What Causes Vaginal Laxity?

Perhaps you find that wearing your favorite swimsuit or underwear is uncomfortable as your genitalia get twisted in the garments. Or, perhaps your sex life isn’t what it used to be thanks to a looser vaginal canal. These are the hallmarks of vaginal laxity, and they can present considerable quality-of-life issues.

The good news is that the team of women’s health experts here at Associates in Obstetrics & Gynecology offers solutions for vaginal laxity. Before we get into these solutions, let’s first take a look at what may be driving your vaginal health issues.

What is vaginal laxity?

In the simplest of terms, vaginal laxity is a looseness in your vaginal tissues, which can include your outer genitalia or your inner vaginal canal.

When the tissues outside your vagina — your labia — loosen, it can lead to problems with twisting of these tissues, especially with tighter clothing such as bathing suits and underwear. As well, these tissues can escape skimpier wear, creating a more revealing problem.

When the tissues inside your vagina become lax, your sex life can be affected as you may lose some sensation during intercourse.

Childbirth

One of the biggest drivers of vaginal laxity is vaginal childbirth, which can stretch your vaginal tissues beyond their ability to bounce back. For women who’ve delivered a large child or for women who’ve delivered several children vaginally, the risks for vaginal laxity heighten.

As well, if instruments were used to aid in the delivery, such as forceps, you may end up with some degree of vaginal laxity.

Aging

As we age, we lose collagen, which is the most abundant protein in the body that’s primarily responsible for providing support in your tissues. With less collagen, your vaginal tissues can loosen over time.

We want to underscore that aging, especially the years after menopause, can lead to significant changes in your vaginal health. In fact, nearly half of women who pass through menopause experience vaginal symptoms, such as dryness, thinning vaginal walls, and a shortened vaginal canal, all of which can make intercourse uncomfortable. These symptoms are different from vaginal laxity and are largely hormone-related. (Please note that we offer excellent treatment options for postmenopasual vaginal health, such as hormone replacement therapy.)

Treating vaginal laxity

If your vaginal laxity is creating quality-of-life issues for you, we offer two different solutions: labiaplasty and vaginal rejuvenation.

Labiaplasty

This is an outpatient surgical procedure in which we trim and tighten loose vaginal tissues. 

Vaginal rejuvenation

Using our advanced MonaLisa Touch® system, we deliver laser energy into the walls of your vagina to stimulate collagen production.

The primary difference between these two treatments is that a labiaplasty is designed to address external vaginal laxity, while our laser treatments rejuvenate internal vaginal health.

To figure out which treatment is best for your vaginal laxity concerns, we invite you to contact our office in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to set up a consultation.