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4 Intimate Wellness Tips Every Woman Should Know

Urinary incontinence, vaginal laxity, painful intercourse, vaginal dryness, and other intimate wellness problems affect women during perimenopause and menopause for various reasons. Here are four intimate wellness tips for overcoming these issues so women can regain their sense of health, well-being, and passion for intimacy in relationships.

Intimate Wellness Tip #1—Avoid Vagina Dryness One of the primary causes of vaginal dryness is the lack of estrogen. When estrogen production in the ovaries declines significantly during perimenopause and menopause, most women will experience various degrees of vaginal dryness. Estrogen also supports vaginal tissue elasticity and regulates acidity within the vagina to help prevent urinary tract and fungal infections.1 Women who breastfeed, smoke cigarettes, have an immune disorder or have had their ovaries removed are also at risk of vaginal dryness due to insufficient estrogen. Treatments available for vaginal dryness include estrogen-releasing vaginal rings that are inserted into your vagina every three weeks and estrogen cream. Both are available by prescription from your doctor. More effective and convenient treatment for vaginal dryness is bioidentical hormone therapy (BHRT) offered at Renew Health & Wellness. Bioidentical hormones (BHRT) are not synthetic and do not carry the risk of breast or ovarian cancer that equine conjugated hormones carry. To replace estrogen lost to menopause or other conditions, pea-sized BHRT inserts are placed under the skin to provide regulated release of estrogen for relief of vaginal dryness, hot flashes and other unpleasant symptoms related to estrogen loss. Intimate Wellness Tip #2—Reduce Vaginal Laxity Loosening of the vaginal tissues is commonly caused by vaginal delivery of a child and aging. Symptoms of vaginal laxity include reduced sexual satisfaction and minimal sensation during sexual intercourse. Vaginal laxity can also contribute to mild incontinence, such as “dribbling” with you sneeze, laugh or run. Some doctors may recommend surgical vaginoplasty for women suffering from vaginal laxity. Vaginoplasty involves a surgeon removing excess mucosa (the vaginal lining) to tighten muscles and soft tissues. Recovery from vaginoplasty takes around a week but women should not have intercourse for six weeks. As with most surgeries, there is always a risk for scarring, bleeding, and infection. Fortunately, a nonsurgical technique for reducing vaginal laxity called Viveve is rapidly becoming the leading choice of treatment for vaginal laxity. Viveve uses radiofrequency energy to stimulate cellular activity needed to restore collagen levels essential for vaginal firmness. Delivering dual-mode, patented deep heating to stimulate your body’s inherent regenerative processes, Viveve also cools tissue surfaces simultaneously to provide comfortable, pain-free treatment sessions. Intimate Wellness Tip #3—Reduce Symptoms of Urinary Incontinence Periodic urinary incontinence is a fact of life for women who have had children vaginally as well as for menopausal women. Pelvic floor muscles that control your bladder weaken as estrogen levels decrease. In addition, low estrogen contributes to the deterioration of your urinary tract lining which can affect urine flow.

Medications such as antimuscarinics/anticholinergics are available to help control urinary incontinence. You can also wear panty liners or protective pads to avoid a potentially embarrassing situation. A better, more convenient way to treat urinary incontinence is Viveve, the same treatment we recommend for vaginal laxity. Call Renew Health & Wellness to learn more about how Viveve can reduce symptoms of urinary incontinence. Intimate Wellness Tip #4—Avoid Painful Intercourse Painful intercourse is typically caused by lack of vaginal lubrication, vaginismus (involuntary spasms of the vaginal muscles), yeast infections, endometriosis or pelvic inflammatory disease. If you begin experiencing pain during intercourse, you should always make an appointment with your doctor for an examination to rule out infections or disease. If painful intercourse is caused by vaginal dryness, lubrications are available to improve vaginal moisture and reduce pain during intercourse. However, lubrication must be used every time you have intercourse. They offer only a temporary fix that can be inconvenient and a little messy. By restoring low estrogen levels, bioidentical hormone replacement therapy helps relieve painful intercourse due to dryness caused by estrogen loss. Viveve vaginal rejuvenation therapy complements BHRT for vaginal dryness by promoting collagen production facilitating moisture increase and healthier vaginal tissues. Renew Health & Wellness is your intimate wellness center providing BHRT, Viveve and other holistic services designed to enhance your physical, mental and sexual health as you age. Call today to learn more about our many treatments available. References

  1. https://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/vaginal-dryness/basics/causes/sym-20151520

  2. https://www.jsm.jsexmed.org/article/S1743-6095(16)30353-8/pdf

  3. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/165408.php

  4. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/painful-intercourse/symptoms-causes/syc-20375967


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