Misunderstanding the vulva may be leading to pain after labiaplasties

By Ruby Prosser Scully

Nitat Termmee/Getty Images

Cosmetic genital surgery is increasingly popular, but new research suggests crucial nerves are at greater risk of injury during vulval surgery than many surgeons may realise.

Textbooks rarely depict or describe the dorsal nerves going to the clitoris, and the organ is often depicted as smaller than it is, says Paul Pin at the Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas.

Basic anatomical research on the clitoris has lagged behind that of the penis, he says. To address this, he and his colleagues dissected the clitoral …