As soon as I heard of the Mona Lisa Touch, I was certain that I was the perfect candidate – pre-menopausal and feeling a bit anxious knowing I’m about to enter the next ‘phase’ of my life. Yes, I’ll take any help I can get! And, a bonus if it’s quick, doesn’t hurt, and has some real benefits!
Being an avid researcher I scoured through the promotional material, heard reviews, watched videos and learnt that most patients felt an improvement after only one treatment. This sounded good to me.
You’ll be amazed to hear… it was everything it said it was, and more! After my treatment, which was quick (less than 10 minutes) and painless… I walked out of the practitioner rooms with no discomfort whatsoever. Every other time I’ve had laser, I’ve related it to pain. Definitely not in this case; it was absolutely painless.
It’s a topic that up until the last few years wasn’t really discussed; and it still remains quite a sensitive subject amongst most women, unless they’re discussing the latest column in the magazines about which celebrity is getting what. It is, however, a problem that affects most women at some stage throughout their lifetime… vaginal atrophy. For those of us affected, including myself, we can now breathe a sigh of relief. There is a solution.
So what is vaginal atrophy, and how do you know if you have it?!
Vaginal atrophy is generally caused by a reduction of oestrogen in your body. Oestrogen is described as “any of a group of steroid hormones which promote the development and maintenance of female characteristics of the body”. Oestrogen can decline for various reasons including:
- menopause
- after pregnancy and birth
- during breastfeeding
- after removal of ovaries
- immune disease
- some medications can contribute to symptoms
- can be a side effect from treatments for cancer (radiation and/or chemotherapy)
[adrotate banner=”83″]
What are the signs of vaginal atrophy?
There can be various signs including but not limited to:
- dryness (lack of vaginal moisture)
- painful or uncomfortable sexual intercourse (can also aggravate light bleeding)
- itching (external and internal irritation)
- burning (related to inflammation)
- frequent urinary tract infections
- vaginal discharge
- incontinence
These symptoms can result in decreased sex drive and energy, discomfort, not to mention embarrassment. Whilst it is estimated that between 50 and 60% of women have this condition in their lifetime, this number is probably a lot higher… it’s just that many of us don’t do anything about it.
Mona Lisa Touch is a non-surgical fractional laser system, not unlike the laser treatments available for facial rejuvenation. It works by a laser beam splitting into a series of really small dots focused onto the inside walls of your vagina. The laser pulses for a split second during which the point of contact heats and removes a pinhole of tissue ultimately stimulating cells to create more hydrated and healthy cells. It encourages the body to repair itself by creating collagen and elastin, improving blood flow and normalising the health and function of the vagina. The difference between Mona Lisa Touch and other lasers is that it has a higher energy at the start of the treatment in order to firstly ablate the surface tissue, and then the pulse tails off at a lower energy to deliver the correct amount of heat that stimulates the rejuvenation. It is the only fractional laser on the market that can do this and makes it safer with less risk of side effects and minimising the disruption to the vaginal wall.
One of the pioneers of the Mona Lisa Touch is a practitioner called Dr Fariba Behnia-Willison, based at the FBW GynaecologyPlus in Ashford, South Australia. Fariba was the first to have the Mona Lisa Touch machine and offer the treatment to ladies in Australia. She has performed over 3000 treatments and is well-known for her expertise with this machine. Fariba still has ladies travelling interstate to have her perform their treatments even though the treatment is now available all over Australia. She also holds training sessions to assist other gynecologists and practitioners master the more intricate details on performing the treatments.
I really think more women need to hear about the Mona Lisa Touch and I am lucky enough to have a forum with which to tell people about it.
For any of you who think, “That’s what I have…” make sure you check out our non-surgical treatment page where we now have MonaLisa Touch.
Hi Trish, glad you were happy with your MonaLisa Touch treatment. We deliver this incredibly important procedure via our advanced CO2 laser clinic called Academy Laser Clinics, with locations in Perth, Bunbury and soon Sydney
We hope to keep expanding and building public awareness until MLT is readily accessible and affordable for all women in need. To help with this, we have recently built a patient information website at http://www.monalisatouchclinics.com.au. We would love you to take a look at this site and provide some input or feedback on how to improve.
We are keen to work closely with Plastic Surgery Hub across all our treatments and happy to offer some complimentary treatments for your review. We will stay in touch.
kind regards, Rozlyn
Hi Rozlyn
That’s great! I’ll check out the site.
Trish
Does it work with vulval distrophy
Hi Julie
Here’s the reply we have received from the distributors.
“It is possible that the laser used for MonaLisa Touch could help a patient with vulval dystrophy, but this is a complicated area and there is also a chance that it wouldn’t help at all. We shouldn’t consider this to be a MonaLisa Touch treatment, its more like a dermatological laser procedure on the vulva. It really depends on the root cause of the problem. Probably the best option would be for the patient to visit a MonaLisa Touch doctor about the issue. This way the doctor can assess whether or not the patient is suitable for the laser treatment or if another course of treatment might be required.”
Makes so much sense! Let me know if you need to find someone near you – and where you are located, so we can point you in the right direction.
Regards, Trish
Hi Trish,
We are an OB/GYN practice in Overland Park, KS offering MonaLisa Touch laser therapy. We would like permission to put a link on our website http://www.monalisatouchkc.com to this blog:
Vaginal Atrophy? Breathe, or dance, a sigh of relief! MONA LISA TOUCH
It is beautifully written and shares all the benefits of this innovative new therapy. We are particularly pleased to be able to help breast cancer survivors with a non-hormonal option.
May we please have permission?
Regards,
Anne Brewer
Hi and thanks for the information. It’s great to hear about the support that’s avaialable to help breast cancer survivors using a non-hormonal option.
Let us know if there’s anything else you’d like us to share on our platform.
Regards
Trish
Six months after my last treatment (6 in total) there is no improvement in vaginal atrophy. The procedure itself was painful for me but my GP persisted and said I would see/feel an improvement. There has been none and my OBGYN is very critical of the procedure. I have now had to resort to traditional methods to control vaginal atrophy. Very disappointed as it was a painful and costly exercise.