Female Genital Surgery Turkey

A lot of the women who contact us about intimate surgery start by apologising. Sorry if this is a strange question. Sorry, I don't know the right word. There's nothing to apologise for. Half the confusion comes from the fact that nobody ever gave most of us a proper map of our own anatomy, and the adverts for female genital surgery in Turkey and elsewhere don't help.

So before talking about any operation, we'd like to work out where the trouble actually is. In our experience it lands in one of four places. Knowing which settles a surprising number of questions on its own.

The outside: labia and the skin around them

The inner lips, the labia minora, are what most women mean when they say something down there "sticks out". They can be long, uneven, darker at the edges, or longer on one side than the other. All of that is common. On its own, none of it needs fixing.

Where it turns into a medical question is when the tissue starts interfering with ordinary life. One woman might have quietly given up on leggings. Another dreads the day after a spin class. Others mention pain during sex when the lips get tucked in, or trouble keeping the area clean during a period. That's the territory of labia reduction surgery, and its page goes into the techniques in detail.

Now and then the hood of skin over the clitoris is part of the picture as well. When it's heavy, the surgeon might talk about reducing it in the same operation so everything sits in proportion. Plenty of women don't need anything done there. Nobody should add it to your plan just because they can.

The inside: the vaginal canal

A different set of women describe a different feeling. Things feel looser than they did. Sex feels different, sometimes for both partners. Tampons don't stay in place as well. Occasionally there's a sound of air during exercise or intercourse. These changes most often follow one or more vaginal births.

That's the inside, the canal itself and the muscle wall around it, and it's what vaginal tightening surgery works on. It's a separate operation from labiaplasty, with a different recovery and a different set of questions to ask yourself first.

Underneath it all: pelvic floor and prolapse

Most women first hear about the pelvic floor from a midwife, usually along with a leaflet of squeezing exercises. It's the layer of muscle at the base of your pelvis, and the bladder, womb and bowel all rest on it. Babies stretch it. So can years of lifting, a smoker's cough or the hormonal drop at menopause.

When it gives way enough, an organ can start to bulge into the vagina. Women describe a heavy, dragging feeling by the end of the day, or a lump they can feel or even see at the entrance. That's prolapse. Plenty of women have some degree of it, and there's a lot that can be done. Cosmetic vaginoplasty just isn't among the fixes. The right specialist here is a gynaecologist with an interest in the pelvic floor. Physiotherapy is often where they begin. A pessary, a soft ring fitted inside the vagina for support, suits some women for years. Others need a repair operation designed for exactly this.

And the bladder

Then there's the little leak when you sneeze, or laugh hard, or land a jump on a trampoline with the kids. Doctors call it stress incontinence. Many women assume it's part of the same "looseness" and hope a tightening operation will sort both. Usually it won't. Bladder leakage has its own treatments, starting with pelvic floor exercises, and its own specialists.

Leaking the main issue? Say so in your first message. Sending you to the right specialist is more use to you than an operation aimed at something else.

One sentence, four problems

"I don't feel the same after the baby" might be a stretched canal, a weak pelvic floor, a mild prolapse or a bladder that leaks. Quite a few women have two of these at once. Sorting them out is what the examination in Istanbul is for. Afterwards, your written plan names the problem surgery can help with, if there is one.

Pelvic floor physiotherapy deserves a proper try for anything on the inside or underneath. A specialist physio can check whether you're doing the exercises correctly, which a surprising number of women aren't, and set a programme. It takes months rather than weeks. For many women it's enough on its own.

What about lasers and "rejuvenation"?

Heat and laser "vaginal rejuvenation" is sold hard, usually with soft-focus photos and very little in the way of evidence. It isn't surgery. Health regulators in more than one country have questioned what's being claimed for it, and we don't offer it. Had it already, with no real change? Mention it. It won't count against you.

After menopause

Falling oestrogen thins and dries the tissues of the vulva and vagina. Women describe soreness, burning, pain during sex and sometimes more urine infections. Those symptoms are very often treated well with local oestrogen or moisturisers from your own doctor, with no operation involved.

Women past menopause can still have surgery when there's a real structural reason. If it's mainly dryness and soreness, though, we'd send you back to your own GP or gynaecologist first.

Your surgeon, a chaperone, and asking for a woman

The examination is carried out privately by the same surgeon who'd do the operation. A chaperone is present unless you'd rather not have one. Some women strongly prefer a female doctor for intimate care. If that's important to you, say so when you first write, and we'll tell you honestly what we can arrange.

The page above asks a pointed question: who answers your call in week six, once you're home and something doesn't feel right? It's a fair thing to ask any clinic. Write the answer down before you book.

Is it your decision?

This one matters. Occasionally a woman tells us a partner has said something about how she looks, or suggested she "get it done". We'll always listen. We'll also want to hear what you think about your own body, separately from anyone else. Surgery done to please someone else rarely leaves people happy, and the assessment makes time for that conversation.

Age matters too. We don't operate for appearance alone on anyone under 18, because anatomy is still changing through the teenage years.

Timing the operation

Tell us roughly when your period is due. Surgeons generally like to avoid operating in the middle of it. Family plans matter more. Another vaginal birth can loosen a tightened canal again, and it may change the labia too. If more children are likely, most women wait.

Cigarettes slow healing, and this is delicate skin. Stopping well before the date gives it a better chance. Any active infection, including thrush, needs treating before surgery.

Having labiaplasty and vaginoplasty together

Some women have both an outside and an inside problem, often after more than one birth. In that case the two operations can be done in a single session, under one anaesthetic and with one hospital night.

Doing both at once means more swelling in the first fortnight, and sitting is less comfortable for longer. The recovery timetable doesn't double, though. Most women who need both prefer one trip and one recovery to two. Your surgeon will only suggest it if both problems are clearly there on examination.

Female genital surgery cost in Turkey

Labiaplasty is €3,000 on our list and vaginoplasty €3,200. Either price covers the anaesthetic and your hospital night. You won't pay extra for airport transfers or an interpreter, and follow-up continues for twelve months. If you're having both, the table above notes they're done in one session and priced as one operation, so ask for that figure in writing.

For comparison, the table shows labiaplasty at roughly €5,918 to €6,188 in the UK and vaginoplasty at €4,627 to €6,596. Cost isn't the reason to choose a clinic in this area, though. A careful examination and a straight answer about what's normal are worth more than any saving.

Recovery and four nights in Istanbul

After female genital surgery in Turkey, expect about four nights in Istanbul. The first is spent on the ward. Back at the hotel, loose clothes are your friend. Baths are out, so it's showers only. The bike stays parked until you've healed. Desk-based jobs can usually be picked up again within about a week. Sex waits for six weeks. The final result, for either operation, is judged at around six weeks rather than on the day you leave.

Some women fold this into a bigger post-baby plan, a tummy tuck for instance, as part of a mommy makeover. We can plan it that way. You'd be under anaesthetic for longer, and the weeks afterwards need more organising at home.

Getting back to sex

The wait is six weeks at least. Your surgeon will check the healing before you get the all-clear. Plenty of women feel nervous about that first time, which is completely normal. Going gently helps, as does a bit of lubricant.

Straight after labiaplasty, the healing edges may tingle, or feel slightly dull to the touch. That usually settles over months. Pain that doesn't ease, or that gets worse, is worth telling us about rather than putting up with.

Questions women ask us privately

Will it affect having a baby later? Labiaplasty shouldn't stop you having a vaginal birth. Let your midwife know you've had it. A tightening operation can be stretched again by delivery, which is why most women wait until their family is complete.

Is the scar visible? It runs along the new edge of the lips. Once healed it's usually very hard to spot.

And exercise? Walking is fine straight away. Running and gym classes usually wait several weeks, and cycling waits until everything has healed. Your surgeon gives you the dates at the final check.

Do I have to tell my GP? It's your call. Most women who do tell their GP are glad of it if anything needs checking months later.

Why there's no gallery here

There are no before and after photos of female genital surgery on our site, by choice. Women's anatomy varies so much that a stranger's result tells you little about yours. Before and after galleries also tend to set a narrow idea of "normal" that isn't true.

Reviews are scarce for the same reasons of privacy. The useful ones judge results by real life. They talk about whether the rubbing stopped, whether sex felt better, and how recovery went, rather than how anything looks.

Writing to us

No photos needed, and no medical vocabulary either. Plain words are fine. Let us know what you've noticed and roughly when it started. A link to a birth, a sport, sex or your cycle is worth mentioning too. The guide to genital surgery for women and men explains how a private enquiry works. A surgeon will reply in confidence, and part of that reply may simply be whether female genital surgery in Turkey is the right next step at all.