Monalisa Touch Procedure
What is Monalisa touch?
The MonaLisa Touch procedure is a painless and minimally invasive fractional CO2 laser that is specifically designed to make the vaginal tissue healthier. By gentle action on the vaginal mucosa, the CO2 laser stimulates the production of collagen and improves blood flow thus helping with symptoms of vaginal dryness, pain with sexual activity, chronic vaginal itching and discharge, vulvar itching, certain vulvar skin conditions and recurrent urinary tract infections.
How does the procedure help?
Many women wonder if Monalisa Touch is painful? It’s not! The heat induced is not a painful amount of heat, it’s barely even noticeable. That heat further simulates heat shock proteins which stimulate growth factors to generate new collagen, elastin, and extracellular matrix which then stimulate local stem cells to start to repopulate the area with a good healthy tissue. Monalisa Touch has been available in the United States since 2012.
What conditions can Monalisa Touch treat?
The MonaLisa Touch procedure is used for the treatment of the following conditions:
– Vaginal itching
– Vaginal dryness
– Pain during intercourse
– Vaginal laxity
– Stress and urge incontinence
– Chronic Vaginal Infections
How is Monalisa Touch procedure done? Is it safe?
This vaginal laser treatment is a very quick procedure. There is no preparation required before the treatment. The patient is placed on an exam table with feet placed in stirrups in the same manner as a vaginal exam. The physician places a sterile device similar to an ultrasound probe inserted in the vaginal canal. This helps treat the inside of the vagina. Most patients have no side effects or discomforts with this treatment. If you are having itching, irritation, skin laxity, certain skin changes on the vulva, we may recommend laser treatment for the vulva as well. In this situation, the vulvar area may be numbed using a numbing cream for a few minutes.
Microscopic Pictures of the Vaginal Tissue Before and After MonaLisa Touch Laser Treatment
(Karram et al, 2015)
This picture shows the significant improvement in the thickness of the vaginal epithelium
As women become menopausal, the pH of the vaginal mucosa changes. This predisposes to changes in the vaginal bacterial population (vaginal microbiome). This can predispose to recurrent vaginal and urinary tract infections. Fractional CO2 treatment helps restore the vaginal microbiome thus helping with symptoms.
After treatment effects:
You can immediately resume normal activity, including vaginal intercourse as soon as day after the treatment. Women may experience light spotting or a mild discharge just after a few days of vaginal treatment.