French version — the French version is the authoritative one.
Reduction labiaplasty decreases the size of the labia minora where their development causes functional or aesthetic difficulty. It is carried out in a medical setting, on a personal request, after a clinical examination.
The operation consists in reducing the size of the labia minora so that they no longer protrude beyond the labia majora, while respecting the symmetry and the sensitivity of the area.
Lipofilling of the labia majora is sometimes combined with it where these have lost volume.
Functional indication: where the size of the labia minora causes painful friction when walking, during sport or during sexual intercourse, or prevents certain clothes from being worn.
Aesthetic indication: where the difficulty is a matter of self-image, with no functional impact.
This distinction is not a theoretical one: it determines the terms of reimbursement and it is established during the consultation.
No. Vulval anatomy varies enormously from one woman to another, and that variability is normal. There is no reference anatomical norm.
Enlargement of the labia minora is not in itself an abnormality. The surgical indication rests not on a measurement but on a genuinely experienced difficulty, expressed by the patient herself.
The operation generally takes place as day surgery, under general anaesthesia.
Recovery is most often straightforward and causes little pain. Sitting is awkward for a week.
Intimate hygiene is a decisive factor in good healing. Sexual intercourse should not be resumed for at least three weeks.
Care is local, straightforward, and explained before surgery: this is an operation whose recovery is shorter than most patients fear. The sutures used are absorbable. The surgeon sees you within seven days, then between day ten and day fourteen, and the anaesthetist checks that the prescribed pain relief is sufficient in the early days. Appointments are set before surgery. They sit within the practice's shared post-operative care.
The result is final after three months.
Besides those linked to general anaesthesia, the main risks are healing problems, such as wound breakdown, which rarely requires a further operation. Infection and haematoma are fairly rare.
A temporary change in sensation may occur.
The other complications are set out in detail in the SoFCPRE information leaflet.
Reimbursement may be discussed where there is established enlargement with documented functional impact, after prior authorisation. A purely aesthetic indication does not give entitlement to reimbursement.
Once pubertal development is complete. In a patient who is a minor, parental consent is required and the indication is examined with particular caution.
The technique preserves the sensitive areas. A temporary change in sensation may occur afterwards, and most often resolves.
Last updated: August 2026 · Medical content reviewed by Dr Benjamin Pulvermacker, board-qualified plastic surgeon in Paris 16.
It suits women troubled by enlarged labia minora — rubbing, pain on exertion or during intercourse, discomfort in clothing — or by marked asymmetry, whatever its origin. Genuine functional or psychological discomfort is the heart of the indication. It does not suit a request driven by a supposed norm rather than by discomfort: vulval anatomy varies enormously, and saying so is part of the consultation, in complete confidence.
Specific risks: delayed healing or minor wound breakdown (a moist, mobile area), residual asymmetry, temporary hypersensitivity, over-correction that cannot be undone — which is why the resection stays conservative. Intercourse, baths and sport wait three to four weeks. The operation can be done under deep local or general anaesthetic, as a day case, and affects neither clitoral sensation nor sexual function.
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