Sex Ed: Barriers to Vaginal Rejuvenation Treatments

As a medspa owner, physician’s assistant, woman and mother there is no more frustrating area of medicine than the conversation around and underutilization of vaginal rejuvenation treatments. These treatments would be hugely beneficial to a large demographic of women, especially mothers. The barriers to accessing vaginal rejuvenation treatments are financial and societal. They prevent some women from affording the treatment, prevent medical professionals from marketing the treatment and make women feel too self-conscious to pursue vaginal rejuvenation. Expanding access to this treatment and making it easier to market would potentially help millions of women. Here are the biggest barriers to expanded access to vaginal rejuvenation treatments.

Framing the Treatment as Cosmetic 

Discussions in the media and among medical and insurance professionals constantly frame vaginal rejuvenation as first and foremost a cosmetic procedure. However, this isn’t nor should it be the main focus of the treatment. Vaginal treatments are FDA-approved to treat sexual dysfunction and urinary incontinence, with the latter issue affecting 50% of all women and 75% of women over 65,¹ according to the Mayo Clinic. The Mayo Clinic also states that a majority of women dealing with urinary incontinence don’t address the issue with their healthcare provider. The conversation amongst our industry and our patients should be centered around vaginal rejuvenation being an effective treatment to treat a condition that affects the lives of millions of women.

Our industry's willingness to label vaginal rejuvenation as a cosmetic or elective procedure is part of the reason why insurance companies feel like they don’t need to cover it. We would never expect an insurance company to claim a bladder sling as an elective surgery for incontinence. We don’t consider drugs used to treat male sexual dysfunction as elective. This double standard only exists when approving a treatment that helps women. There needs to be more advocacy and discussion about framing vaginal rejuvenation as more than a cosmetic procedure.

Financial Burden 

Americans spend a lot of money on insurance and pay those premiums because they expect insurance to cover essential treatments they need to live a healthy and fulfilling life. However, if insurance companies are not going to cover any of the cost of vaginal rejuvenation treatments, then naturally it is going to keep some people who need the procedure from getting treatment. Medical professionals in a position to speak with insurance professionals need to spend more time advocating for insurance companies to pay for some or all of the cost of vaginal rejuvenation treatments. However, convincing insurance companies to pay is probably a more long-term goal.

Medical professionals who provide these treatments can work with patients to work out more pragmatic short-term fixes. Providing patients with payment plans, either ones your medspa or clinic provides or through a separate healthcare financing company, can be a good stopgap to help minimize upfront costs. I also recommend patients start a Healthcare Savings Account as a means to save up for the procedure with an added tax benefit. However, long-term solutions will require everyone in our industry to push insurance companies to pay more of the cost of women’s healthcare.

Marketing is Unreasonably Difficult

Most people looking for a service are going to look for it online, which means digital marketing is essential in helping people find sources of treatment for vaginal rejuvenation. However, the moderation policies on social media remain unreasonably restrictive, with many terms being auto-flagged. Social media ads with the term “vaginal rejuvenation” are frequently taken down, and it is difficult to find photos that portray the benefits of vaginal rejuvenation treatments while still following TOS. Our medspa frequently uses pictures of a rose to convey our marketing message.

Moderation policy on social media makes advertising vaginal rejuvenation treatments on these sites untenable, and we have shifted focus to doing digital advertising on search engines as opposed to finding business on social media sites.

Many Women Don't Know Treatments Exists

The unfortunate reality about vaginal rejuvenation is that many women simply don’t know that vaginal rejuvenation treatments exist. I have spoken to countless women who think urinary incontinence and sexual dysfunction are just something they have to live with. This means we as medical professionals need to talk more about these treatments. Incontinence often occurs after pregnancy, and our industry is great at helping expecting mothers but not at helping moms. There is so much care during pregnancy and delivery, but nearly zero education or resources devoted to treatments moms need after they give birth.

Medical professionals need to lean more into solving this knowledge gap problem. Normalize having conversations around issues that can be treated by vaginal rejuvenation. Talk about these issues with your patients, and talk about your experience if you have dealt with any of these issues yourself.

Vaginal rejuvenation is an essential procedure for many women and unfortunately, access to this procedure as well as the ability to market it is severely limited. The medical, insurance and social media industries need to do more to help expand education, access and marketing for vaginal rejuvenation treatments. Doing so will help millions of women in more than just a cosmetic capacity.

References:

1. https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/is-urine-incontinence-normal-for-women