Is the Mona Lisa Touch right for you?

(Tina Dawn/ VM Med) –– While menopause is a natural and normal part of a woman’s life, it also brings with it a whole list of specific issues. Women can find themselves tackling dryness, discomfort and pain, which in turn can affect their mood and behaviour, leading to depression and reduced psychological well being.

Bodies age and change. As women get older their estrogen levels decrease after menopause, and their vaginal tissue can atrophy. That means vaginal tissue becomes drier and thinner than it was when they were younger. It may also become inflamed, causing burning, itching, discomfort. Vaginal atrophy can, in turn, cause painful intercourse, frequent urinary tract infections, urinary incontinence, vaginal itching, reduced sensation during sex, and many other uncomfortable side effects.

But thankfully there are new and innovative options available to today’s women to manage menopausal symptoms that weren’t available before.

Vaginal rejuvenation

The Mona Lisa Touch, a nonsurgical treatment that regenerates vaginal tissues and helps relieve a variety of vaginal health issues, is one of them. This gentle laser treatment works by stimulating collagen production in vaginal tissues, while also increasing blood circulation and lubrication in the vaginal area, regenerating your vaginal tissue safely and effectively. It provides you with a hormone-free, medication-free solution to a range of pelvic health conditions.

The Mona Lisa Touch can also help younger women tighten up stretched vaginal tissue (known as vaginal laxity) that can result after childbirth. While motherhood is a beautiful thing, multiple vaginal deliveries can sometimes affect a woman’s sensation during sex, and she may suffer from urinary incontinence or pain during intercourse afterwards. While vaginal rejuvenation sounds like an esthetic procedure, it’s in fact a functional one that aims to help women regain the strength and tone of their vaginal walls, stretched and altered over time because of childbirth.

How does it work?

The Mona Lisa Touch is a carbon dioxide laser that is specifically designed to treat vaginal tissue and is designed to fit inside the vagina, just like the one you insert when you get a vaginal ultrasound. In many ways it’s very similar to laser facial treatments. The procedure uses lasers to make micro-abrasions or tiny scratches in the vaginal wall, which stimulate growth of new blood vessels. They, in turn, bring in cells like collagen, elastin, the cells that create normal vaginal lubrication.

Most women will require at least three treatments, delivered approximately four to six weeks apart. Maximum results are typically seen after three treatments, but sometimes the healthcare professional may recommend a fourth. Many women report almost immediate relief and improvement of their symptoms, such as improved vaginal lubrication and better bladder health. What’s great is that after the first series of three treatments, most women do not have to come back again for at least 12 months.

The procedure is safe, painless, and non-hormonal, it’s Health Canada approved and requires no sedation. All you feel is the vibration as the treatment wands touch the vagina and the vulva. Occasionally, some women report feeling a temporary burning sensation or some spotting, but those minor side effects don’t last long. Most patients compare it to the temporary discomfort of a Pap smear.

Not recommended for some patients

As highly effective as the procedure is, not everyone is a good candidate. Healthcare professionals don’t recommend it for patients dealing with a vaginal infection, who are pregnant or have had a recent pregnancy in the past 3 months, patients suffering from severe prolapse, or who have been diagnosed in the past with a blood clotting disorder or use of prescription blood thinners.

Mona Lisa Touch and cancer patients

The Mona Lisa Touch can also be recommended for women who’ve been diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer and have undergone chemotherapy, radiation, or hormonal therapy that made them more susceptible to vulvo-vaginal atrophy.

While cancer treatments can fight cancer, they can also be responsible for some uncomfortable and undesirable side effects that affect a woman’s quality of life and eventually enjoyment of her sex life. The non-invasive method improves some of the common side-effects of conventional cancer treatment among women, without obliging women to undergo more extensive and long-lasting procedures.

An alternative to the status quo

Even though post-menopausal women can stay vibrant and youthful for years to come, hormones and post-menopausal changes can dictate another scenario and wreak havoc on a women’s physical and psychological quality of life. Not everyone is a good candidate for hormone replacement therapy or even wants to go down that road.

Post-menopausal women or women who have experienced cancer treatments have a right to a healthy sex life and good vaginal health well into their late years. The Mona Lisa Touch is a good, risk-free, non-invasive option that can benefit both groups and considerably improve the quality of their lives.