For whatever reason, there’s a stigma around older people having sex. Well, world, listen up: Tons of people still have sex after menopause, or at the very least want to know what it would be like if they did. After all, your vagina is not magically replaced with a Barbie-smooth patch of skin, rendering coitus physically impossible, as soon as you’ve reached 50 or so candles on your birthday cake.
Menopause is marked by 12 straight months without a period, according to the Mayo Clinic. It typically starts in a person’s 40s or 50s—in the U.S., the average age most people hit menopause is 51—though it can sometimes happen earlier. Symptoms vary among people, but common menopause symptoms include hot flashes, vaginal dryness, and mood changes (all of which can impact your libido), according to the Mayo Clinic. Although it can be disorienting and difficult to get through at times, it doesn’t have to completely kill your sex life forever.
“There’s a myth that women stop having sex after menopause, and it’s completely untrue. Women are still able to receive and give pleasure as much, if not more, than they previously were,” Lexx Brown-James, Ph.D., licensed marriage and family therapist, tells SELF. Here, experts discuss exactly what to expect from sex after The Change.
1. Itisdefinitely true that sex after menopause can be painful, at least for some time.
“The most prominent change I hear about from my patients is that sometimes sex can become painful after menopause,” board-certified ob/gyn Antonio Pizarro, M.D., tells SELF. “Most of the time, this is related to a loss of estrogen.” That can cause what’s known as vaginal atrophy or genitourinary syndrome of menopause, in which the vaginal tissue becomes thinner and more delicate, Dr. Pizarro explains. Issues like pain, vaginal dryness, and urinary problems can crop up as a result of vaginal atrophy. Around half of postmenopausal people experience these symptoms, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Doctors mainly treat vaginal atrophy with some form of estrogen supplementation, but there can be drawbacks. Pizarro notes that there’s a small risk the amped up estrogen can contribute to uterine cancer unless a woman pairs it with the synthetic hormone progestin. But combining the two may then increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer, according to The American Cancer Society, which has a comprehensive breakdown of the benefits and drawbacks of using hormones to deal with menopause symptoms.
2. There’s nothing wrong with needing help in the lubrication department.
Whether you decide to opt for extra hormones or not, using vaginal moisturizers like Replens (Amazon, $17) and regular ol’ lube can help ease vaginal discomfort. In fact, Tami Rowen, M.D. an obstetrician and gynecologist specializing in sexual health at the University of California San Francisco, highly recommends using a lubricant to help make sex more enjoyable if you experience vaginal dryness. If you’re new to lube, it’s important to know that there are several types: silicone-based, oil-based, water-based, and hybrids. Generally, water-based lubes that don’t contain glycerin are a good choice because they’re suitable for people with sensitive skin. Further, Dr. Rowen suggests buying a lube that mimics the natural pH of your vagina. Changes to its natural state can cause an overgrowth of bacteria and lead to infections like bacterial vaginosis, according to the Cleveland Clinic. (For reference, a pH range of 3.8–4.5 is considered normal). Before heading to the store, you can do research online to find a product that fits within this scale. Dr. Rowen recommends lubes like Almost Naked by Good Clean Love (Amazon, $22). This one falls between 4.2 – 4.7 on the pH scale, according to the manufacturer’s website.
3. Your libido might dip thanks to menopause.
It’s not universal, but some people with menopause report decreased libido, says Dr. Pizarro. Issue is, it’s tough for doctors to figure out how to combat a lowered sex drive—the cause isn’t exactly easy to pinpoint. “For decades, we’ve blamed loss of libido on a woman’s ovaries or hormones,” says “Libido is such a complicated thing that goes way beyond issues of the ovaries, uterus, and hormones,” says Dr. Pizarro.
This means, you take one article, and you use the article distribution system. It will generate thousands of unique versions of your article, and publish those unique articles to hundreds of websites that are related to your niche.
Take a look at our comprehensive guide to the best and most popular information ebooks and products available today on Detoxing, Colon Cleansing, Weight Loss and Dating and Romance. They are all in one spot, easy to find and compere to make a quick selection for the product that best fits your needs or wants.
So browse through a category and make your preferred selection and come back here to read more choice articles and get a few more helpful tips on ways to help your enhancement.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. “saubiosaubiosuccess.com is a participant in third party affiliate and advertising programs; The Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, Awin network, and other affiliate advertising programs are designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees and commissions by advertising and linking to products on other sites and on Amazon.com. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc, or its affiliates.”
We use anonymous cookies and various 3rd-party services to optimise and to offer you a better, more personalised, browsing experience with advanced accessibility enhancements.
Dismiss
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
