Elevation of Mons Pubis
Elevation of the mons pubis is a procedure that seeks to correct laxity caused by age, weight gain and pregnancy.
What is the mons pubis?
Mons pubis, also called the pubic mound, is the fatty tissue located over the pubic bone. The mons pubis is contiguous with the vulva and at the bottom is divided into the labia majora. The skin in this area is covered with hair follicles and underneath the skin is mostly fatty tissue; within the fatty tissue there are a number of nerves and blood vessels.
Symptoms of a lax mons pubis
Pregnancy, weight gain, and the natural ageing process can cause the mons pubic to become lax, prompting women to seek treatment to overcome this condition; women may become self-conscious of their appearance due to the prominence of a lax mons pubis.
In addition, there are other symptoms such as:
- A dragging sensation
- Feeling of a bulge
- Impression of carrying a weight particularly when moving around
- Irritation when wearing tight clothes
- Increased sweating
Treatment
There are different treatments for this problem. There can be a little doubt the most effective way to reduce the size of the mons pubis in overweight women, is by sensible weight loss. However, this cannot be effective for all women and they need to consider other options such as liposuction or surgical reduction to achieve the desired result.
In some cases, the problem is that the skin in that area hangs down loosely and is excessive without the presence over abundant fat tissue. This problem is mostly caused by age-related thinning and stretching of the skin with loss of subcutaneous connective tissue. In rare cases these feature result from massive weight loss where fat deposits have been eliminated but the stretched skin remains.
Elevation of the mons pubis
Elevation of the mons pubis is a surgical treatment which helps to lift the mons pubis. The operation may be carried out under a general anaesthetic or regional block. However, local anaesthesia is always applied to the wound. The length and nature of the incision is determined by the size and shape of the mons pubis. The wound is typically elliptical so that the final wound, when closed, is transverse. During the surgery, a wedge of the fat layer is excised taking care with haemostasis. The amount of fat removed must be judicious in order to achieve the desired outcome. Surgery is covered by intravenous antibiotics given during and an oral course of antibiotics to be taken for up to 7 days after surgery. Most of the activities including driving or returning to work could be started after two weeks. Although more than 90% of healing has taken place by 6 weeks, it will take an extra 6-10 week period for the skin wound to completely heal.
Liposuction
Another treatment which is used to reduce mons pubis is liposuction. In this method liposuction is applied to flatten and reduce a bulging pubic area by removing excessive fat in that area. Liposuction of the mons pubis is a relatively straightforward procedure that can produce some dramatic results. The only requirement is that the skin should have good elasticity, because liposuction of the mons pubis can make loose skin even looser once the fat is removed. If the pubic area was big enough to stretch out the skin, the skin will droop, and liposuction won’t be enough. This procedure may be performed alone or in conjunction with elevation of the mons pubis.