Why You Have Vaginal Dryness & How to Treat It
By William Lovett, M.D.
Do you find sexual relations to be painful or uncomfortable? If so, you’re not alone.
Over the past 5 years, women from all over the Greater Cincinnati Area have come into our office complaining of vaginal dryness. Usually, these concerns come up during our hormone replacement therapy consultations. Almost every woman suffering from vaginal dryness laments about how much the dryness has restricted or harmed their relationship with their husband or boyfriend.
When your lining is too thin, it causes vaginal dryness, which can lead to cracking or bleeding. With this much pain, your intimate moments can become practically non-existent. But it doesn’t have to be this way. You have options that can restore your youthfulness and intimacy.
Vaginal dryness is caused by lack of hormones
We most commonly see vaginal dryness in women who are going through menopause or a complete hysterectomy. In both cases, your body produces less (or close to no) estrogen, testosterone, or progesterone. This weakens your vaginal lining.
A lot of women expect to lose pleasure as they enter menopause, but we actually do see women starting in their 20s and up. Anyone who has had a complete hysterectomy will start to experience vaginal dryness because the removal of both ovaries means there’s no hormonal protection for your vaginal lining.
Multi-phase treatments help restore your most intimate areas
Family doctors and OBGYNs tend to only use estrogen creams to help improve vaginal dryness or discomfort. But that doesn’t target the underlying problem. That’s why we recommend a multi-phase approach:
HRT is the first step in any good sexual health program. We do prescribe both HRT pellets and creams, depending on your health, goals, and what works best for your quality of life. It’s all about helping you feel better and getting your hormones back to where they were when you were more youthful.
A second option, if needed, is diVa. We painlessly insert a laser into the vaginal canal which helps restore new collagen and increases your natural lubrication. The best part of diVa is that after two treatments, most women report they’re already seeing more lubrication and less (or no) discomfort during sex.
Commonly we add an additional treatment called the O-Shot that complements diVa and further increases the collagen in your vaginal wall while increasing the sensitivity to your clitoris and improving orgasms.
Learn more about your options today
If you’re suffering from vaginal dryness, know that you don’t have to suffer in silence anymore. There are treatments for this. For more information, you can check out our diVa and O-Shot treatments. To schedule a consultation, please call us at 513-791-9474.
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