Vaginal dryness: causes and treatment

As women age, changes in hormone production can lead to vaginal dryness. Kevin Windom, MD, explains the common causes and treatment options available to ease the discomfort of this condition.

Transcript

00:00

Every woman is going to experience this sometime in their life, either postpartum, and they're breastfeeding, or when they go through menopause.

00:08

[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:14

Vaginal dryness is caused by the lack of estrogen. If you're breastfeeding, the hormone in your brain that causes you to lactate

00:22

called prolactin hormone turns off estrogen. The pH of the vagina usually sits at like 4.2.

00:29

And when the pH rises due to lack of estrogen, it can cause an increase in bacteria. An increase in bacteria can cause

00:36

inflammation and sometimes dryness. The first treatment for vaginal dryness would just be more lubrication, especially

00:44

if it's just bothering you during intercourse. Other treatments would be systemic estrogen, like you take a pill, or you put the cream on your arm,

00:52

or it could be just vaginal estrogen, just put the estrogen into the vagina on a twice a week basis.

00:58

There is another option on the market, and it's a laser treatment of the vaginal tissue. The laser treatment can cause the cells to regrow.

01:07

And when the cells regrow, it grows in a healthier manner. It's no different than if you have laser treatment of your face to make your face healthier.

01:13

It's usually not covered by insurance companies, but it's definitely an option for patients who do not want hormone therapy or the patients such as breast

01:21

cancer patients who probably shouldn't be on hormonal therapy. [MUSIC PLAYING]