When Sex Hurts—6 Steps to Avoid Vaginal Dryness

June 21

A recent survey indicates that the majority of women over 50 who experience vaginal dryness are embarrassed to their doctors about it. Nearly 40 percent of post-menopausal women experience dryness and pain but that 70% of them won’t seek any advice from a gynecologist or family doctor.

Many women have vaginal dryness after the birth of a child and usually aren’t told that this is a common side effect of plummeting estrogen levels after pregnancy. Though it makes perfect sense, it’s nature’s way of keeping you from getting pregnant again, until your body no longer needs to produce all that milk for the new baby. It’s one of the reasons that many women don’t get pregnant when they are breast feeding but shouldn’t be relied on as the only form of birth control used.

So what are the best ways to avoid or relieve vaginal dryness? Nursing mothers and those with a history of breast cancer can try the first five things below, while post-menopausal women with no health problems can try all six. As always, I advise you to talk to your doctor about these problems since they can sometimes be caused by medications like antidepressants or from an autoimmune disease called Sjogren’s syndrome.

1. Keep your body hydrated. Drinking six to eight glasses of water a day will help keep your tissues moist, including your feminine parts.

2. Don’t forget to lubricate. Many women achieve instant relief simply by using a lubricant. There are at least half a dozen of these on drugstore shelves. You may need to experiment to find one that works best for you.

3 . Refrain from using personal hygiene sprays. Chemicals in these products can be irritating to delicate tissues that line the vagina.

4. Skip the douching. This can disrupt the vagina’s normal chemical balance, leading to dryness and painful inflammation.

5. Eat healthy amounts of “good” fats. Your body needs a little fat with every meal to make adequate levels of sex hormones. Flaxseed oil and soy, which have effects similar to estrogen, may help with vaginal dryness.

6. Consider using a topical estrogen cream and vaginal suppositories. These are an option if your symptoms were brought on by menopause. Check with your doctor as you’ll also need to take a progesterone tablet if you have a uterus to protect yourself from endometrial cancer.

Again, consult your physician with any concerns you have about vaginal dryness. Regular gynecological examinations are recommended to catch any disorders before they become serious.

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