Perineoplasty: The Real Deal

Right after you have a baby, everyone seems eager to offer their best advice for a new mom. But there's one thing they may not be so willing to discuss. After childbirth, many women feel laxity during sex, air trapping in the vagina during exercise, a terrible 'open all the time' feeling, a bizarre falling-out-the-bottom sensation when walking, or like they simply can't close their vagina no matter how many Kegel exercises they do. The medical term for this problem is perineal atrophy, because it happens when the perineum, the small wedge of cartilage that separates the vagina and the anus, is pulled and stretched by childbearing or aging. Of all types of prolapse defects, perineal thinning is often the most bothersome to the patient and the least acknowledged by doctors. So don't settle for a life sentence of laxity if your doctor tells you it's normal. And don't waste your time with exercises. Even if you Kegel 500 times a day, the connective tissue down there won't grow back together. Perineoplasty is truly the only way to restore the perineum to pre-baby thickness. If your doctor doesn't understand what you are telling him or her, find a urogynocologist-because we do.