CASE STUDY

FOR SIX years, Debbie Ashton’s relationship with her husband of 5 years, black cab driver Gary, 54, had to be platonic.

The couple had always enjoyed a healthy sex life but when Debbie, now 54, a client services manager and a mother of two, went through the menopause in her early 40s, sex became hugely painful due to vaginal dryness.

Debbie (below) tried over-the-counter products and HRT pessaries prescribed by her GP, but these did nothing. Then, last November, Debbie tried MonaLisa Touch laser treatment. She had three sessions, each lasting less than 20 minutes, over three months.

‘It’s a taboo subject, but I want to shout from the rooftops how much difference this has made to me,’ she says. ‘I have a healthy sex life again.’

The laser works by creating micro abrasions in the vagina wall, explains Tania Adib, consultant gynaecological oncologist at 25 Harley Street, a private clinic in London. ‘This stimulates cells called fibroblasts to create new blood vessels and lay down new collagen, making the cells plumper. ‘It also helps regenerate mucussecreting cells,’ she says. A 2015 independent study of 77 women, published in the journal Climacteric, found all had improvements to the vagina wall without damage to surrounding tissue after MonaLisa Touch. However, the results weren’t compared with a placebo. MonaLisa Touch is one of a number of laser treatments for this problem. It costs just under £2,000 privately (it is not available on the NHS). Debbie had the treatment courtesy of a staff discount from the health firm she works for.