Buy yourself a more beautiful abdomen
They do not enjoy sexual intercourse and find the abdomen ugly. Many women happily pay large sums to achieve vaginal perfection.
Two women are already ready to go under the knife when the labiaplasty service opens in Agder in the new year.
- Many women suffer in silence from problems after giving birth or because their labia are too large, says Christian Hoyer-Sørensen, specialist in obstetrics and women's diseases.
Hoyer-Sørensen is now starting up with gynecology surgeries at Teres Sørlandsparken. The price tag is NOK 20,000.
Reduced sex life
The two women who are ready to be operated on in the New Year are 25 and 35 years old.
- One woman thinks her labia are too big and avoids tight pants and bikinis in the summer. The other woman has recently been through childbirth and notices that her sex life has changed, says Hoyer-Sørensen.
Both women refused to be interviewed by NRK. Hoyer-Sorensen explains that the complaints they have are typical of patients he accepts. Most women talk about problems in connection with childbirth.
- During a birth, tears may occur below, or a clip may have been applied to get the child out. This can bother the woman after the birth, says Hoyer-Sørensen.
The complaints can be a more open vaginal opening, less friction and pleasure in connection with sexual activity or involuntary air coming from the vagina.
- Involuntary air from the vagina can occur in different situations such as during intercourse, when bathing or in social gatherings. This can be experienced as very embarrassing, he says.
Women see more of each other
The trend of intimate shaving with little or no pubic hair on the body is also cited as a reason why more women want to change their appearance below.
In connection with showering and changing during training, many women discover that their bodies are different from others. Many people don't like what they see.
- There is a big difference in the size of the labia from woman to woman. Without pubic hair, we see more of how we look, and many say that they have suddenly become more concerned with the abdomen when they can see more, explains Barbara Hansteen Dahl, specialist in plastic surgery and senior physician at Volvat Medical Center in Oslo.
Hansteen Dahl is the first Norwegian female chief physician in plastic surgery. She believes women should let go of prejudice and rather receive praise for their choice.
- Is this about women being more vain?
- It may be a little about that, but also about the women not accepting to just live with ailments or a reduced sex life. They have the funds and are making use of the offers now, she says.
Plastic surgeon Hilde Bugge at Aleris Helse AS has not experienced labia- surgeries is a growing trend.
- There are very few women who seek out Aleris with this problem and there is no increase in the number of women who want to operate on their labia. This is a surgery Aleris carries out a few each year, and then with a basis in a medical problem, she says.
Shame and shyness
- We have patients of various ages, most of them have girlfriends and children, but are so shy about how they look underneath that they don't dare to show themselves to their partner, says senior physician at Oslo Plastic Surgery, Dr. Amin Kalaaji.
We have women who come here who are over 50 and who have dreamed of fixing their lower abdomen for many years, before there was an offer available.
DR. AMIN KALAAJI, OSLO PLASTIC SURGERY
The clinic treats women who, among other things, want to operate on their outer and inner labia, as well as the clitoris and the vaginal opening.
The clinic is experiencing a marked increase in numbers surgeries .
- Since 2011, we have gone from one surgery a month, to one surgery every week this year, confirms the clinic's senior doctor, Kalaaji.
- Why is this popular?
- We have women who come here who are over 50 years old and who have dreamed of fixing their abdomen for many years, before there was an offer available. For them, it is about improving the quality of life, emphasizes the superior.
- Is the need to change nature just another thing someone does to become perfect?
- The women we operate on have intimate, physical, cosmetic and/or psychological discomfort. We are very careful about operating on someone who wants a designer abdomen that they have seen in pictures. These women may need to focus more on their inner selves, rather than going under the knife, says Kalaaji at Oslo Plastikkirurgi.
New offer in Agder
According to specialist Hoyer-Sørensen at Teres in Kristiansand, there are several women who do not dare to tell their GP about the problems they have underneath. It will be too intimate.
- Do you understand that some people think that we can be who we are, also down below?
- Fifty years ago, women's abdomens were a non-topic, and it is still very taboo. Now women have more knowledge about their own bodies and the means to change what they want. I think that is positive, he says.
In Kristiansand, Teres Sørlandsparken has seen that the market for gynecology surgeries is growing. On 8 January, specialist Hoyer-Sørensen will be ready in the operating theatre.
- I expect most women who want to make corrections after giving birth, he says.
- Does this mean that the hospitals do a bad job with tears and cuts during childbirth?
- No, there are not many cases in question. The vast majority will be satisfied, he emphasizes.
There are around 3,500 births a year at Sørlandet Hospital (Flekkefjord, Kristiansand and Arendal).
Hoyer-Sørensen was previously employed as a gynecologist with Sørlandet Hospital and has taught many of the employees how to cut and sew women in connection with childbirth.
- If things go wrong during the birth, it is nice to have the opportunity to improve the result, he concludes.
Perfect on the outside, but chaos on the inside?
- Is this pursuit of perfection a sign of inner chaos?
- No, I do not think so. But if you make corrections to your appearance a part of your life, there should be a red warning triangle both for the person concerned and for any therapist.
That is the conclusion of Barbara Hansteen Dahl, specialist in plastic surgery and senior physician at Volvat Medical Center in Oslo.
