Childbirth may be a miracle of nature, but it is one that alters the female body in a myriad of ways. Many women report wider hips, larger or smaller breasts, or the sudden acquisition of a tummy after giving birth. But there’s one change that doesn’t grab the public’s attention, that women don’t always discuss with their gynecologists.
Viveve of Palo Alto, Calif., has developed a nonsurgical treatment for vaginal looseness and loss of sensation following vaginal childbirth. The procedure uses radiofrequency energy to stimulate the collagen rebuilding process and restore tissue at the vaginal opening. No anesthesia is required, and the procedure only takes about 30 minutes. In a clinical trial involving 24 women, patients reported improved vaginal tightness and increased sexual satisfaction six months after undergoing the procedure.
Kerry Pope, President and CEO of Viveve, hopes that his company’s treatment will help bring an underreported problem into the light in the same way that Viagra and Cialis drew national attention to male sexual dysfunction. Pope reports that there is an available market of 6 to 8 million women in the U.S. alone. An estimated 2 to 3 million women would be early adopters. Significant market opportunities also exist in Asia and South America. In this video, Pope discusses Viveve at the 2010 OneMedForum in San Francisco.