Choosing a Great Labiaplasty Surgeon

Choosing a Great Labiaplasty Surgeon

Choosing a surgeon is always difficult but it is especially daunting when one is considering a cosmetic vaginal surgeon.  The key to choosing a great labiaplasty surgeon is understanding what attributes are important to achieve great cosmetic surgical results.   Choose a surgeon with experience, expertise, the appropriate training, a national reputation, great listening and communication skills and one who can achieve fantastic results.

 

 

 Experience: 

All too often surgeons exaggerate their surgical experience.  It is very common surgeons will say: 1.) I do these all the time 2.) I have been performing labiaplasties for 20 years 3.) I have performed hundreds of labiaplasties or 4.) I am board certified.  So how do you determine if a surgeon has experience?

Surgical experience, often measured by annual case volume, has been demonstrated to be related to better prognosis in various surgical fields. The positive effect of surgical experience has been described in coronary artery bypass surgery, aortic valve replacement, and malignancy resection.

If your surgeon states: “I do these all the time” challenge your surgeon to define what this means. Does all the time mean once a year, once every 6 months or has he/she done 3 in the last 6 months and never did any before or after that?  Ask your surgeon how many did you do last month or last week. If he/she has done 3 in the last month I am sure one of those 3 patients will be willing to talk to you and share their experience, so ask your surgeon and his/her staff to request a consultation from their most recent patient.

If your surgeon has “been performing labiaplasties for 20 years” then he/she should have no problem telling you how many they do a month.  These questions/answers can be misleading, it could be that your surgeon means they have performed 1 per year for 20 years.  If they are truly leaders in their field they should be able to provide you with scientific literature defining their volume.   Dr. Moore and I can produce a scientific journal article which reveals that we consulted with 550 patients for labiaplasties in only 3.5 years. That is approximately 150 cases per year or 3 per week. Dr. Moore and I have been performing labiaplasty surgeries for 20 years and have performed more than 2,000 cases.

Please remember that experience is only one parameter you should use when choosing the right surgeon for you.  A surgeon can have the experience of performing hundreds of cases over a year or a lifetime but may not have the extremely important and sought after artistic skills needed for a successful surgical outcome. This is why experience is not the only parameter on which to choose the right surgeon.

Expertise:

Expertise means expert skills or knowledge in a specific or particular field. In the context of surgery, experts can be defined as “experienced surgeons with consistently better outcomes,” whereby, they demonstrate superior performance in multiple skills compared with non-experts.

There are surgeons who are leaders and innovators and those who are followers.  Usually leaders and innovators are the surgeons who are some of the first performing the surgeries and have learned by others’ mistakes. These men and women write scientific papers, books and book chapters, as well, are leaders in teaching the skills around the world.  Again, expertise is not the only criteria for choosing the best labiaplasty surgeon but usually those inventors and innovators are the most experienced and have the most amount of knowledge to give their patients the very best results.  Dr. Miklos and Dr. Moore have been performing labiaplasty surgeries weekly for 20 years, they are prolific scientific writers on the topic of cosmetic vaginal surgery and have written a book, book chapters, scientific articles and have taught about labiaplasty and cosmetic vaginal surgery all over the world.  Drs. Miklos & Moore are also 3 time recipients of the Best Cosmetic Vaginal Surgeon award by the International Society of Cosmetogynecology  (ISCG) and the 2017 recipient of the
Best Cosmetic Vaginal Surgeon by the European Society of Aesthetic Gynecology (ESAG).

Training:

Training is a process by which someone is taught the skills that are needed for an art, profession, or job.  Just because your surgeons have been trained in breast surgery or a hysterectomy does not mean they have been taught or are proficient in the art of labiaplasty.  Though “board certification” is preferable, the evaluation of surgical skills specifically relating to labiaplasty is not required for certification with American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology (ABOG), American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS) or the American Board of Urology (ABU). In fact, there are no specific licensing requirements or required educational courses to perform the procedure.  Allow me to repeat this:

Labiaplasty surgical training and proficiency is not a requirement to be “Board Certified” by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology or the American Board of Urology.  Board Certification means little as to the quality of work your surgeon will do.

Drs. Miklos & Moore are both trained as Ob/Gyn’s but also have done extended training  known as fellowships.  Though some doctors will train and do one fellowship after residency training, Drs. Miklos & Moore have competed 3 different fellowships including: Urogynecology (2 years), Minimally Invasive Reconstructive Vaginal Surgery (2 years) and Cosmetic Vaginal Surgery (1 year) .

Reputation:

The reputation of a doctor is often difficult to assess as many patients put so much emphasis on whether he/she has good bedside manner.  Good bedside manner and charm is a great physician attribute and certainly makes the patient feel more comfortable but it is no guarantee for a great surgical outcome.  Your surgeon may have a fantastic reputation but that does not mean he/she is a fantastic labiaplasty surgeon.  The question one needs to ask: “Does my surgeon have a fantastic reputation for being an outstanding labiaplasty or cosmetic vaginal surgeon?”

So, when assessing your physician’s reputation consider the following;

• State Licensing– you surgeon must be licensed in your state to perform surgery in your state. It’s simple, if he/she is not licensed in your state then he/she should not be practicing medicine in your state and you should exclude him/her as a potential surgeon.
• Disciplinary Actions – the easiest way to check is to simply Google your surgeon and check for “disciplinary actions + surgeons name.” Sometimes disciplinary actions are alarming and a cause for concern and other times they are not.  Good common sense will allow you to assess its relevance.
• Online Reviews – Online reviews give great power to the patient and can be very informative and useful in assessing the quality of your surgeon’s skill and care. However, sometimes interpreting the results of the review can be daunting especially if the surgeon does many different types of surgeries.  Never base your decision solely by the “star rating.”  Of course, more stars are better but learn to interpret specifically for your surgery.

Example:  The surgeon you are investigating may have 300 people giving him or her a “5-star rating” but on closer inspection of each individual testimonial or rating you notice 200 of these ratings are for Botox of the face and lip enhancing injections and 95 other “5-star” ratings are for breast augmentation.  This does not mean you surgeon is capable of a great labiaplasty result.  On closer inspection you may find he/she has 5 “1-star” ratings for labiaplasty.    This still averages out to a “5-star rating”

So, when assessing a surgeon’s reputation be logical and pragmatic by looking specifically for surgeons who specialize in performing cosmetic vaginal surgery and labiaplasty. Obviously, a surgeon who meets the above criteria and has a national or international reputation for cosmetic vaginal surgery should be at the top of your list of potential surgeons.

Results:

The results obtained by a labiaplasty or cosmetic vaginal surgeon is argumentatively the most important of all criteria in determining the best surgeon for your labiaplasty.  Results are best determined by several factors including but not limited to the following:

 

• Before and after photos – the adage a picture speaks a thousand words has never been truer when reviewing before and after photos of patients who have undergone a labiaplasty. Review these photos to see if a patient has a similar pre-surgical look as you and see if you like the post-surgical labiaplasty results.

 

Review any before and after photos of botched labiaplasties which the surgeon has corrected. If a surgeon can fix and artistically revise a botched labiaplasty to your aesthetic standards then most likely that surgeon can do a great labiaplasty on a patient who has never had a labiaplasty.

 

• Surgical Videos – a full length or time lapsed video of your surgeon performing labiaplasty can be especially helpful in assessing the surgeon’s artistic skills.

 

• Testimonials – patient testimonials ie the actual commentary to the skills, bedside manner and outcomes of a patient’s surgery can be most helpful in choosing a surgeon, however, be aware that an excellent testimonial about a surgeon’s breast augmentation or liposuction skills is not a commentary on his/her labiaplasty results.

Fantastic Results:

 The difference between great results and fantastic results is choosing a surgeon who will listen, communicate and be honest with you.  Too many plastic and cosmetic vaginal surgeons tell their patients what results they want from their labiaplasty instead of listening to the patient and attempting to understand her postoperative aesthetic desires.   For a surgeon to achieve or meet the patient’s post-operative aesthetic expectations he/she must listen to the patient’s areas of concerns and her postoperative desires.  My 20+ years of labiaplasty experience has taught me to listen to patients and that most patients require more than just a labiaplasty to meet the patient’s expectations.  Drs. Miklos & Moore wrote the largest paper on labiaplasty ever written and were the first surgeons to ever to write a paper on the patient’s postoperative expectations of labiaplasty surgery. They collected information over a 3-year period on 550 patients’ postoperative labiaplasty expectations. (Click to read).   This study has set the precedence for labiaplasties and aesthetic results.

Only after listening to the patient can the surgeon discuss whether the patient’s desired aesthetic results are possible.  If you are talking to an experienced labiaplasty surgeon he/she will listen to your aesthetic desires and then communicate whether these expectations are or are not achievable in his/her hands.

Most women choose a surgeon based upon a combination of convenience, locale, costs, reputation and results.  I encourage all patients to make results as their number one criteria for choosing a surgeon and location and costs should be last on their lists.   If you must travel for surgery or pay more for surgery that additional costs far outweigh the potential lifetime devastating trauma of a botched surgery.  (please click here to read Dr Miklos’ Botched Labiaplasty).  Choose an experienced, results driven expert in labiaplasty surgery.  Choose a surgeon wisely and travel if you must to get the very best and most experienced surgeon you can afford.  Best of luck with your labiaplasty and labiaplasty surgeon.