This MonaLisa Touch article is sponsored by All Women’s Healthcare.
Menopause is not just a few uncomfortable symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats. It’s a major physical change in the entire body that many women find difficult to cope with. But a recent addition to the All Women’s Healthcare office, a service known as the MonaLisa Touch, can alleviate some of the largest problems caused by menopause.
One symptom of menopause that can be particularly challenging is vaginal tightness and dryness. When the body stops producing estrogen, the vagina’s ability to stretch and lubricate itself becomes limited. These physical changes can make sexual intercourse quite painful. In this way, menopause can impede a woman’s ability to have a healthy and happy sex life.
More from Best of NJ
Solving an Age-Old Problem
Lubricants can solve the problem of dryness, but they do nothing to address the lack of elasticity. Hormone therapy can restore lubrication and elasticity, but it has to be self-administered twice a week, and many women forget or fall behind on the doses.
Additionally, many women don’t qualify for hormone therapy—for example, it’s not an option for survivors of breast cancer.
Enter: the MonaLisa Touch. It’s a procedure that uses a laser to restore the vagina’s elasticity and natural lubrication ability. It was developed by a gynecologist in Italy and was FDA approved in 2014. Patients start by having two or three treatments six weeks apart, but after that, only one treatment per year is necessary to maintain the benefits.
The MonaLisa Touch works by administering a controlled injury to the vaginal tissue. This stimulates the body’s natural healing process, which involves forming more blood vessels and bringing more cells that carry collagen into the injured tissues. This healing process makes the vagina thicker, more elastic and more functional.
All Women’s Healthcare, a gynecology and obstetrics provider in New Jersey, recently incorporated the Mona Lisa Touch into their practice. Dr. Mamie Bowers, one of the physicians at All Women’s Healthcare, said her patients have found the procedure to be quite effective.
The application of the laser only takes about five minutes, and it is not painful. Some women experience a burning sensation for a few hours after the procedure. But, according to Dr. Bowers, the treatment is well-tolerated overall.
“That controlled injury isn’t enough to cause any problems for the patient, but it’s enough to incite the body to bring into that area that was treated, the forces that heal the tissues,” she said.
How The MonaLisa Touch Can Help Breast Cancer Patiets
Perhaps the most revolutionary aspect of the MonaLisa Touch is that it is an option for women who have had breast cancer and therefore don’t qualify for hormone therapy. During the month of October, All Women’s Healthcare will be offering breast cancer survivors a discount on the procedure.
“It’s women with breast cancer that I think it really can have a huge impact on,” Dr. Bowers affirms. “For breast cancer patients, we’re discounting it.”
Though the focus of October may tilt heavily toward breast cancer patients and survivors, Dr. Bowers confirms that an ongoing general discount will be available for all cancer survivors who would like to try the procedure.
For menopausal women who cannot receive hormone therapy, or who have a difficult time maintaining the weekly hormone therapy regimen, the MonaLisa Touch can be life-changing. Dr. Bowers says this treatment makes it much easier for women to find stability when their bodies are going through so many drastic changes.
“We lose our reproductive capabilities, but it’s nice not to lose our ability to be intimate, because that’s an important part of our lives.”
Top (Hero) Photo: Courtesy of Adobe Stock
Other Photos (in Order):
Provided by All Women’s Healthcare
