Vaginal Dryness And Aging - How it Affect Your Sex Life

Vaginal dryness is an occurrence that is very frequent in modern women. This dryness leads to painful sexual intercourse because the moisture found in vagina makes the sexual intercourse easier. Partners who are eager to experience the penetration of the penis and don’t wait for proper moisture inside the vagina, risk experiencing irritation of the reproductive organs. This is something that can be unpleasant for both partners.

There are many reasons why dry vaginas occur and aging is certainly one of them.

When women reaches menopause, they usually experience certain sexual problems and sexual dysfunction related to their sex organs. These difficulties are related to the rapid and strong hormonal changes. According to some statistics vaginal dryness is experienced by more than 20% of women in the beginning of the menopause. Of course, the effects are increased because of the physical changes in the organs and urinary tract. The wall of the vagina becomes thinner because of the lowering of estrogen level. This leads to decreased secretion of fluids. It is very important for men, to understand the situation in which their partners are placed.

It is not their problem that they cannot get wet down there so fast. This lack of wetness doesn’t mean that your partner is not excited and doesn’t want to have sex with you. It is just the menopause that leads to this unpleasant situation. Aging is a process that cannot be stopped. If you are with a partner who is in menopause and you are not patient enough your desire for sex may pass. This means that you can expect additional and completely unnecessary emotional issues. The vagina of a woman who is in menopause can still get wet during the sexual arousal, but this wetness comes slowly. In other words, you will need to spend more time for your partner, especially for the sexual stimulation during foreplay which has key importance. Now let’s see how exactly we can moisten the vagina in later life.

Most experts in the field of sexuality, especially sexuality in older people, recommend women to avoid using scented bath oils, soaps, sprays, foams and wipes used for washing the vagina. These products usually contain compounds that irritate the skin and cause even more difficulties in sex. Avoid the use of decongestants and antihistamines too.  These medications can significantly dry up the vagina. It is highly recommended to use water-based gels, which can be easily applied on the inner side of the vagina and on your partner’s stronger erection because they eliminate the dryness and possibly painful intercourse. Another thing that makes water-based gels the ideal solution is the fact that they cannot lead to inflammation of the vagina. Experts also advise regular sexual intercourse because in this way you will increase the blood flow through the vagina during arousal and keep your vagina in shape.  If you don’t have the chance to have sex on a regular basis, feel free to masturbate because the effect will be more or less the same.

Safe Birth Control Methods, Pros and Cons

Hormonal methods are safer and more effective than barrier methods, it is obvious. Their failure rates are much lower.

Oral contraceptives have a low failure rate. They contain hormones: estrogen and progestin, which prevents ovaries from producing an egg and alter the lining of the womb as well as the cervical mucus to keep the sperm away from the egg. Aside from preventing an unwanted pregnancy, oral contraceptives have one more advantage: they minimize pain and discomfort during a period. The convulsions of the womb become less painful, the bleeding lighter, nausea is gone. There are women who take oral contraceptives when they have no sex partners, only to keep their period under control.

There exist combined pills that were meant for three months: for twelve weeks, the patient takes pills that contain hormones, and for one week, she takes pills that do not contain any hormones: this one week is meant for having her period. It means that these women have their period only once in every three months. Since most women experience negative feelings, pain, and intense discomfort during their period, this kind of oral contraception is very convenient for them.

Some gynecologists say that it is not a fortunate choice to extend the natural cycle of the menstruation to three months, because it may have a negative effect on the hormone system. When a woman has one period in three months, it is not easy to detect a possible pregnancy. Some doctors do not recommend oral contraception for women who are over 35 years, smoke, are prone to blood clotting, or have had breast, liver, or endometrial cancer. Antibiotics may interfere with the effects of oral contraception. Side effects can be the following: nausea, stomach pain, weight gain, mood changes, changes in sexual desire or bleeding between periods. Oral contraception increases the risk of high blood pressure, blood clots, heart attack and stroke.

Essure is a permanent birth control method that does not require a surgery. The gynecologist inserts a thin tube in the vagina and places a spring-like device into both fallopian tubes. Within three months, scar tissues grow around the device, blocking the fallopian tubes. In rare cases, this method has side-effects like abdominal pain or ectopic pregnancy.

Surgical sterilization closes the fallopian tubes, so the egg cannot reach the uterus and get fertilized. Their failure rate is extremely low, it is a very safe way of permanent birth control. Side effects may include abdominal pain, bleeding, and ectopic pregnancy.

Food and the menopause

Menopause is a term used to describe the last menstrual cycle in the life of a woman. The average age of women that have entered menopause is around 50, which means that women spend around 1/3 of their lives in the so-called post-menopause period. In modern developed societies, around 20% of the total population belongs to the group of women in post-menopause. It is interesting to know that the period when menopause happens is genetically determined and women simply cannot avoid this transition. This means that menopause doesn’t depend on the number of ovulations, the number of childbirths, taking contraceptives or anything similar. The process of decreasing of reproductive abilities in women starts around ten years before the last menstrual cycle – the ovulary functions are slowly shutting down and the level of production of certain hormones rapidly drops. This is a period known as perimenopause.

A lot of researchers have confirmed that certain food can help with menopause. For example, soya can reduce some of the menopause symptoms and difficulties. The good thing about soya is that it can be used in different dishes) together with rice, salads, vegetables etc.). Of course, food and drinks like alcohol, coffee, sugar, and spicy food can even increase the usual symptoms like heat waves, insomnia, mood swings etc.

In the past two decades the most common method of treatment of postmenopausal symptoms is by using hormonal products. The procedure is also known as hormone replacement therapy. It’s good to point out, that women from different ethnic backgrounds experience different levels of difficulties. Asian women have least difficulties in the postmenopausal period and this is probably because of the diet that they practice throughout their life. The main reasons for these difficulties are the unstable levels of estrogen and progesterone in women. They can cause feeling of heat especially in the upper part of the body and even cause redness on the face and on the neck. These so called heat waves can last up to half an hour. These difficulties occur because of the proportional decrease of the level of estrogen when the glands secrete other hormones which eventually lead to fluctuations in body temperature.

It is a well known fact that healthy diet and regular physical exercises can solve many health problems. Some experts consider that a lifestyle of this kind can reduce the risk of coronary diseases and osteoporosis (two diseases that often attack women in menopausal period). That’s why it is highly recommended to take food low in cholesterol and saturated fat. Probably the best way to calculate the optimal level of fat intake is to take less than 1/3 of daily intake of calories.

The activity of phytoestrogens can be estrogenic or antiestrogenic. In the menopausal period women have fewer estrogens, and the phytoestrogens found in the food bind with receptors exhibiting estrogenic activity.

Fruit, vegetables, cereals are especially rich in carotene, vitamin B, zinc and vitamin C, substances that can ease the postmenopausal difficulties.