Many Solutions To Dealing With Vaginal Dryness and Vaginal Atrophy

A hysterectomy can bring about all kinds of conditions after the surgery. Not only are you prone to hot flashes and early menopause but also vaginal dryness and vaginal atrophy are the most common effects of having a hysterectomy. Yet, how can you deal with this problem facing many women who have had a hysterectomy?

Why Does Vaginal Dryness and Atrophy Occur ?

First, it's important to learn why vaginal dryness and vaginal atrophy occur. They occur because your body doesn't have an high enough level of estrogen, which can be found in the vaginal tissues and ovaries.

So why does vaginal dryness and atrophy occur if you still have your ovaries or are still on hormone replacement therapy? It's been speculated that the minimum estrogen levels that help to keep the hot flashes from coming, are not enough to stave off vaginal dryness and atrophy. To keep vaginal dryness and atrophy from occurring, you must have an elevated level of this hormone (estrogen).

Over the Counter Help For Vaginal Dryness and Atrophy

Second, it's time to find the ways that you can deal with this ongoing problem. If estrogen is an issue and you cannot have any replacement therapy, you can always use certain products such as KY Long Lasting Jelly or Replens. These are moisturizing products that you can purchase over the counter. Many women will use these up to three times a week to keep vaginal dryness and atrophy at bay.

If you don't want to use the KY or Replens moisturizers, you can consume Vitamin E capsules or you can use Vitamin E vaginal suppositories.

Prescriptions To Deal With Vaginal Dryness and Atrophy

If the KY and Replens moisturizers don't seem to do the trick, you can always talk with your doctor about a prescription to take care of the vaginal dryness and atrophy. For instance, your doctor can prescribe Premarin, Estriol or Estrace. All three medications are creams… Estriol is commonly prescribed more in Canada and Europe than in the United States.

Oral (by mouth) Prescriptions for Vaginal Dryness and Atrophy

If you don't think you can handle the creams, there are oral medications you can take for vaginal dryness and atrophy. For instance, you can use Vagifem, which is a small tablet that gets placed into a woman's vagina. Vagifem is identical to Estradiol, which is released into your body over time.

You are not limited to Vagifem to take care of your problem. You can also use Estring, which is a plastic ring that will be fitted into your vagina and will release estradiol on a timed basis. Both products are quite helpful for the majority of women.

Issues with Vagifem and Estring

While both are prescriptions, they only contain a minute dose of estradiol. This means that the prescriptions are not near as effective to deal with the problem that's been ongoing for some time. However, they do wonders for preventing vaginal dryness and atrophy once your vagina tissues have healed.

Testosterone Levels For Your Libido

Another way to treat your vagina dryness and atrophy is to apply testosterone to your vulva. However, this should only be used in cases where a woman's testosterone level is decreased. It should also be given in minute doses so that the vaginal dryness and atrophy is "cured" too much testosterone in a women can cause irreversible side effects.