The MonaLisa Touch is based on CO2 technology and is providing a solution for vaginal atrophy.
MonaLisa Touch is transforming patients’ lives and is becoming a must-have treatment for any practice treating forty to fifty year old women.
MonaLisa Touch is a non-surgical solution to vaginal atrophy – a condition that affects around 50 percent of women during their lifetime. It affects not only peri- and post-menopausal women but also women after childbirth, who suffer from laxity and no longer enjoy intercourse.
Dyspareunia is a common symptom of vaginal atrophy, which can be a major physical and psychological burden for intimacy. Physical changes, typically associated with age such as menopause, mean women can experience pain before, during or after vaginal intercourse.
The MonaLisa Touch uses a fractional CO2 Dot Therapy Laser with unique laser pulse emission to restore vaginal tissue and relive symptoms of vaginal atrophy such as incontinence, poor lubrication, itching, dryness and pain during intercourse.
“The MonaLisa Touch is a simple, quick, naturally painless, hassle-free alternative and can be used in women who are not candidates for hormonal treatments, such as the many women suffering from breast cancer,” says Perth plastic surgeon Dr Anh Nguyen. “MonaLisa Touch is a revolutionary solution to a widespread, yet unspoken, problem.”
Offering MonaLisa Touch in your practice
The treatment is revolutionary in that it offers women a solution where there previously was none. The individual concerns of women of all age groups can be addressed, including those previously untreatable with conventional hormonal treatment.
With vaginal atrophy affecting half of all post-menopausal women, there is growing demand for treatments that can assist women to improve their quality of life.
MonaLisa Touch is an easy and effective add-on to any practice, as the treatment requires no anaesthesia and can be performed in less than five minutes.
“It has made my practice more complete in that I can offer women of all age groups and stages of life something that may help them regain their confidence,” Dr Nguyen says. “There is a huge demand for treatments that can help women with vaginal atrophy – a problem so common amongst women.”
According to South Australian gynaecologist Dr Fariba Behnia-Willison, a treatment to improve vaginal function is sought by a significant number of patients, for many different ages. “Although many of my patients are going through menopause or are post menopausal, there are also many younger women suffering from similar symptoms,” she says. “I have found the treatment particularly effective for women who find it painful to have sexual intercourse.”
“For treating symptoms of vaginal atrophy, a course of three to five treatments is recommended and, for vaginal tightening and rejuvenation, one to three treatments,” says Dr Nguyen. “The results last an average of 12 to 18 months, at which time a touch up treatment may be required, but every individual is different and results vary.” The majority of patients return to normal activity immediately post-procedure. The results possible with MonaLisa Touch have been documented both clinically and empirically.
In Australia, more than 10,000 patients have been treated with MonaLisa Touch. In a survey of 200 patients, 99 percent reported an overall improvement of vaginal atrophy symptoms and would recommend to their friends. ‘
A number of patients noted improvements in incontinence, with some reporting they no longer need to wear incontinence pads. Others are no longer troubled by urinary frequency and urgency, so they can plan longer trips and sleep through the night.
MonaLisa Touch is a new generation treatment, which can essentially add another arm to your practice, offering a lasting solution for your patients.
The benefits of CO2 laser
In menopausal women, mucosa presents a particular condition where the fibrocytes are metabolically quiescent, as opposed to fibroblasts. This means the mucosa is unable to produce hyaluronic acid and other molecules necessary for an adequate glycoprotein ground matrix. This can result in a dry mucosa, with low water content in the connective tissue, meaning it is less nourished and therefore more fragile and prone to infection.
Treatment with CO2 laser helps recover pre-menopausal metabolic activity by synthesising the production of collagen, hyaluronic acid, glycosaminoglycans and proteoglycans. This results in a hydrated and turgid mucosa, which then functions as healthy, younger tissue.
The MonaLisa Touch probe uses a specifically modified pulse shape of fractional CO2 laser energy, suited to the vaginal mucosa. The specific emission characteristics of the vaginal probe mean the energy load can be transferred directly to the mucosa, thereby preventing excessive localised thermal damage.
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