Millions of women suffer from a serious physical problem, but it is hardly ever talked about. But the ailment can make sex painful or just not pleasurable. Now, a new laser technique is giving women a sex-life "lift."

It's called a vaginal lift and despite its cost, many women say it has been a lifesaver for their self-esteem.

A women whom Local 4 identified as "Renee" said she no longer felt like a woman.

"I had a sense of looseness. I couldn't feel anything," said Renee.

Dr. Joseph Berenholz of the Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation Institute said there are about 30 million women in the United States who have some form of pelvic relaxation problem.

Berenholz said it is generally a cause of childbirth and trauma to pelvic muscles.

Renee said it happened after the birth of her second child.

"My body was just completely transformed and not in a good way," she said.

She said she felt like her uterus would "fall out." She'd lost control of her vaginal muscles and some muscles in her bladder and rectum. Sex was painful for her.

Sex eventually became non-existent for the 30-year-old mother of two.

"When you're having all these things going on you're not feeling that sexual," she said.

Her doctor said it was a part of being a mother and part of the aging process.

Then she discovered the Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation Institute in Southfield.

"It's very private. We started getting requests for the procedure five years ago and didn't know how to handle them," said Berenholz.

The type of vaginal "facelift" was only performed if the uterus was falling out to strengthen the muscles of the bladder, rectum and vagina, but it was never thought of as an elective surgery for both tightening and exterior cosmetic reasons, doctors told Local 4.

"It's very difficult. I've had women come in and literally break down and cry because they didn't know how to express the frustration that they had been experiencing the last 10 or 20 years," said Berenholz.

But not everyone is a candidate.

"We've had women come in who simply wanted to be tighter, but when we measured them and when we examined them, we couldn't find anything wrong. There was no pelvic relaxation and their muscles were in tact and we told them there was nothing we could do," he said.

Berenholz also said he will not perform the surgery on teenagers who want their labias resculpted.

"Of course we turn them away a because they are minors and because they're still developing We don't want to do anything to the female anatomy until they're fully developed," said Berenholz.

The center has received dozens of e-mails from women complaining of a "hanging out feeling" and looseness. They've also heard from women who feel they're just too big, or experience pain during intercourse.

"It's a delicate surgery and a time-consuming surgery," he said.

Using a laser, the doctor is able to tighten and reconstruct the muscles of the vagina, increasing sexual pleasure.

How is sex after the surgery? Most women who have had the surgery say on a scale of 1 to 10 it is definitely a 10.

The downside is that currently the surgery is not covered by insurance. It is costly depending on the amount of work that needs to be done. Cost is between $5,000 and $9,000.

Berenholz said he is the only gynecological surgeon in the Midwest to have advanced training in these laser surgical techniques. Surgery is usually completed in around an hour, with patients back to work in five to seven days.

The Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation Center of Michigan is located at 30603 Southfield Road, in the Birmingham Cosmetic Center in Southfield. For more information, call (248) 593-8780 or visit www.drberenholz.com.