Monalisa Touch
St. George Urology & Body Sculpting
Though menopause is a natural change in a woman’s life, moving beyond your childbearing years takes a toll on your body as hormone levels fall drastically. The doctors of St. George Urology in St. George, Utah recommend the MonaLisa Touch® system for their patients suffering from vaginal atrophy stemming from menopause. Call or click today to learn more.
The reduced levels of estrogen after menopause tend to thin and dry the walls of the vagina in many women. In some people, these changes can make intercourse painful or introduce urinary problems. The medical term for this condition is called genitourinary syndrome of menopause, or GSM.
Menopause affects every woman differently so this condition will be an issue for some and not for others. Similarly, the symptoms you may experience due to vaginal atrophy may include some or many of the common symptoms. These include:
- Reduced lubrication in the vagina during sex
- Pain occurring with shallow or deep penetration
- Bleeding occurring after intercourse
- Itching or burning sensations in the genitals
- Urinary changes, such as frequent urination or increased urinary tract infections
- Vaginal discharge
- Changes to the size of the vaginal canal
Related to the drop in levels of estrogen in your body, menopause is the most common reason behind GSM. However, in some women, the period before menopause, called perimenopause, could create changes in estrogen levels that are sufficient to create GSM symptoms. If you’ve had your ovaries removed, you’ll experience surgical menopause, since the ovaries are the source of estrogen production. Cancer treatments, including radiation, chemotherapy, and hormonal treatments of breast cancer can also cause significant drops in estrogen levels.
Harnessing the power of laser light energy, the MonaLisa Touch system delivers light energy through a probe, directly into the vaginal walls, warming existing collagen and elastin tissue and stimulating the body to remove old tissue and replace it with new, more vital tissue. There’s typically little sensation or side effects to treatments.
A typical treatment cycle includes three treatments of five minutes each, delivered at six-week intervals. The procedure is done in the offices of St. George Urology, and there’s no need for anesthesia, and there’s no recovery downtime for you after treatments. In some cases, annual follow-up treatments may be recommended, since each woman responds differently. You may feel improvements after a single treatment, or it may not occur until after the second or third treatment.
