Your vagina is a living tissue filled with muscles that get stretched when you give birth. In fact, all of the muscles in your pelvic floor — a muscular sling that supports your vagina and other reproductive organs — are stretched and elongated during childbirth.
After childbirth, or with increased age, you may notice that your vagina is looser than you want it to be. Not only does it feel more lax, you may even notice a change in the appearance of your labia or even the vagina itself.
You may also notice that your vagina is less sensitive to stimulation, which cuts down on your enjoyment of sex. But, luckily, your vagina isn’t like a t-shirt that’s been stretched beyond its ability to snap back. Your vagina can be rejuvenated.
At Mian OB/GYN & Associates in Silver Spring, Maryland, Dr. Rafiq Mian and our team help you understand how to prepare your vagina for childbirth. We also have remedies for vaginal looseness that may occur after your beautiful baby is in your arms.
Even before the momentous day when you give birth, your entire pelvic floor (including your vagina), is under a lot of pressure and stress. As your baby grows, its weight presses down on your bladder and the muscles in your pelvic floor. That’s why you may have to urinate more during pregnancy than before.
If you’re “eating for two,” you may have even gained more weight than necessary to support your baby. Any extra pounds of fat on your body also exert pressure on your pelvic floor. As your pelvic floor weakens, your vagina is also at risk becoming weaker and less flexible.
To prepare your vagina for childbirth, we recommend performing Kegel exercises as soon as possible. Kegels, performed correctly, strengthen your entire pelvic floor, including your vagina. We may also advise you to lose weight to take unnecessary pressure off your pelvic floor.
All of the tissues in your pelvic floor, including the muscles in your vagina, are stretched during childbirth. But just as you can stretch your leg muscles without making your legs permanently wobbly, your vagina and pelvic floor should be stronger and even tighter, not looser, once you’ve healed.
That assumes, however, that your vagina and pelvic floor muscles were in good condition before birth. If you’re older, heavy, or out of shape, your muscles might already have lost tone. The stresses of childbirth, therefore, may be too much for them to recover from easily.
If your vagina doesn’t stretch enough to accommodate your baby’s head, your doctor may choose to make a cut in between your vagina and your anus, an area known as the perineum. This opening is called an episiotomy. Without an episiotomy, your vagina might tear.
Episiotomies are most common during first births, when your vagina is its tightest. After an episiotomy, your vagina and entire vulvar area may be swollen and tender. Your stitches should heal within a month, however.
Childbirth is traumatic for your vagina and your pelvic floor muscles. However, they’ve evolved to withstand the pressures and stresses of childbirth and eventually regain their shape and strength. In fact, giving birth can even strengthen your pelvic floor, just as lifting weights eventually strengthens your other muscles.
When you experience tissue trauma due an accident, injury, or surgery, you work with a physical therapist (PT) to rebuild strength and flexibility. Some PTs specialize in pelvic floor rehabilitation. They prescribe Kegels and other exercises to help you tighten your vagina and pelvic floor to alleviate symptoms such as:
However, if you’ve already undergone multiple births or if pelvic floor rehabilitation hasn’t brought you the relief you want, there’s another option: vaginal rejuvenation with vaginoplasty.
If your vagina continues to be loose and your sexual response is dampened even after a healing period and exercises, you may benefit from vaginal rejuvenation surgery. Vaginal rejuvenation, also known as vaginoplasty, is like a facelift for your private parts.
Vaginal rejuvenation:
When you rejuvenate your vagina, you also rejuvenate your sex life. And your self-esteem.
If you’ve experienced persistent vaginal looseness and lack of sensation after childbirth, contact us at Mian OB/GYN & Associates today by calling us or using our online booking form for a vaginoplasty consultation.
