Being sexually active, I have become more conscious about my vagina. I am very concerned about the physical appearance of my vagina. It's really embarrassing. There's extra skin on the left side of my vagina that hangs down, it's kind of wrinkly, and it's stretchy. It did not appear out of nowhere; I've had it for a long time. Is it normal? or is something bad that I should have removed? Please help me. I'm very confused and embarrassed.

As Garrison explains, “really anything that makes you hornier can make the erection stronger or more pleasurable.” It’s common for both sets of labia to be darker than the surrounding skin. But there’s no average labia color. Some people may have pink or purplish labia, while others may have reddish or brown labia. Priapism is when there’s an erection, but there’s zero sexual arousal,” Garrison says. “Usually the erections last 4 or more hours and can become painful.” Unless you have had or do have diverse sex partners with vulvas, work in direct reproductive health, or have friends who are very open to letting you look up-close-and-personal at their vulvas, you're not going to be able to see many labia, and you're going to have to take those of us who have at our word. What those who don't have those opportunities usually have as a basis of comparison is what male partners report (which isn't very reliable), or what we can see in pornography or art, which provide some representation, but are both limited in really showing what's real for real people in real life. (As a photographer myself I can tell you that I'd be unlikely to shoot a vulva in harsh lighting not because there's something inherently ugly about all our ingrown hairs, bumps and other texture, but simply because harsh lighting on people and bodies often just isn't particularly artistic to me or doesn't suit my own aesthetics.) But because there are more places where genitals are being seen more publicly than ever, it also makes sense that can result in worrying more -- rather than less -- about what your own look like.

What to think about before you have a labiaplasty

The labia are one of a woman's erogenous zones. The labia minora are sexually responsive, [10] and sensitivity varies greatly between women. In some women, they are so sensitive that anything other than light touch may be uncomfortable, whereas stimulation may elicit no sexual response in others. The labia may be sexually stimulated as part of masturbation or with a sex partner, such as by fingering or oral sex. Moving the labia minora can also stimulate the extremely sensitive clitoris. Sometimes, changes in color and texture of discharge are a sign of an underlying condition. Consult a clinician if your vaginal discharge:

You may need up to 2 weeks off work to recover. It can take a couple of months for the skin to fully heal. For women who have excess tissue overhanging the clitoris that causes them increased yeast infections, discomfort during sex, or decreased sexual sensitivity, there’s a procedure called a clitoral hood reduction.a b c d Moore, Keith L.; Agur, Anne M. R.; Dalley II, Arthur F. (2010). Essential Clinical Anatomy, Fourth Edition. p.268. ISBN 9781609131128.