Skip navigation! Story from Health. Young girls are increasingly seeking surgery on their vaginas — known as labiaplasty — because of concerns over how they look. In some cases, girls as young as nine are asking for the operation despite having no medical need for it. But more than such girls had the surgery in , with more than of those under 15, according to NHS figures. Naomi Crouch, chair of the British Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology, said that while GPs are referring increasing numbers of young girls for the operation, she has never come across a girl who needed it for medical reasons. De Zulueta told the BBC. It's very normal for the lips to protrude. One girl in her 20s, given the pseudonym Anna, told the BBC she considered having the surgery when she was 14 but later changed her mind — and was glad she did because she now realises she looks "totally normal".
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But before we begin, let's clear up some terms. It's a very common misconception that everything "down there" is called your vagina, but what you're calling your vagina is actually your vulva. According to Dr. Melisa Holmes , a pediatric and adolescent gynecologist at Greenville Health System and the co-founder of non-profit teen sex ed organization Girlology , the vagina is simply the canal that connects your uterus and cervix to the "outside world.
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When it comes to body insecurities, one of the biggest things women stress out about is our vaginas, or more specifically - our labia. The lips that announce the opening of the vagina, and differ a lot from woman to woman. A lot of women feel insecure about the way theirs look.
Girls as young as nine are opting to have surgery on their private parts because of body insecurities that stem from social media and pornography, doctors have revealed. Naomi Crouch, a leading adolescent gynaecologist, told the BBC about the worrying trend and admitted that she is concerned GPs are referring young girls for unneeded labiaplasty - an operation where the lips of the vagina are shortened or reshaped. She also added that the rise is the fault of pornography and social media and that, in her opinion, labiaplasty should only be performed on girls who have a medical abnormality. In , more than girls under 18 had labiaplasty on the NHS, with more than of the girls aged under Inglefield added that he did not know how she dealt with the discomfort she would have endured for years. You can find our Community Guidelines in full here. Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging discussions and hear from the journalists? Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Independent Premium Comments can be posted by members of our membership scheme, Independent Premium.
