Quick blog, as I do tons of fat grafting- microfat and nanofat- but I don’t do vaginal rejuvenation. (yet?) This article in September 2021 Aesthetic Surgery Journal caught my eye because of the fat grafting in its title, “Microfat and Nanofat Grafting in Genital Rejuvenation.”
Sadly, as a woman of a certain age, when I read on, I discovered “Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause.” GSM they call it. What the what?! I went on to read *sob* that it is a “major problem in many post or perimenopausal women.” GSM syndrome is where women lose volume in the vulvovaginal area due to lower estrogen. It is “part of the natural aging process.”
Ugh. The symptoms of this new and exciting disorder which all of us women in our 50s likely have are vaginal dryness, burning, irritation, loss of lubrication, laxity, discomfort, and pain. This can lead to inflammation and pain with peeing or sex.
They go on to say the function of the labia (which are “large and fleshy during youth” ) is to protect the reproductive organs. But as they lose volume and flatten with age, they lose that protection.
Study:
- 50 women
- menopausal (no period for 12 months), average age 53
- Average number of kids 2.6, vaginal deliveries 1.8
- excluded if using hormone pills or vaginal creams
- local anesthesia procedure, fat was harvested, then processed (they used a PureGraft filter). 20cc of fat on average was used for transfer. Their nanofat was done by breaking up the fat, then added some PRP.
- Microfat 20cc was injected into the labia majora.
- Nanofat was injected with a 30 gauge needle using 9.6cc of fat into the vestibule, lateral and posterior walls, and the G spot on either side of the urethra. These injections were superficial, 10 degree angle 0.5-1mm deep
- Minimal pain is seen, procedure lasts 2 hours.
Findings?
- The symptoms of vulvovaginal dryness improved. It significantly increased at 1 to 3 and 6 momths
- The female sexual distress score significantly improved out to 18 months.
My thoughts?
Oh the issues of menopause. This study doesn’t surprise me. I already see such incredible improvements when I do facial fat transfer, it doesn’t surprise me that fat grafting helps here too. I’m not one who studies the vaginal area and figures out what shape labia you have (if you watch Sex Education on netflix you know all vulvas are beautiful. You can see variations here: LINK )
So the cosmetic improvement isn’t as big a motivator for me. But I like the idea of lowering symptoms for women if they have issues with dryness, pain with peeing or sex.
We know you lose facial fat as you age. Now we know you lose labial fat as well. Fat grafting is easy to do. No scars. Little pain and bruising. Once I have fat harvested and processed (I use a centrifuge, not puregraft), it would be easy to do. This seems like a no brainer if you are having issues with GSM.