Swiss doctors have carried out a large study to collect data on the size of the lips of several hundred women. The data shows that there is no standard.
Is there a normal female sex? The answer is no, as confirmed by a study by Swiss researchers. They studied the genitals of several hundred women. The size of the outer and inner lips varies greatly between the different participants. Their results were published on the website of National Center for Biotechnology Information.
Reassure patients and inform doctors
Researchers at Lucerne Cantonal Hospital conducted this study on 657 women aged 15 to 84. The size of the outer labia ranges from 12 to 180 millimeters, and the vaginal opening from 6 to 75 millimeters. This study should reassure many women about the appearance of their genitalia.
Doctors will also be able to use this data as a reference to enlighten their patients. However, this research only concerns Caucasian women, if it had spread to other continents, the “standard” data would surely have been broader.
Surgery that has become a “trend”
The appearance of the labia minora can be a real challenge for some women. Between 2015 and 2016, the number of women who used cosmetic surgery to change the shape and size of their lips increased by 39%, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. This surgery, called labiaplasty or nymphoplasty, has a real medical interest. It reduces the suffering of some women, bothered by the excessive size of the labia minora. This can be disabling because of friction with clothing, during sports or during sex.
In fact, the appearance of the vulva is a source of anxiety for many people. In 2016, a survey carried out in Australia showed that 97% of doctors have already seen a patient who was worried about the normality of her vulva. Some doctors are concerned about the influence of pornographic images on women’s perception of their anatomy.
For Dr Gabor Varadin, plastic surgeon in Geneva, Switzerland, the choice of resorting to surgery is not linked to a simple physical complex: “Usually the patients are determined. They come above all for themselves, rarely for their spouses or because they would like to imitate their models in magazines or films. “In 2016, 3,905 women would have had recourse to this practice in France according to Release.
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