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Dear Dr. Myrtle,
I’ve experienced several changes in my body since starting through menopause, and I’m worried that my sex life will suffer. Is there anything I can do on my own to maintain my ’sexy self’? without having to take hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or other herbs or drugs?
 There is quite a bit a woman can do herself to keep her sexual health and sexual vitality throughout menopause. To understand some of the techniques described later in this pamphlet, let’s go through some basic information about the process of menopause.
What is menopause?
Menopause technically is the end (“pause”) of monthly bleeding or periods (“menses”). Although cessation of menses often happens within months, the whole of process of menopause can be much longer, and is often accompanied by other symptoms like hot flashes and decreased spontaneous vaginal lubrication, as well as an increased risk of thinning bones and heart disease.
The transition through menopause can last 10-15 years (biological menopause) or occur in as little as one to two months (due to surgery or therapies that cause sudden ovarian failure). The amount of time that menopause takes can have a dramatic effect on the occurrence and severity of physical symptoms.
As women mature through their 40s and 50s, biological menopause is the process whereby ovarian function slowly ebbs, then ceases. The ovaries are responsible for the production of several hormones (estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone), as well as holding, maturing, then releasing fertile eggs into the uterus. As menopause proceeds, the estrogen produced by the ovaries becomes less and less, which eventually prevents any eggs from maturing or being released. It’s thought that hot flashes are caused by the brain attempting to “kick start” the ovaries into producing more estrogen — the flashes finally subside when the brain realizes that estrogen production isn’t going to rise up again.
Some women experience these symptoms over decades, and the body has a longer period to adjust to the changes. However, women who have undergone surgical removal of the ovaries or chemotherapies to treat cancer often experience these symptoms suddenly at whatever age the surgery/therapy occurred. It’s a shock to lose all that ovarian estrogen suddenly, and it takes active planning to manage such a quick physical change.
What does estrogen do?
Estrogen is a talented hormone that has many effects on the human body. Although mostly recognized for its effect on egg maturation, estrogen receptors (places where estrogen has its effect) are found all over the body — in the brain, skin, muscle, and sub-skin tissues, to name a few places — and are produced in both males and females in fat cells. This means that when women lose their ovarian estrogen, they continue to make a maintenance level of estrogen. (It also means that those of us with a little more “padding” usually transition through menopause more gently than those with less.) Major effects of estrogen are:
- Priming of sensory organs
- Production of pheromones
- Maintenance of skin elasticity and sub-skin tissue thickness
- Maintenance of muscle mass
- Positive effect on blood vessel neurotransmitters that help the vaginal lubrication process
- Estrogen “revs up” sensory organs and helps the world seem a fresher, brighter, zestier place. The process of making estrogen is the same process that helps make pheromones — hormones that we unconsciously smell. Both of these effects help to make the world seem a bit sexier, and helps the world think that we are sexier as well.
- Estrogen also helps skin stay elastic and flexible and keeps the padding under the skin thick and lush. This effect extends to muscle tissue, helping maintenance and repair of muscle occur faster and more efficiently.
When estrogen circulates through the blood stream, it supports the neurotransmitter (VIP) responsible for production of vaginal and mucous membrane lubrication. When estrogen ebbs, vaginal lubrication also ebbs, because estrogen isn’t there to assist VIP.
But just a minute! I’m losing most of that estrogen you’re talking about! Is this really all because of estrogen?
First, it isn’t healthy for your body to be “pushed into youth” by estrogen for *all* of your life. Studies have clearly demonstrated that estrogens can be too much of a good thing and can prompt your cells to live forever. This is not good, since cell immortality is another way to describe some types of cancer (such as breast and uterine). Your body will be far healthier when it can gracefully transition through its natural phases, rather than being pushed too hard with constant estrogen stimulation.
Second, not everything that happens during menopause happens because of the loss of estrogen. Other events often overlap menopause and can have detrimental effects on your sexual health.
For example, many people slow down their physical activity in mid-life, which makes their muscles more resistant to the action of insulin. Insulin is the key that helps food/sugar move into cells, and therefore keeps your body “fed”. When your body cannot move sugar into muscle cells, science calls that “insulin resistance”. High levels of blood insulin cause blood vessels to become stiffer and lose their flexibility. Stiff vessels can’t transfer as much blood as flexible vessels, and when it comes to sexual arousal, blood flow is a major player. So exercising less means less blood can get to sexual tissues, which means less arousal and engorgement.
Other people find themselves so busy at this point in their lives that they don’t have time to maintain physical touch and contact with the people in their lives. Touching helps our brains secrete a comfort hormone called oxytocin that helps us feel secure and relaxed. Less time for touch can have an important impact on whether we feel cared for, and whether those around us feel that we care for them.
Still Juicy after all these years!
You don’t need estrogen to maintain a satisfying sexual life, and there are some straightforward habits and techniques that can help you be as sexy as you wanna be! Incorporating these activities into your everyday life can make a world of difference.
- Lower your insulin resistance. Keep your blood vessels flexible and keep your sexual arousal alive. It’s easier to achieve orgasm when blood flow to the whole body is healthy. Take a walk at a moderate pace for 30 minutes a day, every day. Take the stairs when you can during the day (or do your armchair push-ups). Rev your engine regularly and keep the blood moving around.
- Moisturize your genital tissues with a moisturizing sexual lubricant. We suggest Liquid Silk lubricant, which will help maintain the moisture and flexibility of your vulva and genital tissues. Regular massage (once a day for five minutes) can help maintain the elasticity of your genital skin and the thickness of the tissue under your vulva, and help prevent painful tearing. (See our Vaginal Renewal brochure for more information).
If you find yourself feeling uncomfortable sitting down during the day, you can preventively apply Liquid Silk to your vulva, as well as inside your vagina (some women use their fingers for this, while others use a hard plastic vibrator to apply it.) This can make a huge difference in allowing the vaginal walls to “slip by each other” as you bend or sit, and help you stay comfortable throughout the day and night.
- Maintain pelvic floor strength. Learn where your pelvic floor is and learn how to exercise it. This helps maintain your connection with the experience of sexual arousal. Tension of the pelvic floor is critical to most people’s experience of “feeling turned on”. When pelvic-floor muscle strength starts to slip (which is accelerated by loss of estrogen), you may begin to feel “as though nothing happens down there any more”. Strengthening your pelvic muscles is as easy as brushing your teeth (really), and it will put a big smile on your face! (See our Kegels article and brochure for instructions.)
- Regularly schedule orgasms. Maintain your sexual system by giving it exercise! Really. I think a minimum of one orgasm per week is required for the system to remember what sexual arousal is and how to do it. No partner is required — a vibrator can speed the process. Orgasms are also great facilitators of sleep!
- Think sexy thoughts. Sexual feelings are a two-way street: some of those feelings are responses to sexual changes in your body, while other feelings are generated in your mind. Don’t be afraid to “get yourself ready” to be sexual — it can be rewarding.
- Hold on to your natural hormones. Stop smoking, and drink less alcohol. Tobacco has an anti-estrogenic effect that blunts sexual arousal, decreases bone strength, and stiffens blood vessels. These effects hurt the sexual arousal response and accelerate aging. Alcohol blunts testosterone production — so the less you drink, the friskier you’ll be.
- Maintain touch in your life. Oxytocin, the I-am-loveable hormone, increases with touch. Hug a friend or pet!
- Sleep. It’s hard to be interested in sex when you’re exhausted. Sleep 7-8 hours every night — you’ll experience more pleasure when you’re rested and awake.
Most all, remember to care for your body, and your body will return the favor.
To view a lecture version of this article (warning, it's an hour long), click here:
http://media1.wi.gov/DOT/Viewer/?peid=3a9a8534-7798-430f-901c-7eb1ca037e35
Copyright 2006 Dr. Myrtle Wilhite. Contact A Woman's Touch for permission to reproduce this information.
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