What Could Possibly Cause Vaginal Dryness?

What is Vaginal Dryness?

Vaginal dryness or medically termed as atrophic vaginitis occurs commonly during the menopausal stage of women. However, it is also possible that a woman who is not yet menopause can experience vaginal dryness. This is considered normal but it can cause an effect to the sexual life of married couples.

Women with vaginal dryness need not to be ashamed of their condition. Instead, they could seek their gynecologist to give remedies to this problem. There are a lot of available treatments to vaginal dryness to help women increase their sexual drive. However, what we will be focusing on is the factors that could’ve caused atrophic vaginitis.

Normally, the skin and the tissues in the vagina are kept moist by the glands located at the neck of the uterus. However, a hormone called as estrogen affects these glands, inhibiting release of mucus to keep the vaginal skin moist. If a woman has decreased estrogen levels, the glands are not able to produce mucus, leading to dryness of the genitals.

How Menopause Effects Vaginal Dryness

During menopause, the estrogen levels decrease, causing different changes in the woman’s reproductive system. Because estrogen is an important hormone in maintaining vaginal moisture, decreased levels will greatly contribute to dryness. Often, women will experience symptoms such as itching in the vaginal walls, pain during sexual intercourse, overall discomfort, urinary problems and some vaginal discharges.

Aside from menopause, stress is also considered as one of the major contributory factors for vaginal dryness. Stress is something that can’t be avoided because it is part of our every day lives; however, how to deal with it will greatly affect a person’s reaction towards stress. It is important that women should be able to handle stress appropriately to avoid causing effects to their health.

For couples who are using condoms during intercourse, you need to know that the latex material found in condoms also causes vaginal dryness. This happens because of the interruption in the levels of pH or acidity in the vaginal area.

Since vaginal dryness can greatly affect the relationship of married couples in terms of sex; the problem should be addressed right away. A libido enhancer for women or personal lubricant can help in stopping painful intercourse caused by vaginal dryness.