part was probably getting stitches because I could feel them pulling through my skin it was freaking me out. After it was over I went to a recovery room with my friend and just laid for a bit. At this point I was so numb I couldn't feel a thing.
When I thought I was okay to leave, we headed to shoppers to get my prescriptions filled (oxycodone and t3's). In shoppers I got super light headed, lost vision and hearing and had to sit with my head between my legs for probably 15 minutes, sweating buckets shaking UGH probably a side effect from the local. Then we drove home
I started regaining sensation about 3 hours into our drive home. I took a t3 and that took care of it. I noticed a lot of bleeding when I got home, probably from all the pressure I put on it at shoppers. The pain got worse that night, LIKE A LOT! Almost in tears, I took a t3 probably every 3 hours at least. I was never planning on taking the oxy's but kind of wish I had - it was like every type of pain all at once, stinging, pinching, sharp, burning, throbbing WOW.
1 day PO: yesterday wasn't as bad pain wise. Still was taking the t3's and either they or the effects from the local were making me feel very light headed and a bit nauseated. I stayed in bed all day watching shows. I'm a bit concerned about my doctors post op instructions.. they're very.. minimalist. He doesn't proscribe antibiotics, told me not to apply antibiotic ointment to avoid yeast infection.. basically not to put anything on it at all to let it dry out and then if the drying is too uncomfortable to put vaseline on it. Very strange I'm following his instructions so far but will be using coconut oil at some point and definitely trying to keep an eye out for infection. Yesterday was pretty uneventful.. I was very swollen but only on my clitoral hood and my majora which is making it so I can't at all see what's going on with my minora and is freaking me out! I know you're not supposed to look but everything is so squished together and this may be entirely irrational but it's making me scared that maybe somehow the inner lips are fusing together or something hahaha AH! You'll see what I mean in the pics
2 days PO: woke up pain free THANK GOODNESS. Going to switch to regular tylenol and hope that does the trick. I'm even more swollen today than yesterday I think. I'm having a hard time keeping it dry down there too because of how swollen shut it is. I've been running water over it when I go to the bathroom, pat dry, and then blow dry. Today though I coughed about 15 mins after I did all this and water ran down my leg! Not sure if I should try and spread my lips to see what's going on down there or just leave it. I'm allowed to shower at 48 hours PO which is a couple hours from now. Maybe after that I'll try get a better look at what's happening.
Procedure day: I was a mess! so nervous, could barely eat. When I got into the operating room, my doctor explained what was going to happen and drew lines on my labia so I could see how much he'd be taking off. All good at this point. Next came the needles and omg I knew to expect pain but I was not ready for this kind of pain. To make matters worse there was an area that wouldn't freeze and he had to inject more during the procedure because I could feel it. The procedure itself wasn't bad, the weirdest part was probably getting stitches because I could feel them pulling through my skin it was freaking me out. After it was over I went to a recovery room with my friend and just laid for a bit. At this point I was so numb I couldn't feel a thing.
When I thought I was okay to leave, we headed to shoppers to get my prescriptions filled (oxycodone and t3's). In shoppers I got super light headed, lost vision and hearing and had to sit with my head between my legs for probably 15 minutes, sweating buckets shaking UGH probably a side effect from the local. Then we drove home
I started regaining sensation about 3 hours into our drive home. I took a t3 and that took care of it. I noticed a lot of bleeding when I got home, probably from all the pressure I put on it at shoppers. The pain got worse that night, LIKE A LOT! Almost in tears, I took a t3 probably every 3 hours at least. I was never planning on taking the oxy's but kind of wish I had - it was like every type of pain all at once, stinging, pinching, sharp, burning, throbbing WOW.
1 day PO: yesterday wasn't as bad pain wise. Still was taking the t3's and either they or the effects from the local were making me feel very light headed and a bit nauseated. I stayed in bed all day watching shows. I'm a bit concerned about my doctors post op instructions.. they're very.. minimalist. He doesn't proscribe antibiotics, told me not to apply antibiotic ointment to avoid yeast infection.. basically not to put anything on it at all to let it dry out and then if the drying is too uncomfortable to put vaseline on it. Very strange I'm following his instructions so far but will be using coconut oil at some point and definitely trying to keep an eye out for infection. Yesterday was pretty uneventful.. I was very swollen but only on my clitoral hood and my majora which is making it so I can't at all see what's going on with my minora and is freaking me out! I know you're not supposed to look but everything is so squished together and this may be entirely irrational but it's making me scared that maybe somehow the inner lips are fusing together or something hahaha AH! You'll see what I mean in the pics
2 days PO: woke up pain free THANK GOODNESS. Going to switch to regular tylenol and hope that does the trick. I'm even more swollen today than yesterday I think. I'm having a hard time keeping it dry down there too because of how swollen shut it is. I've been running water over it when I go to the bathroom, pat dry, and then blow dry. Today though I coughed about 15 mins after I did all this and water ran down my leg! Not sure if I should try and spread my lips to see what's going on down there or just leave it. I'm allowed to shower at 48 hours PO which is a couple hours from now. Maybe after that I'll try get a better look at what's happening.
Replies (3)
April 9, 2016
Hi hope you are feeling better. Wanted to know if you could share the surgeon's name? I am in research mode right now for TO. Thank you and all the best. Looking forward to seeing more pics as weeks pass and you are 100% again. X
April 9, 2016
I went with doctor Jugenburg. Honestly going into this he probably wasn't my top choice, but I had a last minute block of time to get this done and after calling a few surgeons he was the one that had time to do it on such short notice. Initially I wanted dr. Wanzel (experienced and very affordable) or dr. Kaisra. After researching my doctor more though I was confident that he would do a good job, and it's too soon to tell if he did but so far so good. His nurses are absolutely wonderful too they answer questions almost immediately! It was super expensive, however, I think it would have been a bit less if he didn't have to do an extra fold beside my hood, but still very pricey even considering that.
UPDATED FROM NataliaBates
3 days post
3 days post op
NataliaBatesApril 4, 2016
I woke up today in a fair amount of pain but am still sticking with the regular tylenols because I have to study. I had a bit of bleeding today on and off, nothing significant. I'm still very swollen and very very bruised. I've tried to figure out what exactly is going on down there but I really can't figure out what is what and what belongs where !
I'm able to walk a bit, but I haven't tried sitting in a chair yet.. too soon I think. I'm trying to elevate my hips by laying on a pillow.. it seems to take a bit of pressure off the area and is more comfortable than not.
I've attached photos of before and the first 3 days so far! If anyone has any advice on swelling/bruising other than icing that'd be appreciated!
I'm able to walk a bit, but I haven't tried sitting in a chair yet.. too soon I think. I'm trying to elevate my hips by laying on a pillow.. it seems to take a bit of pressure off the area and is more comfortable than not.
I've attached photos of before and the first 3 days so far! If anyone has any advice on swelling/bruising other than icing that'd be appreciated!
Replies (5)
April 4, 2016
Icing and staying off your feet will help best for swelling. I think it'll just take time for the bruising to go away. Looks like things are progressing as they should at this point. Don't worry about your lips fusing together! I know other ladies have said the same. You are just pretty swollen so things are going to look and feel a little off for awhile. I found laying down as much as I could and icing for the first 3-4 days helped a lot for swelling. I still iced a bit after coming home from work for a few days after that. I had the wedge technique though so there tends to be less swelling overall, but laying down helped with the swelling I did have. Good luck and keep us updated!
April 8, 2016
I'm having one done on the 22st and I'm so scared. I can't believe they didn't put u to sleep. My doctor will be. He's great. I was wondering if your ob did this or a specialist. Also I'm worried about only getting Tylenol 3. I need something better than that. Did u have a choose?
April 8, 2016
It was definitely weird being awake! I had it done by a specialist. I was super scared too it was all i could think about the weeks leading up to it. But everyone at the plastic surgeon's office was so friendly, I had a nurse talking to me the whole time during the procedure which helped. I was prescribed t3's and Oxy's. I filled the oxy prescription just in case but didn't end up taking any (although I was definitely tempted at a few points, but with the t3's you can't mix oxy's so making the switch would have required letting the t3's wear off which i definitely did not want to do!!). The t3's made me feel pretty bad, very light headed and just blah. It was a relief that I could stop taking them after a couple days.
April 22, 2016
I just had my done while I was asleep and it went great. In some bad pain today tho. The stitches are bothering me
UPDATED FROM NataliaBates
4 days post
4 days post op
NataliaBatesApril 5, 2016
Pain pain pain. The worst it's been. I'm not sure what's going on - I bleed every time I move, there's so many scabs and I think that's what's causing most of the pain. My clit area is so swollen it's all twisted to the side and I think that's also making the stitches pull or put pressure on it. Ugh I just want to fast forward through this. Why is it getting worse?!
Replies (4)
April 5, 2016
Maybe you are swelling more? You had a trim and the swelling gets worse after the first few days, so I'd imagine that could be making things worse right now. Keep icing and stay off your feet as much as you can. The bleeding should start getting better. My doc suggested putting pressure on the bleeding area for 60 seconds and it should help. I didn't need to do that, as my bleeding wound up being my period...bad timing. I imagine it would hurt a bit while doing it, but that's just something I figured I'd pass that on for something you could try. I used polysporin for a week or two, which I feel helped. Maybe that would help soften your scabs. I hope things get better soon!
April 6, 2016
I had the same post op instructions as you pretty much and I found as the scabs got dry they got very painful!!! So starting to use polysporin or the vaseline might be helpful! You might also be dying things out a little too much with blow drying after you pee. Like I said in my experience when things got dry it got pretty painful so the added moisture was a friend not fo.
April 8, 2016
absolutely agree! I feel so much better now that Ive been using the vasaline, much less bleeding
April 6, 2016
Sorry to hear you're experiencing so much pain, have you followed up with your doctor?
Welcome, thanks for sharing your journey with us. Ouch is all I think of when you describe the numbing injections, you're so brave for staying awake for this procedure. Which method of labiaplasty did you have, trim or wedge?