Condition
Intimate health — women
Problems and changes that people rarely ask about out loud — what causes them and what is done about them.
What is this about?
This group covers changes and problems in the intimate area that have three different causes, and are often mixed up.
Always been there. The size and shape of the inner lips (labia minora) differ from woman to woman, just like everything else. For some women this causes a physical problem — friction when walking, exercising or having sex, or discomfort in clothes.
After childbirth. Stretching and injuries during birth change the perineum and the entrance to the vagina. The effects can be pain, a feeling of looseness or a scar that bothers you.
With age. Falling oestrogen levels change the lining and the volume of the tissue, bringing dryness, sensitivity and a change in appearance.
When is it a physical problem, and when is it not?
This is the question that most shapes the answer.
If the change causes friction, pain, discomfort when moving, exercising or having sex, or makes hygiene difficult — it is a physical problem, and the procedure is the solution to that problem.
If there is no problem and the reason is appearance — that is also a valid reason to talk.
Pain, itching, a change in how the skin looks or a discharge are not an aesthetic question — these are problems that a gynaecologist looks into first.
After childbirth
This is not dealt with straight after birth — the tissue keeps changing by itself for months, and a procedure is planned only once things have settled.
Depending on what the birth left behind, one of the following is done, from smaller to larger: correction of an episiotomy scar or of a stitch that hurts; reconstruction of the perineum when the birth was difficult; correction of the entrance to the vagina, when the muscles have not returned to their place; narrowing of a vagina that has stayed wider than you want. With more marked changes, several of these are dealt with in one procedure, with volume restored using your own fat.
What does the examination involve?
The examination takes half an hour on average and is mostly a conversation: what bothers you, when (when walking, exercising, having sex, in clothes), since when, and what you expect. The examination itself takes a few minutes, on a gynaecological couch, and does not involve instruments. If you wish, you can come with someone.
After the examination you get an answer on whether what bothers you is something a procedure changes, or whether it is within the normal range and a procedure would change nothing. We tell you the second answer openly too, because many of the women who come for an examination do not need a procedure; they need an answer.
What can be done?
| Problem | Procedure | Also, in the same visit |
|---|---|---|
| The inner lips bother you when walking, exercising, having sex or in clothes; the outer lips have lost volume | Labiaplasty (reducing the labia) | With perineum correction or vaginoplasty, in the same procedure. |
| Pain at the site of a stitch, an episiotomy scar, a feeling of looseness at the entrance after childbirth | Perineum and vaginal opening correction | Correction of the entrance and the perineum are done together, because they result from the same event; with vaginoplasty if needed. |
| The vagina has stayed wider than you want; dryness and loss of volume with age | Vaginoplasty | Perineum correction in the same procedure; volume is restored with your own fat, with PRP if needed. |
| A build-up of fatty tissue or loose skin above the genitals | Mons pubis reduction | With a tummy tuck, in the same procedure. |
| A spasm that makes intercourse or a gynaecological examination impossible | Botox for vaginismus | When a narrow entrance comes with the spasm, the entrance is widened surgically in the same visit, and Botox relaxes the muscle. |
| You want the hymen reconstructed | Hymenoplasty | — |
Specialist and team
Specialty: plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery.
When the procedure is done under sedation or general anaesthesia, the anaesthesia is led by a specialist in anaesthesiology, resuscitation and intensive care who works full time at the clinic.
In the operating theatre, the surgeon is assisted by head nurse Martina Šereg, with the help of nurses Kristina Jurešić and Mateja Tomorad, and in recovery the care assistant Mirjana Kovačić is with you. Martina also looks after preparation, scheduling and contact after the procedure.
Who will operate is decided at the examination, based on the findings and the type of procedure. You know the name of the surgeon before the procedure and meet them at the examination.
→ Doctors and team at Poliklinika Barbel
Frequently asked questions
Whom do I contact if I am not sure this is a matter for a surgeon? Pain, itching, a change in how the skin looks or a discharge are looked into first by a gynaecologist. For changes that bother you physically or because of how they look, get in touch — nurse Martina will gladly answer your questions.
Can I come for an examination during my period? For a conversation, yes; the examination is more comfortable outside your period.
Do you also deal with incontinence? Involuntary leaking of urine is treated with different procedures, by a urologist or a urogynaecologist. If this is your main problem, at the examination we tell you whom to contact; tightening the vagina does not by itself solve incontinence.
Medical review: doctors of Poliklinika Barbel · October 2026.