Menopause is a precarious time in life. Your body seems to take a new direction, and it’s not one you have any choice in navigating. Before long, you’re experiencing hot flashes out of nowhere, even when the weathers chilly. Your having trouble sleeping and wondering if you need to ask the doctor for a prescription to help you drift off.
Dealing with the physiological effects of menopause is devastating enough, without experiencing the dreaded vaginal dryness associated with this life stage. Vaginal dryness can ruin your sex life, drive wedges between you and your partner, and completely rewrite your marriage.
So, what’s with menopause anyway? What’s going on with your body and why is it giving you all of this negative feedback?
It all comes down to the production of two hormones—estrogen and progesterone, and the changes that occur in your body’s production of these vital biocompounds. Curious to find out more? Let’s look into how changes in estrogen can affect your body and lead to vaginal dryness.
Understanding Estrogen’s Role in Vaginal Health
While men rely on testosterone as the key hormone for sexual health, women need properly maintained estrogen levels to achieve optimal homeostasis. During menopause, the hypothalamus in the brain (the gland responsible for regulating hormone production), signals the ovaries and other estrogen-producing organs like the adrenal glands and liver to slow estrogen production.
This action is natural and it happens to every woman, as a sign that they’re no longer in their child-bearing years. Falling estrogen levels in menopause have several impacts on physical and mental health. Not only do the psychological symptoms of irritability and, in some cases, depression play around with your emotional and mental state, but physiological problems like vaginal dryness add to your woes.
Estrogen is responsible for maintaining the thickness of the vaginal walls and the elasticity of these tissues. When estrogen levels are low, it thins the vaginal walls, making penetration painful, especially when vaginal dryness is present.
Why Menopause Causes Vaginal Dryness
Along with the slowdown in estrogen production, the vagina undergoes a change in pH levels during perimenopause, the period before menopause starts. When this shift occurs, the vagina also becomes more susceptible for infection, and its common for many women to experience an uptick in vaginal and yeast infections due to this issue. The vagina may also become itchy and inflamed, leading to discomfort during the day and during intimacy.
Signs and Symptoms of Menopausal Vaginal Dryness
Vaginal dryness can happen to any woman at any age, but menopause is the most problematic life stage for the condition, with most women experiencing the condition in their late 40s or early 50s as their body transitions.
Estrogen-related vaginal dryness leads to problems with persistent itching or burning, and the dryness doesn’t seem to let up. Intercourse with your partner becomes painful as the vaginal walls atrophy, and the dryness makes penetration sore.
That’s a big deal for relationships. Women with dryness tend to avoid sex because they don’t get any enjoyment from it anymore. That upsets their partner as they might not understand the reason for the issue or think that their partner is avoiding moments of intimacy, p[lacing strain of the couple.
The change in pH balance in the vagina leads to an increase in the chance of developing urinary tract infections and bacterial imbalances that cause vaginal discharge.
Treatment Options for Estrogen-Induced Vaginal Dryness
The first option every woman needs to look at is estrogen replacement therapy. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) involves the use of medications to increase levels of estrogen in the body. However, it tends to shut down the body’s natural production of the hormone—what’s left of it—meaning that you’ll need to stay on the medication for the rest of your life or experience severe side effects when you stop it.
HRT isn’t for everyone. It might sound like a miracle cure when the doctor tells you about it, but the reality is it doesn’t suit everyone and comes with certain health and wellness risks.
But we don’t want to scare you off, because experiencing complications with HRT is rare, and the benefits far outweigh the risks when you look at the effect it can have on improving your quality of life.
HRT treatments come in topical formats like creams, gels, and patches or internal administrations like rings and medication. Your doctor will recommend the best delivery route for your unique case, depending on how it makes you feel and how it affects your bloodwork.
The doctor adjusts your dose based on your bloodwork results. During your initial consultation, they’ll do a blood draw and send it to the lab for analysis. The results show the levels of estrogen in your body, giving the doctor a starting point for your treatment.
It might take several months to get you to the optimal dose where you’re feeling all of the benefits of HRT, without any of the side effects associated with the treatment.
Non-Hormonal Solutions for Vaginal Dryness
If you’re not a candidate for HRT, there are other strategies you can do to support your bodies natural production of estrogen. While they aren’t as effective as medication, supplements like Black Cohosh can increase natural estrogen production.
You can improve your vaginal pH by eating fermented foods like kefir and using supplements like fish oils. Stay hydrated and eat non-inflammatory foods, focusing on healthy fats.
How Lubracil Helps Relieve Vaginal Dryness
HRT is the most effective strategy for resolving estrogen-related vaginal dryness during menopause. But even with the right medication, you might experience a transition period when adjusting to the medication.
During this time, you can use Lubracil to remove the dryness, alleviate itching and burning symptoms, and enjoy intimate moments with your partner. Lubracil is paraben-free, and water-based, making it the perfect solution to your dryness problem.
Lubracil is a high-quality lubricant designed specifically to combat vaginal dryness, providing long-lasting relief and enhancing comfort. It’s pH-balanced formula and non-sticky, non-greasy formulation allows for all-day relief from dryness.
