Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Cosmetic gynecology continues to grow during the recession

Marie Myung-Ok Lee
Conditions
August 4, 2011
Share
Tweet
Share

Though the recession has blunted overall demand for cosmetic surgeries, one subcategory appears to be entering a growth phase, at least judging from the fifth annual Congress on Aesthetic Vaginal Surgery, held late last year in a luxury resort outside Tucson. There, about 60 doctors, most of them OB-GYNs, converged to discuss the expanding field of “cosmetic GYN”—elective surgeries for women seeking to “rejuvenate” and/or “beautify” their vaginas. Attendance at the conference has been increasing by about 20 percent each year—one doctor there explained that his services are in such demand, he has multiple operating rooms so he can move quickly from one surgery to the next—and last year a competing conference was held at the Venetian in Las Vegas.

The affable organizer of the Tucson event, Dr. Red Alinsod, was an early entrant into cosmetic GYN and is recognized for inventing the procedure in which the labia minora are completely amputated to create a “smooth” genital look known in the field as “the Barbie.” Though he began his career by winning a prestigious fellowship in gynecology-oncology at Yale in 1990, Alinsod now spends his days making genitalia “look pretty” for the wealthy patients who flock to his Southern California practice from all over the world. He is also an evangelist for the field, spreading its lucrative gospel to fellow doctors tired of toiling in traditional obstetrics and gynecology’s time-intensive and high-liability fields.

Interest in cosmetic GYN has been explained by such cultural shifts as the trickle-up effect of porn aesthetics and, relatedly, the popularity of the “Brazilian” wax, which leaves the genital area bare and thus subject to closer scrutiny. But the breakthrough moment for the field, cited by several presenters at the conference, was the appearance on the reality TV plastic surgery shows Dr. 90210 of David Matlock, an OB-GYN turned full-time cosmetic GYN specialist.

Cosmetic GYN is part of a broader trend in medicine, away from the traditional model of insurer-reimbursed, professionally sanctioned procedures and toward a simple fee-for-service model. The surgeries themselves are controversial: in 2007, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued an opinion advising against vaginal cosmetic procedures, and one committee member scathingly declared, “The absence of data supporting the safety and efficacy of these procedures makes their recommendation untenable.” Meanwhile, the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology refuses to recognize cosmetic GYN as a legitimate subspecialty.

As a practical matter, this rejection by medical gatekeepers means that for now, at least, cosmetic GYN has virtually no oversight and no credentialing requirements. At the conference, doctors were encouraged to view themselves as entrepreneurs marketing their services to consumers, with all that entails: sessions covered everything from search engine optimization for doctors’ Web sites to “The Blue Plate Special,” a urogynecologist’s advice on how to persuade a patient to add cosmetic GYN to an incontinence surgery. The Web site of one ahead-of-the-curve doctor featured not only a $500 coupon but also “Patriot Program” discounts for federal employees and military personnel. One conference presenter summed up the new dynamic: “Retail plus medicine equals ‘retailicine.’”

But for all the talk at the conference about “giving patients what they want,” it was clear that patients aren’t the only—or necessarily the primary—the driving force behind the cosmetic GYN boom. Many of the conference’s OB-GYNs groused that their insurance reimbursements are lousy even after they’ve amassed hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical-training debt. One doctor said he receives just $1,700 in fees for prenatal care and delivery and a mere $800 for a hysterectomy. By contrast, a labiaplasty can be done in just a few hours, in-office, for a fee upwards of $5,000 and no “income socialism” to spread the proceeds among hospitals, insurers, and group-practice partners. Underscoring just what this can mean, one conference presenter left his computer’s wallpaper—rotating images of him with his red Porsche 911—up in the background during his PowerPoint lecture. The message was tough to miss: practice cosmetic GYN, and you too can live the life of a plastic surgeon.

After merely watching videos of the procedures, some doctors at the conference expected to return home and begin performing the surgeries immediately, without any further training. But Alinsod and other presenters insisted that the skills necessary to perform these operations can be achieved only through mentored training. Perhaps in recognition of some doctors’ inexperience, one presentation tutored how to avoid malpractice suits, and another, on labiaplasty disasters, offered tips on the secondary market of “revision surgery.” Alinsod himself described a trompe l’oeil procedure he had come up with to create the appearance of resurrected labia in the event that a simple trimming job accidentally became a Barbie.

For now, the cosmetic GYN phenomenon seems confined largely to the coasts and especially to body-conscious Southern California. But the feeling at the conference was that opportunity abounds. As one presenter noted, “The Midwest is a wide-open market!”

Marie Myung-Ok Lee is a novelist and a regular contributor to Slate. She teaches at Brown University can be reached on Twitter and Facebook, and will be appearing at the Yale Medical School for their Program for Humanities in Medicine on December 15, 2011. This article originally appeared in The Atlantic, and is reprinted with the author’s permission.

Submit a guest post and be heard on social media’s leading physician voice.

Prev

Bullies in older adult communities

August 4, 2011 Kevin 0
…
Next

Using Twitter as an audience response system

August 5, 2011 Kevin 2
…

Tagged as: Specialist

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Bullies in older adult communities
Next Post >
Using Twitter as an audience response system

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Marie Myung-Ok Lee

  • When a hospital unexpectedly closes

    Marie Myung-Ok Lee

Related Posts

  • Cannabis stigma continues to impede patient care

    Jill Becker, MD
  • What do you want to be when you grow up: a medical student perspective

    Viraj Shah
  • Grow, share, eat: We have the opportunity to subvert the dominant supply chain

    John La Puma, MD
  • A medical student after an OB/GYN rotation: Here’s what he learned

    Nathaniel Fleming
  • An OB/GYN resident’s perspective on Black Lives Matter

    Sadhvi Batra, MD
  • What can be done to improve our maternal death rate?

    Robert Pearl, MD

More in Conditions

  • Facing terminal cancer as a doctor and mother

    Kelly Curtin-Hallinan, DO
  • Why doctors must stop ignoring unintentional weight loss in patients with obesity

    Samantha Malley, FNP-C
  • Why hospitals are quietly capping top doctors’ pay

    Dennis Hursh, Esq
  • Why point-of-care ultrasound belongs in emergency department triage

    Resa E. Lewiss, MD and Courtney M. Smalley, MD
  • Why PSA levels alone shouldn’t define your prostate cancer risk

    Martina Ambardjieva, MD, PhD
  • Reframing chronic pain and dignity: What a pain clinic teaches us about MAiD and chronic suffering

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • America’s ER crisis: Why the system is collapsing from within

      Kristen Cline, BSN, RN | Conditions
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • Beyond burnout: Understanding the triangle of exhaustion [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Facing terminal cancer as a doctor and mother

      Kelly Curtin-Hallinan, DO | Conditions
    • Online eye exams spark legal battle over health care access

      Joshua Windham, JD and Daryl James | Policy
    • FDA delays could end vital treatment for rare disease patients

      G. van Londen, MD | Meds
    • Pharmacists are key to expanding Medicaid access to digital therapeutics

      Amanda Matter | Meds
    • Why ADHD in women requires a new approach [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 9 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • America’s ER crisis: Why the system is collapsing from within

      Kristen Cline, BSN, RN | Conditions
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • Beyond burnout: Understanding the triangle of exhaustion [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Facing terminal cancer as a doctor and mother

      Kelly Curtin-Hallinan, DO | Conditions
    • Online eye exams spark legal battle over health care access

      Joshua Windham, JD and Daryl James | Policy
    • FDA delays could end vital treatment for rare disease patients

      G. van Londen, MD | Meds
    • Pharmacists are key to expanding Medicaid access to digital therapeutics

      Amanda Matter | Meds
    • Why ADHD in women requires a new approach [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Cosmetic gynecology continues to grow during the recession
9 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...