What to Expect from Your Labiaplasty Recovery

When you think of plastic surgery, what’s the first thing that pops into your mind? For many women, the thought of labiaplasty comes with worries of being confined to a hospital bed for a lengthy recovery period…but that’s not exactly true.

A labiaplasty won’t leave you stuck in the hospital—or even your house—forever. Let’s take a look at some of the common factors of each labiaplasty recovery and what you can expect after your procedure.

How long is labiaplasty recovery?

Not as long as you think.

Each patient is different—it’s impossible to give an exact timeframe for your body and procedure without first consulting a trained surgeon. Your overall health and surgeon’s skill play a huge role in how quickly you’ll make a full recovery.

Labiaplasty is an outpatient procedure. That means you’ll be back at home the same night as your surgery, NOT stuck in a hospital.

Plus, you’ll be able to get back to all of your normal activities in just a few weeks—not months.

How do you manage pain during labiaplasty recovery?

Despite involving such a sensitive area, pain during labiaplasty recovery isn’t as bad as you’re thinking.

You’ll probably be taking narcotic painkillers for several days after your procedure, but as the pain fades you can later switch to over-the-counter medications.

For the first week, you’ll also want to avoid lifting anything over 5 pounds.

Directly following your procedure, you may experience numbness or discomfort—these will gradually fade.

Of course, any procedure is going to cause some initial discomfort—and each body reacts to and deals with pain differently.

What does a typical labiaplasty recovery look like?

Since every woman is different, it’s not possible to give a completely accurate road map for your recovery, but here’s what you can expect on average:

• 48 Hours: You can resume showering.
• 2 Weeks: Most swelling/discoloration will fade. By now you should also be able to resume work and many light activities.
• 6 Weeks: After 6 weeks, you can begin having sex—assuming you feel 100% comfortable. If not, give it some more time.
• 3 Months: Incision scars will begin fading until they’re virtually unnoticeable.

Labiaplasty is not an extremely extensive procedure, and you’ll be back to 100% pretty darn fast.

When should you seek medical attention following labiaplasty?

Thankfully, a majority of women won’t experience any serious issues after their surgery—but it’s your surgeon’s job to prepare you anyway. Seek medical help if you experience:

• Fever (possible sign of an infection)
• Extreme pain, or pain that doesn’t go away
• Colored discharge from your incisions
• Bleeding that’s difficult to control with very light pressure
• Redness or swelling that persists longer than a few days

Again, it’s rare that you’ll have to deal with any of the above.

Feeling overwhelmed about labiaplasty?

It’s your doctor’s job to explain the entire procedure and recovery process in detail, answering all of your questions and relieving your concerns.

When choosing a surgeon for your labiaplasty, don’t just pick someone who’ll get you great results—pick a doctor who’ll make you feel great, too.