The Advancements in Vaginal Rejuvenation
Courtney Lo, PA and RegenCen Founder, on vaginal rejuvenation:
What is vaginal rejuvenation and why now?
In about 2017 regenerative vaginal rejuvenation treatments made their splash. Until then, there weren’t restorative treatments for the vagina – they even took us by surprise! But what surprised us more were the number of our peri- and postmenopausal women who were accepting bladder leakage, dryness and lack of orgasms as “the norm with aging”. Vaginal rejuvenation treatments spread by word of mouth for sure. Women trust one another to confide in. And the idea that they could restore or maintain healthy vaginal sensation and function without surgery or medications… That was a game-changer to women in the “acceptance” phase!
Then in 2020, a couple more breakthrough treatments came out where we could really make a dramatic change for women with stress incontinence, urge incontinence, lichen sclerosus and vaginal atrophy as well as dryness and sexual enjoyment – and all of a sudden, we were in the women’s health and wellness field.
To date we’ve performed around 3,000 vaginal rejuvenation treatments at RegenCen, and it’s been some of the most satisfying (for our patients) and gratifying (for us) work we’ve done.
Do I need vaginal rejuvenation?
The short answer is yes. Everyone can benefit from vaginal rejuvenation treatments. Our clientele use these exact same treatments to maintain collagen and elasticity on the face and neck for appearance. Although FormaV and MorpheusV vaginal treatments improve appearance by firming and smoothing the labia, the primary goal with most of the vaginal rejuvenation treatments is to have healthy, comfortable vaginal sensation and function and good bladder control.
What vaginal rejuvenation treatment(s) should I get? And how long do the results last?
In a nutshell from the 3,000+ vaginal rejuvenation treatments we’ve performed, this is what patients report:
– VTone retrains your pelvic floor muscles and makes them stronger. This “vaginal workout” improves bladder control and sexual enjoyment. Think Kegels multiplied by the thousands…
– FormaV (2nd generation ThermiVa) is the home run for vaginal dryness and irritation. It’s our favorite to maintain collagen and firmness in younger women. (We use this same gentle technology in our Foundation Facial too!)
– MorpheusV is the “all in one vaginal remodel” – it reverses painful conditions like lichen sclerosus and patients report dramatic improvement in stress incontinence, urge incontinence, cushioning, and dryness (We use this technology as a “facial makeover” too!)
– Oh! Shot (2nd generation O-Shot®) helps all the treatments above and is also known as “the orgasm shot” since it can used specifically to rejuvenate and enhance clitoral and g-spot blood flow and sensation.
Come in for a consult with our vaginal rejuvenation experts at RegenCen. Amanda Rapanos, PA-C and Anna Cox, NP-C will get you on the right path. Most treatment results last a year or more although some women prefer to do maintenance every 6 months. VTone results are cumulative (just like your gym workouts) – the more the better!
Does vaginal rejuvenation hurt?
Surprisingly, no. Really? Really… we don’t use ProNox (or laughing gas) for any of them. The vaginal tissue is so thin (even before menopause) that topical numbing works very, very well even for Oh! Shot. I kid you not, I DID NOT FEEL my last one!
A note from Gustav Lo, MD on vaginal rejuvenation
The vagina needs estrogen to stay healthy and functional – and when I say function, I don’t just mean intercourse. There’s maintaining moisture, keeping unhealthy bacteria and yeast at bay, preventing urinary infections, maintaining bladder and urethral control (so you don’t leak!), and estrogen also maintains vaginal membrane thickness for cushioning and support. And without estrogen, the problem list is so long that they came up with a new, all-encompassing term for it: Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause or GSM.
GSM isn’t one of those “some women” kind of things. 100% of women will get this without treatment (you too!). The vagina simply won’t work right when estrogen goes away. Of course, we’re big proponents of bioidentical hormone replacement, but some women don’t want to – or can’t – go that route. That’s why we have options. Our suite of vaginal rejuvenation treatments can either complement or partly stand in for estrogen’s vaginal effects.
MorpheusV and FormaV are both radiofrequency energy treatments (think targeted deep-heat energy) that trigger remodeling of vaginal membranes, improving thickness, firmness, blood supply and lubrication without hormones. 90% of our patients report improvement in lubrication, sensitivity, and comfort during intercourse; over 50% rate the improvement as “great.” But that’s not all – published studies show urinary control improvements as well, which is welcome news to the 50% of menopause-age women with bladder issues. One series of 20 patients found that MorpheusV improved or eliminated bladder frequency and leaking in 90% of patients – mirroring what we’ve found with our own patients.
Speaking of bladder control, weakness of the pelvic floor is one of the most overlooked reasons for leaking and incontinence. Of course pelvic musculature thins and weakens after menopause, but pregnancy and childbirth stretch and weaken those muscles and ligaments too. Rehab for post-baby damage is unfortunately downplayed in medicine – and some women have prolonged urinary and pelvic pain issues because of that. Another approach is VTone, which strengthens those weakened or overstretched pelvic muscles. It’s like an “auto-pilot” pelvic floor physical therapy program – VTone’s mild electrical signals trigger muscle contractions in the pelvic muscle groups without any effort on your part at all! The contractions are far faster (and more effective) than what you can do on your own, so the results come sooner – we see better control and strength in 3 weeks as opposed to 3 months of pelvic floor rehab.
Lastly, the Oh! Shot. Physicians have been injecting platelets (PRF) to rejuvenate various tissues for over 30 years with great results. It was only a matter of time until someone thought about vaginal applications. Sure enough, studies show vaginal and clitoral tissues respond very well to platelet therapy – blood flow is boosted, nerve function (meaning sensation) is much better, and cells “turn back on” and start functioning and producing like they used to. That’s the physiology, but the patient outcome is simpler: more sensitivity, more lubrication, more resiliency and less irritation of membranes. It’s a game changer.
