How I Improved My Lichen Sclerosus

Lichen Sclerosus affects around 3% of women in the UK. Because it’s not very common, many women suffer for longer; those who do suffer from it are often misdiagnosed or worse, left undiagnosed. That was the case for one of our patients, Sam.

You can read here about Sam’s experience and find out how she coped with the condition, and she can tell you in her own words, ‘How I cured my Lichen Sclerosus!’

Lichen Sclerosus: What Are The Symptoms

Sam lived with the symptoms of Lichen Sclerosus for years without knowing what was causing them. They dominated her teenage years, but her GP didn’t realise what the issue was.

Every sexual health clinic she visited wrongly diagnosed her with thrush, they advised vaginal creams such as Canesten, but these creams were not strong enough. 

Lichen Sclerosus (LS) is a skin condition that affects the skin of the genitals. It appears as white spots and results in itching, burning pain, and scarring. 

If these symptoms sound familiar, you might also suffer from LS.

• Rash
• Pain
• Vaginal dryness
• Itching

I Dreamed Of A Cure For Lichen Sclerosus…

By her 20s, Sam was experiencing even more symptoms, most notably painful sex. 

On one occasion, she experienced an extremely painful vaginal spilt and was prescribed lidocaine and steroid cream afterwards. These creams would help to numb the area so sex would not be so uncomfortable. 

Although this helped alleviate pain for a time, numbing the area didn’t enhance her sex life in any way, and sadly, over time, she became immune to these creams, and the painful sex continued.

Finally, at age 34, her gynaecologist diagnosed her with Lichen Sclerosus. Sam’s late diagnosis is not unusual because the symptoms can often be passed off as other conditions. 

Sam was desperate to find a Lichen Sclerosus cure, but because the exact cause of LS is unknown, doctors cannot offer a definitive cure – yet.

Sadly for Sam and other women in a similar position, they undergo years of trying different treatments with varying degrees of success.

Some of the most common Lichen Sclerosus treatments include steroid creams, fat transplants, and surgery.

Watch Sam’s Results on Embarrassing Bodies (15 seconds)

Sam’s Results a Few Months After Treatment

Sam explains why she came to Elite Aesthetics for Treatment. She explains how Fat Transplants hadn’t worked for her and the associated long recovery time. Sam then talks about the successful treatment she had Elite Aesthetics and how it has transformed her life and is able to have intercourse, wear tight jeans and feel better about her health and wellbeing.

Steroid Creams

Steroid treatments can come as creams, serums and injections. The most common are steroid creams. They can reduce pain, itching and inflammation. However, when used regularly, your body quickly builds up immunity to the creams, and they become less effective. This was certainly the case for Sam.

Surgery

With surgery, a surgeon removes excess skin from your genitals in the hope that they will heal back stronger. This can work for a time; however, many women find that LS returns anyway. The surgery is invasive and requires a lot of downtime. It is only recommended as a last resort. 

Fat transplant

Fat transplant therapy is when fat is taken from another area of your body and injected into your vagina. In Sam’s case, fat was taken from her legs. She had this procedure done twice and although it helped for a short while, she had to take significant time off work for recovery and found the whole procedure very invasive.

“How I Cured My Lichen Sclerosus” – Sam

A fat transplant was Sam’s last resort for finding a Lichen Sclerosus cure and she was left feeling desolate after the short-lived success of the treatment. 

She believed she had explored all her options to find a cure for Lichen Sclerosus. LS was affecting every aspect of her life and she started to believe that there was nothing more she could do to reduce the pain.

She then made a decision that would change her life forever; she went on the TV show ‘Embarrassing Bodies’ where she met Dr. Shirin. 

Dr. Shirin is a UK trainer in the revolutionary treatment known as The O-Shot. She advocates for women’s health and is on a mission to find a Lichen Sclerosus cure for women like Sam.

The O-Shot has seen incredible results for women with LS, and Sam was excited to try something new with a better track record than other treatments.

What Is The O-Shot?

The O-Shot is a non-surgical treatment designed to rejuvenate the vagina. It is a platelet-rich plasma treatment that uses the incredible healing ability of your immune system to heal another area. 

PRP (platelet-rich plasma) treatments are proven to help heal damaged tissue, reducing the need for treatment such as topical steroid creams, especially where you may have built up resistance.

PRP contains cell-regenerating growth factors that are essential for treatment. To get your PRP, your clinician takes a small sample of your blood, which is then spun at a high frequency in a centrifuge to isolate the plasma in your blood. It’s the platelets within that plasma that contain those all-important growth factors. 

Once your doctor has this, they can inject it into the treatment area. It works by stimulating the body’s stem cells to produce new tissue including collagen and adipose (fatty) tissue, nerve endings and blood vessels. Treatment areas, such as vaginal tissue, become rejuvenated and thicker, and the sensitivity is heightened by increased blood flow to the erogenous zones.

It’s important to note that there is no definitive Lichen Sclerosus cure – the condition can affect you for your whole life. However, an effective treatment can feel like a cure for Lichen Sclerosus because it keeps symptoms at bay for prolonged periods of time.

Sam couldn’t be happier with her results; she can wear jeans again and no longer experiences painful sex. She doesn’t get sore or itchy, and the O-Shot has significantly improved her mental health, her day-to-day life, and her relationship.

Next Steps

If Sam’s story sounds familiar, then it may be that The O-Shot can help treat your LS. Find out why our patients think of it as the next best thing to a cure for Lichen Sclerosus.

Only a few qualified practitioners in the UK can carry out this treatment, and Dr. Shirin at Elite Aesthetics is one of them.

If you would like to find out if this treatment would be suitable for you, then the first thing you need to do is book a consultation. You can contact us by calling 01322 381 205, emailing info@elite-aesthetics.co.uk, or WhatsApp us. 

We hold consultations in our award-winning clinic based in Greenhithe, Kent, just 20 minutes away by train from St. Pancras, London.