How can I deal with vaginal changes during menopause?

You can use a moisturizer or restore estrogen locally to help deal with vaginal changes during menopause, according to Patricia Geraghty, NP.

Transcript

00:00

For intercourse, which can be very painful, you want to use a lubricant, but you want to use a lubricant that's designed for intimacy.

00:06

[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:24

Dealing with vaginal changes during menopause really is determined by the degree of changes.

00:30

It's called vaginal atrophy, and it's a terrible, terrible word. I try never to use it with my patients.

00:37

But with the decreased estrogen, the walls become thin and pale and less stretchy. In a more mild situation, simply restoring some moisturizer

00:47

might be enough. For intercourse, which can be very painful, you want to use a lubricant, but you want to use a lubricant that's designed for intimacy.

00:56

That seems to be the code word on the package. For some reason, the pharmacy can't say sex, I guess. So you have to read the package label carefully.

01:04

And if it says something in there about intimacy, that's the one you want. Typical lubricants, say the ones we would use in an office,

01:12

they're going to get dry in a minute or two and won't work for intimacy. And then a woman with more severe vaginal atrophy,

01:20

restoring the estrogen in a local way. [AUDIO LOGO]