Comparing the Mona Lisa Touch to Other Vaginal Atrophy Treatments
There are several different laser treatment options available for conditions such as vaginal atrophy and other health issues that may develop as a result of the menopause or postpartum. We examine the differences here.
What is the Mona Lisa Touch?
The Mona Lisa Touch is a non-hormonal treatment that uses a SmartXide DOT fractional CO2 laser. It is the ONLY CO2 laser that works through pulsed emission, utilising two innovative technologies: SmartPulse and SmartStack. This is a major breakthrough compared to other fractional systems that utilise a continuous source of traditional pulsed emission.
The power, distance between DOTs, dwell time, Smartstack level, scanning methods, shape and size of the treatment can all be individually adjusted to precisely tailor each treatment to the patient’s needs. The small pulses of energy delivered to the vaginal tissue stimulates new collagen, new elastin and new blood vessel formation. There are over 60 published medical research papers evidencing the benefits of the Mona Lisa Touch (the only CO2 laser to have such a body of medical evidence).
The Mona Lisa Touch is used in the treatment of Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause (GSM), vaginal atrophy, women who have contraindications to oestrogen therapy or who decline treatment involving oestrogen, vulvodynia, dyspareunia (painful sex), lichen sclerosis, bacterial vaginosis and mild to moderate stress urinary incontinence. The procedure can be done in a clinic, taking less than 5 minutes and the individual can return to normal daily life almost immediately. The Mona Lisa Touch has been reviewed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Learn more about the medical evidence here.
Solutions for Urinary Incontinence
New research* indicates that vaginal laser treatment effectively improves stress urinary incontinence. The authors of this study suggest it as a non-invasive treatment choice. If you are facing continence challenges, contact us to start your journey back to dryness and restore your self-confidence.
*Read the full research paper here: https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ijgo.15222
A comparison between the following products was made on Thursday 17th March 2022.
Femilift vs Mona Lisa Touch
Femilift is a traditional fractional CO2 laser it does not have the SmartPulse and SmartStack technology that the Mona Lisa Touch benefits from. Both Co2 lasers treat various vaginal health conditions. Femilift can treat a range of symptoms including vaginal dryness, soreness and urinary incontinence. The cost is fairly similar, however, the treatment time for one session of Femilift is 15 minutes, much longer than treatment times with the Mona Lisa Touch. The innovative technologies of the Mona Lisa Touch mean that the treatment parameters can be precisely tailored to the individual needs of each patient, minimising the damage to the epidermis and therefore dramatically reducing recovery time. In addition, the published medical evidence supporting the use of Femilift is much weaker than the breadth and depth of medical evidence supporting the use of the Mona Lisa Touch.
Mona Lisa Touch vs Thermiva
Unlike the Mona Lisa Touch or Femilift, which uses CO2 lasers to produce the required energy, Thermiva uses radio-frequency energy to target the vaginal wall and tissue. The energy produces heat that stimulates collagen production and blood flow to the area. One round of treatment for Thermiva takes 30 minutes. While you can resume normal daily life after treatment, sex and the use of tampons should be avoided for three days. Evidence in the Biomedical Physics & Engineering Express 1 reports that “the device parameters commonly used in the literature are likely to heat past the depth of the vaginal wall and affect adjacent tissue. We found that the device parameters merit further investigation.”
1 Depth of thermal dispersion of monopolar radio-frequency heating in the vaginal wall. Carr I et al. Biomedical Physics & Engineering Express Vol1 Number6