A woman’s vagina stretches and expands over time, especially with age and childbirth. Many women after one or more vaginal deliveries may feel their vagina is not as tight as before. This looseness in the vagina – either in the outer genitalia or inner vaginal canal is a common health issue many women face. The vagina feels lax, meaning loose.
Vaginal laxity is the loosening of the vaginal tissues. The looseness can be inside the vaginal canal or in the outer genitalia or both. While the looseness in the outer genitalia can interfere with your clothing, the looseness inside the vaginal canal can interfere with your sex life.
Many women with vaginal laxity in their labia – the outer genitalia find it difficult to wear tight or thin clothing. The loose tissues can twist due to the tightness and make it very uncomfortable and even painful. Sometimes, they can look odd under skimpy or thin clothing.
Women with loose vaginal tissues on the inside may become less sensitive, thus affecting their sex life. They may not feel the friction like before, which can affect them in multiple ways.
As we age, the collagen reduces in our tissues. Collagen is the protein in our body that is responsible for the elasticity and firmness of the tissues beneath the skin. As this collagen reduces with age, the body will start losing its firmness and become loose or less elastic.
When the vaginal tissues start losing this collagen, it can become loose over time. The collagen reduces at different rates for different people. This is why different women can feel the vaginal laxity
Vaginal delivery can damage the vaginal tissues in the birth canal. Multiple deliveries and delivering large babies can cause the vaginal tissue to lose its elasticity and become loose. While Kegel and pelvic floor exercises can help restore some of the vaginal tightness, the damage to the tissues on the inside may not change much. Exercise can only help the muscles and not the tissue in the birth canal.
As a woman ages, her hormones start fluctuating. When she nears or reaches menopause, the changes in estrogen levels can not only cause vaginal dryness but can cause thinning of the walls too. It can even lead to urinary incontinence and UTIs which can make your vagina feel less tight than before.
Since the tissues on the inside become loose, you may not visibly see any symptoms. However, if you are experiencing vaginal laxity, you may notice the following:
There is no specific blood test or scan to diagnose vaginal laxity. When you feel your vagina is loose or less sensitive, you can approach your gynaecologist. Your doctor will note down and discuss the symptoms you are experiencing and do a physical exam. Depending on the laxity, they will suggest treatments.
Today, with advancements in science and technology, we can fix vaginal laxity with different invasive procedures that promise to make the vagina tighter and increase the sensation.
The laser treatment will increase the heat inside the vagina and stimulate collagen production. This in turn will increase the collagen production in the vaginal tissues, thus helping it get tighter.
Any surgery requires you to give your body some time to heal. The surgery for vaginal laxity might require you to be on rest for about 6 weeks before you can resume any sexual activity or exercises for the pelvic area.
If you are opting for laser therapy, the results don’t last long. You may have to repeat the treatment every 6 – 12 months depending on how fast your body loses its elasticity. RF or laser treatments can’t replace surgeries as the results are not permanent.
Vaginal laxity treatments – be it laser or surgery, can help you in the following ways:
Complications of Vaginal Laxity Treatments
Complications are not common but some of the possible complications you can face after surgery are:
Vaginal laxity is quite common. While many women may not worry much about it, it can interfere with the quality of life for some. For this reason, there is no shame in undergoing a treatment to tighten your vaginal tissues.
If your vaginal laxity is just mild or in the starting stages, the best-recommended treatment would be exercises. Your doctor will advise you to do some kegel exercises to help tighten the vaginal muscles and opening. However, this does not help tighten the loose tissues on the inside.
You can treat vaginal laxity with non-invasive procedures like laser or RF treatments or surgical treatments such as vaginoplasty, monsplasty, valvopathy, perineoplasty and labiaplasty.
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