We have the privilege of living in a pretty incredible time of medical ingenuity right now. The strides that researchers are making are unparalleled, and nowhere is that more obvious than in the fact that doctors are using fish skin to repair damaged human skin.
Yes, you read that right: fish skin.
According to the Miami Herald , doctors are able to apply thoroughly cleaned fish skin to chronic wounds to ease pain for the sufferer, as well as encourage human skin to grow underneath.
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As it turns out, fish skin is remarkably similar to human skin on a microscopic level.
Dr. Lee Rogers, a specialist podiatrist with experience treating patients with fish skin, told the Miami Herald that the repair powers come from the omega-3 fatty acids.
These help fight inflammation that might otherwise slow or stop the healing process entirely.
Fish skin is being used to treat serious burn victims as well.
Currently, the FDA has approved the treatment for second-degree burns, and just this past November MedStar Washington Hospital Center announced it would be testing the product on much deeper third-degree burns.
Now the medical use of fish skin has gone one step further in a revolutionary new procedure.
According to Unilad , a 35-year-old transgender woman identified only as Maju from Brazil recently underwent a neovaginoplasty procedure to repair a botched gender confirmation surgery she had a decade prior.
Doctors used fish skin to complete the procedure. Specifically, tilapia fish skin.
The procedure lasted three hours and saw doctors use fish skin to rebuild and extend Maju’s vaginal canal.
It involved the use of tubular acrylic molds wrapped with the fish skin and used as a biological prosthesis.
One of the two molds, wrapped with odor-free fish skin, was placed inside the vaginal cavity for six days.
Quite incredibly, the fish membrane attached itself to the vaginal canal walls.
These were then absorbed into Maju’s body, thus successfully transforming into new cellular tissue.
A silicone tampon-like device was inserted into Maju as well.
This is meant to remain for a six month period to prevent the vaginal walls from closing.
Surgery team leader Professor Leonardo Bezerra has confirmed the procedure was a complete success.
“We were able to create a vagina of physiological length, both in thickness and by enlarging it, and the patient has recovered extremely well.”
He also reported that Maju “is walking around with ease, has no pain, and is urinating normally.”
He believes she’ll be able to have sex again in just a few months.
Maju underwent gender confirmation surgery in 1999, but the results didn’t last.
Ten years after she transitioned, she began to suffer from vaginal stenosis, meaning her vaginal canal narrowed and shortened.
This resulted in a deeply uncomfortable experience for Maju who couldn’t be intimate with her partner at the time.
Professor Bezerra said vaginal stenosis is common in trans women who have undergone surgery.
“Because the patient has had hormonal treatment to develop female characteristics, there is penile and testicle atrophy resulting in shrinkage in the size of the penis caused from the loss of tissue,” he explained to Daily Mail .
Now, Maju has a brand new vagina that science has inexplicably created using fish skin.
“I’m absolutely thrilled with the result. For the first time in my life I feel complete and like a real woman.”
h/t Unilad
