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How can you manage vaginal atrophy?
As you age your vagina can begin to exhibit signs of ageing, much like your skin. Menopause, childbirth, or even just reduced collagen production with age can cause a decline in your vaginal health. For some, this can cause very manageable minor symptoms, but for others, the symptoms can be debilitating and may impede daily life.
Whether your symptoms are mild or severe, could there be a way to stop their progression and improve them?
Signs of Vaginal Atrophy
There are a few factors that can cause vaginal atrophy which results in similar symptoms. Let’s have a look at the risk factors, and what you might experience as a result:
Menopause can come with significant changes to your vagina as there is a decrease in the production of sex hormones: progesterone, testosterone, and oestrogen. Changes in these hormone levels have an effect on your whole body. Specifically, a decrease in oestrogen can cause thinning of the vaginal tissue and weakening of the pelvic floor. If you are undergoing menopause, you may experience vaginal dryness and/or burning, pain or bleeding during/after intercourse, and stress urinary incontinence (SUI, leaking urine) or urgency with urination. In this case, you may have Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause (GSM).
It is no surprise that pregnancy can have lasting effects on your vagina. Some women may experience vaginal laxity (looseness) or even SUI directly after giving birth. It is possible also to experience vaginal dryness during breastfeeding as your oestrogen levels may be lowered to keep up milk production.
Ageing in general comes with a decrease in collagen production. This inevitably leads to a decrease in tissue health and function throughout the body, not just your skin. This can cause vaginal dryness, laxity, and urinary incontinence.
How You Can Reduce The Symptoms of Vaginal Atrophy
If you feel you are experiencing symptoms of vaginal atrophy you might be wondering what you can do to lessen them. So, here are 4 ways you can combat vaginal atrophy.
Strengthening your pelvic floor can improve common menopausal or pregnancy-related pelvic health issues. A pelvic floor therapist can help you to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles which will reduce urine leakage, as well as reduce tension in these muscles. This can even positively impact your sex life as tension in the pelvic floor muscles can be a cause of painful sex and, indirectly, vaginal dryness.
Be sexually active. Regular sexual activity, alone or with a partner, will keep your vaginal tissue active and thus help to maintain regular function. Increased blood flow to the genital area as a result of arousal can also help to keep your genital tissue healthy and active.
Apply lubrication before sexual activity to help relieve vaginal dryness, whether you are alone or with a partner. You may experience increased friction as a result of vaginal dryness which can result in discomfort, pain, and anxiety related to sexual activity. Proper lubrication can reduce pain or discomfort and relieve you of the anxiety you may be feeling in the bedroom.
FemiLift treatment is proven to significantly improve symptoms of vaginal atrophy and thus is gaining increased popularity. You'll benefit from increased collagen production to restore thickness and elasticity in the vaginal tissue, as well as improve the function of the tissue and reduced SUI. Find out more in our recent blog post about the benefits of FemiLift here.
So there we are, 4 ways to control the symptoms of Vaginal Atrophy! We hope you found this post useful, but we understand you may still be looking for professional advice tailored to you. Click the button below and fill out the form to book your consultation with Dr Hala and find out how you can tackle vaginal atrophy.