In this article, we feature the highlights of our recent #WednesdayWellness discussion on women’s intimate care. We realize this may be a sensitive subject for many, so we asked regenerative medicine and aesthetic specialist, Dr Cindy Kerbel, to answer key questions that women often do not ask when it comes to caring for their intimate parts.
Firstly, let’s introduce you to Dr. Kerbel. Dr Cindy Kerbel, a GP with a passion for Aesthetic Medicine, graduated from the University of Cape Town Medical School in 2005. She holds diplomas in Primary Emergency Care and HIV Management, showcasing her dedication to comprehensive healthcare.
Dr Kerbel’s holistic approach covers intimate wellness, aesthetics, and regenerative medicine, using scientifically proven treatments like PRP, botulinum toxin, hyaluronic acid fillers, skin boosters, bio-remodeling agents, and biostimulators. She also offers various energy-based therapies such as MORPHEUS8 RF treatments, and CO2RE Intima laser procedures. Dr. Kerbel is a part of the team at Dr. Nerina Wilkinson & Associates.
Understanding Intimate Care
This article highlights key take-outs from the video interview with Dr. Cindy Kerbel. For the full interview, watch it below the post.
#1 Theme: What is intimate care?
The most intimate parts of our body are private, secret, and hidden. Yet their health can have a significant impact on our overall wellness. This is where Dr Kerbel is focusing her work. She would like to see more education on intimate wellness to help women positively transform their health outcomes.
“I see a lot of women who are struggling. They’re suffering in silence. Getting recurrent bladder infections, feeling uncomfortable and dissatisfied with their sexual experiences. Often this leads to psychological issues, or can compound existing psychological issues.”
What Is A Woman’s Intimate Health Condition?
An intimate health condition refers to an intimate concern that affects the function or desired appearance of the female intimate area.
Undesired changes may be caused by aging, childbirth, or a separate health condition affecting intimate wellness.
Dr Kerbel said: “We work closely with our patients to help them achieve their desired outcome, whether it’s restoring the appearance or enhancing the function associated with an intimate area.”
Who can women go to for intimate care advice?
Women’s intimate care is usually associated with visits to the gynecologist. Some women may even consult their General Practitioner or family doctor.
Today, regenerative medical doctors like Dr Kerbel play a key role in supporting these practitioners by providing non-invasive therapies to help normalize intimate health challenges.
As Dr Kerbel stresses, “all women should visit a gynecologist for their regular screenings. That’s very important as well for prevention, especially for cervical cancer and for treating diseases related to intimate areas.”
Her role is different to a gyneacologist.
“We’re looking at intimate wellness, rejuvenation of the tissue, revitalization of the tissue or sometimes re-modeling the tissue. Improving the functioning of the vaginal tissues, as opposed to just treating disease.”
“We’re here to help women build confidence and self-esteem. This may also have a positive impact on intimate relationships as well.”
Women’s intimate health treatments focus on restoring, enhancing, and maintaining intimate health and well-being for women. These treatments address intimate feminine concerns such as vaginal aging, childbirth impacts, and aesthetic concerns, providing holistic solutions for overall feminine wellness.
#Theme 2: Treatments and Procedures
We asked Dr. Kerbel to respond to these questions. Watch the video for full details.
- What medical treatments are available to improve the appearance and function of intimate areas?
- Can you explain the differences between surgical and non-surgical options?
- What are the latest advancements in intimate care treatments?
- What are the risks associated with these treatments, and how are they managed?
- How effective are these treatments in achieving the desired outcomes?
- What kind of aftercare is necessary following these procedures?
- How long do the results typically last?
- What should women consider before opting for an intimate care treatment?
- Are there specific conditions or age groups that benefit more from these treatments?
- How do you address concerns regarding pain, discomfort, or downtime associated with these procedures?
What can go wrong down there?
Dr Kerbel’s work will also focus on relieving conditions that can be very debilitating. For example, vaginal dryness. Here, decreased lubrication in the area can seriously impact a woman’s sexual pleasure. It might be decreased or laxity of the area decreases elasticity. which may cause mild urinary stress incontinence. Some patients may also experience some discomfort or pain during intercourse. They may be itching in the area or may get recurrent sort of bladder infection. Then we get a different spectrum of pain, which may be patients experiencing involuntary muscle spasms. So that’s more along the lines of vaginismus, and that’s a different sort of treatment profile that we’re looking at.
Dr Kerbel pointed out that she’s not a surgeon and does not work with invasive procedures. These are also available, but from plastic surgeons or surgeons specialising in this work. However, sometimes the roles overlap.
“Some patients may be concerned with the appearance of the outer lips or the external – the labia majora. It might look like it’s deflating over time, and they may want to rejuvenate that area. And for other patients, they may be looking at surgical options like labiaplasty to remove excess skin from the inner labia as well.”
Aesthetic problems can also have functional implications, so remedying them can improve the quality of life and comfort for patients as well.
Several factors impact the health of women’s intimate parts at different times in life
Dr. Cindy Kerbel
Dr Kerbel says women of different ages will experience variations of need. It is obvious and also very personal. She sees a lot more women in perimenopause, menopause, and post-menopausal phases dealing with challenges in their intimate health. Hormonal changes can compound intimate care with additional laxity, dryness, urinary stress, incontinence, and discomfort in the area.
“Women who are older tend to start experiencing more wellness challenges due to a sharp decrease in estrogen, which comes with menopause and the postmenopausal period.”
But, she says, it doesn’t mean younger women don’t struggle.
“Atrophy of the vaginal tissue that we see in this menopause and postmenopausal period can also happen because of medical conditions. This can happen at earlier ages and at other times in your life where you experience hormonal fluctuations. With pregnancy and childbirth, breastfeeding, we may also see estrogen shifts in patients. Patients who are on a progesterone pill rather than a combined pill, or even patients who’ve gone through certain breast cancers, where they might be on treatments that lower the estrogen on purpose to treat the cancer itself.”
“If you’re struggling and are concerned about uncomfortable symptoms, then you should seek help and start the conversation.”
“Only once we start the conversation and have a proper consultation will we know what direction to go in terms of their treatments. But a lot of patients – 50 to 60% of patients, in this sort of menopausal or postmenopausal area could benefit from some sort of treatment.
#3 Theme: Self-esteem and intimate care
- How do these treatments impact a woman’s confidence and self-esteem?
- What role does patient education play in the decision-making process for intimate care?
How do you know if you need help?
Dr Kerbel said: “If you’re uncomfortable, if you notice a change in your symptoms, so if you suddenly notice that you’ve got decreased lubrication, that there’s dryness in the area, and that’s causing discomfort when you didn’t have that before. I think you know where there’s a change, where there’s obviously more laxity in the area. Also, where you might have a little bit of urinary stress incontinence. When you cough or sneeze, or jump on a trampoline, and you leak a little bit.”
Between the sheets
When it comes to the bedroom, she says, “Either you’re not having nice orgasms, or you’re not having orgasms at all.”
“It all depends what’s happening. It’s going to be a very individual journey for everybody. But I think for me, it comes down more to the symptoms that a woman is experiencing. If a woman is noticing a change, if they are dry or lax. If they’re struggling, if it’s uncomfortable where it wasn’t uncomfortable before, then you know, there’s been a real shift.”
This is when you need to open those conversations with your gynacologist or GP. Some GPs are great at referring patients to regenerative medicine specialists who can provide solutions.
As we live longer, we need to keep all our parts in shape
We all age differently. We will live longer. And therefore it makes sense that women will be more active as they get older. But how will they be able to do that?
Dr Kerbel said: “Regenerative medicine is really looking at getting the body to function better, or the skin to function better. So in the skin and in the intimate areas, including what happens and why we have dryness and laxity, we start to lose with age, collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid.”
Treatment interventions are targeted at improving those components of your own skin and body and on your own functioning.
What therapies?
There are many therapies to discuss. Aesthetics and regenerative medicine use scientifically proven treatments like PRP, Plasma Rich Platelet Therapy, which are more commonly known as the O Shot and the G Shot. Also, botulinum toxins (Botox), hyaluronic acid fillers, skin boosters, bio-remodeling agents, and biostimulators.
Dr Kerbel also offers various energy-based therapies such as MORPHEUS8 RF treatments and CO2RE Intima laser procedures.
Watch video below for more insight into these treatments.
#4 Theme: How many treatments, how long, and for how long will they last?
Dr Kerbel says they can typically combine treatment modalities together so we calculate multiple conditions or multiple symptoms in one treatment session.
With the regenerative treatments you generally find that as a first treatment session, you need a series of three sessions usually spaced about a month apart, and then you see good results after about four weeks.
“Your outcomes will continue to improve and will last over time, on average around about a year. So it’s not long term, but it gives you a medium term improvement in your symptoms. And then, because you’ve done a series of treatments, you may not necessarily need to do that series again. You can often have a single treatment as a maintenance therapy to keep the collagen, stimulation, that elastin, that hydration, lubrication in the area, going as well.”
“Depending on whether you do the treatment alone or in combination, it takes around 30 to 60 minutes, it’s a really quick treatment. It’s minimal discomfort, minimal downtime.”
“Patients are often surprised at how quick and comfortable it is. I find the second and the third treatments are much easier than the first one, because there’s no anxiety. Patients are not coming in worried or anxious about what to expect. They know what to expect. And on the spectrum of all the treatments that we do all over the body, the ones in the intimate regions, are pretty comfortable for patients. They’re not very painful procedures. “
End note
Dr Kerbel says it is important to be sensitive to women’s concerns, social backgrounds and cultural norms.
“We appreciate that this is a sensitive therapy, so we focus on providing private intimate space and service. Patients often feel, especially in the first treatment, nervous or scared. You know, they’re sharing their very personal areas, and we want to make them feel comfortable as well. So that’s all factored into the treatment time.”
You will find Dr Cindy Kerbel at Dr Nerina Wilkinson and Associates, an exclusive private plastic surgery and aesthetic practice in the prestigious V&A Waterfront, Cape Town.
You can watch the interview below
View this post on Instagram
