Vaginal
lips
What’s normal
To be wholly
accurate, the vaginal lips should be called ‘vulval
lips’. The outer lips are usually fleshy, and the inner
lips are usually thin but, like every other part of the body,
they come in all shapes and sizes. In some women, the inner
lips are completely enclosed by the outer lips. In other women,
the inner lips (labia minora) are larger than the outside lips.
This is perfectly natural and normal, but many women worry
about it. It is a shame that pictures in men’s top shelf
magazines and articles in womens’ magazines are making
women feel abnormal when they are not. But, if the inner lips
are so large that they are upsetting you, it is possible to
have them trimmed by a surgical operation.
See a doctor
It would be best to
start by visiting a genitourinary
medicine clinic. These clinics mainly test for genital
infections, but deal with other problems as well. Explain to
the doctor that you have not come for tests, but because you
have another worry. You can then ask the doctor to examine
your vaginal lips, and tell you whether or not they are abnormally
large. The advantage of going to the sexual health clinic is
that the doctors in these clinics examine dozens of women every
day, so the doctor you see will be able to give you a good
opinion. If the clinic doctor says that you are unusual, you
can then ask your family doctor to arrange for an operation
if you wish.
Surgery
The operation to reduce
the labia minora is simple. It can be done by a gynaecologist
or a plastic surgeon. There are two ways of doing it.
- The surgeon may simply trim the edges of the labia, in
which case you may be left with a scar running along the
edges of the labia.
- The other method is to remove a fan-shaped portion of each
lip, and then stitch the cut edges together. This reduces
the size of the lip without much scarring.
This is a cosmetic operation, so you would probably not be able
to have it done under the National Health Service in the UK.
You would have to have it done privately. Try to pluck up courage
to ask your doctor to refer you to a suitable private gynaecologist
or surgeon. Explain how troubled you are feeling. This is a better
course of action than trying to find a good one yourself, which
can be difficult.
