Hello,

I had my labia minora surgery on June 13, 2011. I’m writing this blog not to show how much I appreciate Dr. Goodman’s work (although I definitely do), but in the hopes of reaching out to women who may be debating whether they should have this procedure.

I am 21 years old and am currently attending SFSU, where walking about is a daily necessity. Having a larger labia minora became very irritating and painful. I believe an important concept to understand about your vagina is that in no exception should it hurt while doing any normal activity, such as walking. I had been struggling with the decision of whether to do this type of surgery for many years. I am a very active person who participates in many sports and has worked as a waitress for 5 years. By the end of my days, I would be in so much pain from my vagina that wearing jeans was unbearable.

To justify the age at which I had this surgery, I would like to point out that I had started complaining about my vagina when I was 12; my reason for the surgery was in no way decided by a boy or the desire to have sex. Of course, sex has always been a painful experience for me, due to my enlarged lips rubbing against condoms as though they were clinging onto the penis for dear life. I know larger lips have the tendency to make many girls insecure. But let’s be honest: Do men really care about the appearance of a vagina? Most definitely not. As cynical as this may sound, it’s my experience that men don’t care what it looks like as long as they’re getting the opportunity to be in it! The fact is, guys will only have issues with your vagina if it’s discouraging their chances of sex. On that note, if your vagina is causing pain during sex or the desire to not be intimate, I say what are you waiting for? Get it fixed now.

But getting back to my main reason for writing this—the women who may be doubting whether to get this surgery. I have to say that since my operation, I could not be more grateful. Though Dr. Goodman lectured me a hundred times on taking it slow, I was in fact able to walk around the day of my surgery. I used Vicodin the second day, and that was the last day I used it. I couldn’t believe how good I felt. My parents were constantly yelling at me to lay down because I forgot I’d even had surgery! I honestly believe that the reason it didn’t hurt so bad (besides the fact that Dr. Goodman knows what he’s doing) is because I had lived with so much vagina pain over the years that this was nothing!

Yesterday was my first day back to school, which means a walk up five flights of stairs to my first class. By the time I reached that last step, I paused and couldn’t help but smile. I had just walked up over 50 steps without that familiar pain I had grown to bear. I couldn’t help but wonder why I had waited so long to get this done!

On a side note for women researching this surgery, it is all about the doctor! My friend had this surgery done in Lodi for only $800. I couldn’t believe the price, but when she called me the next day stating, “This is the worst pain in my entire life,” I understood why the price was so low. She regretted her choice because of the horrible pain (this coming from a 32-year-old woman who was a physical trainer and had had 3 children and a boob job). Don’t let other people discourage you; it really does depend on having a good doctor—like Dr. Goodman.

~Nikki