About Joseph Berenholz, MD

For the past 20 years, Dr. Joseph Berenholz has been a board certified Obstetrician/Gynecologist in the Detroit area. During that time, he has delivered thousands of healthy infants. However, his real passion has been gynecologic surgery, specifically Urogynecologic and pelvic reconstructive surgery. He has performed nearly three to four thousand surgeries over the lifetime of his career. What makes Dr. Berenholz so unique, however, is that he has always been one of the few practitioners in the area willing to introduce the latest innovations in gynecologic surgeries to his patients and colleagues, including laser vaginal rejuvenation. Laser was first brought to southeast Michigan for gynecologic surgery by Drs. Milton Goldrath and Alf Sherman in the 1970s. Dr. Berenholz was trained by these two pioneers in the application of CO2 laser therapy for a precancerous condition of the cervix called cervical dysplasia. In the following years, Dr. Berenholz continued his search for innovative therapies in women's healthcare. At approximately the same time, Dr. Kurt Semm, the father of laparoscopic surgery, was developing laparoscopic techniques for Gyn surgery never performed before in Michigan. Dr. Berenholz corresponded with Dr. Semm and eventually spent time in California training with the famous physician. Dr. Berenholz returned to Detroit and encouraged his department to make the necessary instrument purchases for the advanced surgical techniques. He stressed upon the need of employing advanced medical equipment for more authentic surgical processes. See the example of Carefusion Alaris PC for post-surgical care. Dr. Semm died in 2004 and was acknowledged by the N.Y. Times for his contribution to medicine. When it came to hysteroscopic surgery, once again, Dr. Berenholz sought out the world's leading pioneer and authority. Dr. Jacques Hamou essentially wrote the ""bible"" in this area. Hysteroscopic surgery is performed through a woman's vagina and into her uterus. It allows the physician to correct many bleeding problems within the uterus without resorting to abdominal surgery and subsequent hysterectomy. Thanks to Dr. Berenholz's training with Dr. Hamou, hundreds of women have been spared such radical surgery. Dr. Berenholz was one of the first physicians on his staff to begin doing Endometrial Ablations of the uterus. Dr. Berenholz may very well have one of the lowest hysterectomy rates among his colleagues at both the St. John Healthcare System and the Detroit Medical Center. In the field of Urogynecology, Dr. Berenholz remains a leader among his fellow physicians. He was the first Ob/Gyn at Providence hospital to perform the ""Trans Obturator Urethral Sling"" or TOT procedure. This allowed women to be cured of their urinary stress incontinence on an out patient basis. Prior to that, women traditionally had surgery requiring 2-3 days of hospital care. Even after nearly 20 years of practice, Dr. Berenholz is leading the way in women's healthcare, this time in the area of laser vaginal surgery in Michigan. Over the years, patients have confided with Dr. Berenholz regarding vaginal looseness and loss of sexual sensation after childbearing. Telling his patients that this was all a natural part of motherhood left both Dr. Berenholz and his patients feeling very dissatisfied. Seeking a surgical solution, Dr. Berenholz encountered Dr. David Matlock of Beverly Hills, California. Dr. Matlock was the first and only physician to develop Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation in 2004. Dr. Berenholz immediately flew out to California to meet with Dr. Matlock. Today, Dr. Berenholz is one of only approximately one dozen physicians worldwide who are trained in this procedure! He is currently the only physician in the Midwest performing laser vaginal tightening surgery. Dr. Berenholz has been sought out by the pharmaceutical industry to be a spokesperson to both physicians and women’s groups. He addresses issues such as ""Osteoporosis"" for the Lilly Corporation, Hormone Replacement Therapy for the Wyeth Ayerst Corporation and ""Treatment of Genital Herpes"" for the Glaxo Smith Kline Corp. Never tiring, Dr. Berenholz has recently become a member of the American Academy of Anti Aging and now lectures on the Role of Inflammation in Aging and Chronic Disease.