Loss of control.

That’s pretty much how I felt when my first baby girl was born over six years ago. I know, I’m supposed to say that it was the best day of my life, that I was elated, that it was a true miracle. And it was ALL those things. Obviously I love her so much and her little sister too, who appeared on the scene three years after that, and now I can’t imagine life without them. But I didn’t realize until recently that—rewind six years—what I really felt then was that I had lost control.

I had lost control of everything: my old life, it just being me and my partner, sleeping in, only really having to worry about myself, walking out the door whenever I pleased, exercising when I wanted, reading a book, going shopping for MYSELF, going dancing, having my friends over without a kid crying or interrupting me at every moment.

It was really the smallest things that I had to let go of, but was totally unprepared to do at the time. Yes, my partner and I chose to have children, yes we knew it would change everything, but it doesn’t mean I didn’t mourn my prior life, freedom, whatever you want to call it—the person I was before.

Even though the girls are still small, I feel like I somehow made it to the other side of things. I don’t know if it’s the fact that they’re more independent now and I have more freedom, or if finally getting a full 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep (most nights) has given me some perspective. But it occurred to me that while I was in the haze of those early baby days I had no time to think about how I was feeling in the moment. I know now that I had felt like I had lost control where previously I had been under the impression that I had a handle on my life and what it was going to look like.

Why I Chose PRP/PRF Vaginal Treatments

Loss of control.

The funny thing, or maybe also sad or unfortunate thing, is that I hadn’t only lost control over what my life used to be like. I also lost control over my body.

My eldest was born on a beautiful fall day in Montreal, and after 55 hours of labour (I know, tell me about it), I finally left the hospital and the first thing I wanted to do was go for a walk in one of my favourite places: Mount Royal Park. So a few days after being home I put my baby girl in a carrier and we went for a beautiful stroll on the mountain where, to my surprise, I wet my pants in a BIG way.

Why had no one told me that childbirth could make me incontinent?! It seems obvious given that women push human beings out of their bodies. I realize it doesn’t happen to everyone, and it didn’t even happen to my mother or sister, but really I was completely unprepared for that particular loss of control.

Now it’s six years later, and though my incontinence issues mildly improved over time—I don’t usually pee my pants just taking a walk—it’s still bad enough that it happens when I exercise (full disclosure, I wear a pad when I run) or if I try to chase after my girls. I would never dare get on a trampoline these days. If you suffer from mild incontinence then you know exactly what I’m talking about.

The thing that I wasn’t aware of was that incontinence was not my only issue. I had actually lost quite a bit of sensation, particularly during sex, which I didn’t even realize until I very recently had a PRP (platelet-rich plasma)/PRF (platelet-rich fibrin) vaginal treatment at MD Beauty Clinic.

What a lot of women may not know (I actually didn’t for a long time) is that there are non-surgical options that can help with the myriad of issues that are caused by vaginal laxity, like mild incontinence, but also a loss of sensation, dryness, painful intercourse and the inability to orgasm. And these aren’t only issues faced by women who have had children. The natural aging process also leads to vaginal laxity primarily because we stop producing collagen after a certain age, which is the key element that keeps our skin tissue tight whether on our faces or in more intimate areas like the vagina.

Anyway, when I found out that MD Beauty Clinic started offering PRP/PRF for vaginal laxity I jumped all over it. I couldn’t wait to regain control of my body.

So PRP (platelet-rich plasma) / PRF (platelet-rich fibrin) is kind of complex if you focus too hard on the science behind it. It’s considered to be part of what’s called regenerative medicine and has been used really effectively in sports medicine to help athletes heal after sports-related injuries. It later became popularized with Kim Kardashian’s vampire facial.

Plasma and fibrin are full of amazing growth elements that stimulate the production of collagen in your body and also promote new healthy skin cell turnover, which is why it’s gaining traction in so many different areas, like vaginal treatments, but also facial rejuvenation treatments, and as a natural alternative to filler. Because that’s kind of the amazing thing about it: it’s all natural, it comes from your own blood.

But basically plasma and/or fibrin are extracted from your blood and then reinjected, in my case, into target areas of the vagina. I know, it sounds kind of like, ouch, but you get local anesthetic and you really don’t feel much at all. Not to mention that Dr. Goyal and the staff at MD Beauty Clinic are amazing. I wouldn’t have wanted to get this done anywhere else.

What the Vaginal PRP/PRF Treatment is Like

When I went in for my treatment Dr. Goyal talked me through the entire procedure and then we got started. I didn’t have to prep for this in any way, by the way, except drink lots of water before my appointment so that they could extract a good amount of blood.

First they extracted 2 vials of blood, and it felt just like a regular blood test, no big deal at all. The blood was then put in a centrifuge where it was spun for several minutes, and honestly that’s actually what took the most time, for Dr. Goyal to be able to extract the fibrin from it. She showed me the fibrin, which was a thick yellow gold substance. Super cool. While the blood was spinning I had a local anesthetic administered, and once that took effect, we were ready to roll.

The injection portion of the treatment probably took only about 10-15 minutes, and while it probably wasn’t the most comfortable 15 minutes I’ve ever spent, it really wasn’t painful either. Given my vaginal issues, I had the full treatment, so PRF was injected into my urethra for the incontinence issues, into the vaginal wall, and I also opted for the “O” Shot, because why not. The “O” Shot is where they inject PRF into your clitoris in order to increase sexual sensation.

Now during my treatment that was the first shot, and because there are so many sensitive nerve endings in the clitoris, I definitely felt that one. But I swear to you, the rest of the injections (and I had quite a few) I did not feel, and if I sometimes felt a little something it was really just pressure, but not pain.

Anyway, so the entire treatment took about 50 minutes and then that was it, I was all done. I spotted a little immediately after treatment, but it stopped right away, and then the area felt numb for a few hours until the anesthetic wore off. Once it wore off though there was no pain, nothing. I felt fine. I just had to abstain from sex for five days, but otherwise I could exercise the next day, and just go on with my life. There was absolutely no downtime, which is amazing, because I don’t usually have a lot of downtime 🙂

The Results

So you’re probably wondering how I feel now. Well, I had the treatment done about a month ago and I have to say that I had A LOT, like A LOT more sensation during sex. It was crazy because that wasn’t actually my primary reason for getting the treatment (I thought I was fine in that department) and yet, I realized that the entire area was extremely desensitized. Again, I guess pushing two human beings out of your body will mess things up a little bit… or a lot.

It also felt tighter to me even though Dr. Goyal said that typically only radiofrequency (RF) treatments can truly help with tightening (another topic for another day).

Now for my incontinence. It’s still early days. For that I was told it could take 1-2 months for the collagen to build up enough to help in that area, but I haven’t seen a big improvement there as of yet. Dr. Goyal recommended that I come in for a follow-up treatment in two months to really build up the collagen and then I should be fine with yearly maintenance treatments.

Given the possible severity of my incontinence issues I am prepared for PRP/PRF possibly not being able to completely solve my problems in that department, but I haven’t given up hope yet and am definitely going for that follow-up treatment. If I need further treatments for incontinence like an RF treatment then so be it. I am on a mission to regain control over my body and I couldn’t be more grateful to the doctors and staff at MD Beauty Clinic who provide women with the opportunity to do so in a safe, positive and non-judgmental way.

Here’s the thing: I think that we’ve made a lot of progress, but most things pertaining to women’s vaginal and sexual health issues are still pretty taboo. We’re being more open and candid about these issues, but I think they probably haven’t reached quite everyone yet. I don’t want my girls to grow up in a society where they have to whisper about their periods or pretend that they don’t have a problem when they actually do. Which is why I decided to tell the world that yes, I pee my pants, I’ve lost control, but that’s not the end of the story.

Mostly I sincerely hope that if you’re dealing with any of these issues you know that there are ways to treat them, and I can’t even begin to tell you how they’ve improved on my quality of life already. My results are only supposed to continue to improve here on in and I can’t wait to feel even better.