Risky operations Surgeons demand medical standards for intimate corrections

So far, standards in intimate surgery are missing
Cosmetic surgery has experienced a boom in recent years. Although some men turn to surgeons for something to change their body, but it is mainly women who are operated on. Corrections to the labia are also increasingly performed, not only for aesthetic reasons. Standards for such OPs in the genital area are so far not.

More and more cosmetic surgery
Cosmetic surgery is now something "normal" for many people. It has long been impossible to change only celebrities parts of her body. Especially women let intervene. In recent years, Botox and breast surgery were particularly in demand in this country. That one can also get to Pfuscher, recently showed a scandal in Regensburg. A fake cosmetic surgeon operated there dozens of times and was sentenced to several years in prison. Intimate surgery is not only done for aesthetic reasons. For example, many women make corrections because they have too large labia. However, as the news agency dpa reports, there are still no guidelines for this.
Surgery in the genital area can result in the incorrect implementation of massive impairments. Therefore, standards for their implementation are urgently needed. (Image: SENTELLO / fotolia.com)

Completion of the guideline until the end of the year
Intimate surgery is the trend. They range from correction of the penis and scrotum tightening in men to corrections of the labia in women. The latter are now being carried out very frequently. For example, in a report by the German Society of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (DGPRÄC) in 2013, about 5,400 such procedures were performed each year. This had resulted in a survey of about 900 medical specialists. However, uniform standards for operations are still lacking. According to the DGPRÄC, scientific knowledge in this area is poor and providers are more dependent on their personal experience. Experts therefore want to develop - on the initiative of the company - a guideline for the intimate surgery of women, in which the current procedures are evaluated. This is how physicians should receive neutral help in the decision-making process. Although it is still open, according to a spokesman for the company, when the guideline will appear, the completion is officially announced on 31 December 2015.

Too big labia
As the dpa reports, according to estimates in about ten percent of women, the inner labia are so large that they dominate the outer. Intimate shaving makes this more and more visible. Some women do not only bother that visually, they can also become a medical problem. "During sports, such as riding or cycling, the labia chafing. It may cause swelling, minimal bleeding and inflammation, "said the Leipzig gynecologist Marwan Nuwayhid, founder of the Society for Aesthetic and Reconstructive Intimate Surgery Germany (GAERID). "It's not about creating a designer vagina, but helping the affected women. They really suffer from it, "said the doctor. The director of the Department of Gynecology at the University Hospital Erlangen, Professor Matthias W. Beckmann, according to his statement, also repeatedly patients who suffer from similar problems: "If a woman after a triathlon for the third time a torn labia, because they are 60 kilometers on the However, DGPRÄC President and Professor Jutta Liebau warned: "Anyone who wishes to undertake intimate surgery for purely aesthetic reasons should not underestimate the risk."

In some patients "Murks is built"
The Düsseldorf physician Stephan Günther uses the so-called 3D Reduction Labiaplasty in his operations. Günther, who is also the founder of the German Society for Intimate Surgery and Genital Aesthetics (DGINTIM), said that this technology, a kind of modular system, is slowly becoming the standard. It also allows a correction of the clitoris and displacement of the clitoris. "Although one can correct all three dimensions with surgery, it does not have to," the doctor emphasized. He also stated, "For a long time, wedge-cutting was common practice, with the labia minora reduced in size with a wedge-shaped neckline." However, if these do not grow together properly, an ugly hole remains difficult to correct. He repeatedly had patients in which other doctors had "botched" and therefore needed another surgery. In addition, according to Professor Liebau scarring is often underestimated. Matthias W. Beckmann is working on the planned guideline as a representative of the German Society for Gynecology and Obstetrics. His society supported labia corrections only for medical, not aesthetic reasons. "A woman has the right to have her labia reduced if it restricts her in her daily life," says the doctor. (Ad)