The first line of defense is hygiene. This means preventing irritation and dryness by being picky with your cleanser. Look for mild cleansers without perfume or fragrance, the fewer the ingredients that you can’t pronounce, the better. Also look for paraben free moisturizers as paraben can influence hormone fluctuations. Many of us busy, minimalist types have never purposefully moisturized our vaginal areas. The vaginal area is healthiest when moist so do not wait until it is dry to start moisturizing! If dryness starts and continues it can cause painful sex, irritation and itchiness-no one wants to find a way to itch there pink parts while in the boardroom. You are also more prone to vaginal and urinary tract infections with a dry vagina.
Vaginal moisturizers can also aid in rejuvenating thinning vaginal tissue and vaginal atrophy relief, providing hydration and a protective layer for the area. The key is the regular use of the moisturizer, aim for 3 to 7 times per week. Vaginal moisturizer is designed to coat the vulva (outer vaginal lips) like a lip balm and continue rehydrating dry vaginal skin for up to 24 hours after application. However, if you feel dry after a few hours, it’s perfectly safe to apply some more. If this is an addition to your routine, try showering before bed and placing your moisturizers including your vaginal moisturizer on your night stand. Create a ritual wind-down routine of moisturizing your face, vagina, body, hands and feet.
These help with mild to moderate symptoms and most women will eventually require hormonal medications. An excellent vaginal moisturizer is coconut oil. It is rich in fatty acids and is anti-inflammatory, which means it's ideal for soothing sensitive, dry skin by assisting your skin’s natural skin barrier and sealing in moisture. It is affordable and smells like a tropical party in your pants.
The only time we don’t recommend coconut oil as a lubricant is when using latex-based condoms with your partner(s). Oil-based lubricants have been shown to weaken condoms and increase breakage in the bedroom. The same science extends to plastic sex toys; oil can break them down. That’s one reason we recommend silicone sex toys, which are also safer for your body.
Coconut oil is rich in fatty acids and is anti-inflammatory, which means it's ideal for soothing sensitive, dry skin by assisting your skin’s natural skin barrier and sealing in moisture. When researching coconut oil, the gynecologists and women we talked to loved using it to relieve vaginal dryness, especially because it's a completely natural ingredient. There are fantastic moisturizer and lubricant products on the market now that provide fantastic moisture and soothing comfort, check out PAUZ for some great options!
In a recent Q&A, Dr. Somi Javaid talked about the importance of moisturizing down there for less painful sex. “We remember moisturizer for our face, hands, and feet," she said. "But a lot of women forget about moisturizing sensitive parts like the vagina and vulva.”
Using a vaginal moisturizing lubricant can help with atrophy, dryness, soreness and can promote blood flow and reduce irritation. Lubricant is used to moisten the vaginal opening to help with smoother, and less painful intercourse. It also increases arousal, eases vaginal tightness, and helps women with dyspareunia to enjoy more comfortable sex. During intercourse, lubricants reduce friction and help improve your sexual pleasure. A moisturizing lubricant versus just a lubricant can help plump up vulva and vagina tissues whereas lubricant alone just provides a slippery surface but no moisture and can dry up fast necessitating additional applications during sex.
Also, check whether the lubricants are water-based or oil-based. Water-based lubricants don’t interfere with condoms and can be used externally and internally. Partners can use these as well. It is a good idea to try different brands to find the one that works best for you.
There are three types of lubricants: 1) water based; 2) silicone based; 3) oil based that are not skin absorbed. They act immediately and provide temporary relief from vaginal dryness and pain during sex. The main differences between the three are:
How slippery they are
How easy they are to clean
How long they last
Whether they can be used with condoms or sex toys
Water-based lubes are considered the best all-purpose lubricants. They do not degrade silicone sex toys, dilators, or latex condoms, and are easy to clean. Although they might not be as slippery as the other two, water-based lubes, are considered the safest lubricant on the market.
Silicone-based lubricants are slipperier than water-based lubes, lasting longer for sex play in the bath or shower, for instance. However, they cannot be used with many types of condoms, (always check the label) and they will damage sex toys or dilators made from silicone.
Oil-based lubricants are the most slippery, but they are also the hardest to clean and the oil in these lubricants will damage all condoms.
*this is a personal choice, you can check out the PAUZ Marketplace. You can find cleansers, moisturizers, and lubricants 'PAUZ' approved.
Check out our Blog on Lubricants here. We explain the differences and what to look for when purchasing!
Do You Need Both Lubricant and Moisturizer, Or Just One?
That depends. If you are simply looking to improve your sexual experience then lubrication may be all you need. If you are suffering from a vaginal infection, then a vaginal moisturizer will help to soothe irritation, swelling, and itching on the outer genitals. It is better to refrain from intercourse when treating a vaginal infection, but lubrication can come in handy when returning to sex after recovering.
If you are suffering from vaginal dryness after radiation, or during breastfeeding or menopause, however, you will gain more benefits from using both.
Lubrication will help to ease vaginal tightness and painful penetration, as well as improve your sexual experience. And vaginal moisturizer will help to soothe and revive dry or irritated skin on the outer genitals. Organically made vaginal moisturizers, like the natural vaginal moisturizer Enchanted Rose balm from Intimate Rose, are 100% natural, contain no irritating ingredients, and can safely be used to moisturize internally as well as externally.
Can Moisturizer Be Used As Lubricant?
Preferably not. Lubricants benefit the user during penetration and sexual activities, but the benefits cease after intercourse. Lubricants do not help to treat vaginal dryness (atrophy), infections, painful sex (dyspareunia), or their underlying causes. Lubricants are designed to ease penetration, improve sexual pleasure, or aid with the use of dilators, Kegel weights, pelvic wands, and vibrators. Vaginal moisturizers, however, are designed to hydrate and soothe the outer genitals and could irritate hypersensitive vaginal skin when used internally.
All in all, it is best to use moisturizer to hydrate and soothe the outer genitals and apply lubricants only when engaging in sexual activity or dilator therapy. This is somewhat personal, you can explore what works best for you.
Lubricants and vaginal moisturizers are both recommended for easing painful sex caused by vaginal dryness, but there are differences between the two. Ideally, lubricant is used to improve sexual experiences and arousal, or to help insert Kegel weights, sex toys, or vaginal dilators when the vagina feels dry or tight. Moisturizer, on the other hand, is recommended to rejuvenate and rehydrate the outer genital skin when dryness sets in.
If you are experiencing vaginal dryness or painful sex, try using an organically-made vaginal moisturizer to rehydrate your outer genitals and water-based lubrication to relieve tightness and increase pleasure during intercourse. However, if your pain persists, schedule an appointment with your doctor for further analysis.
While estrogen is the gold standard treatment for genitourinary syndrome of menopause, fewer than 8% of women are receiving treatment despite research showing it is 80 to 90% effective in the form of creams, inserts and rings (DHEA as well). Applied topically, prescription estrogen can amp up the vaginal walls’ lubrication and elasticity.
If your perimenopause symptoms expand outside of GSM and libido, for example night sweats, brain fog, weight gain, and joint soreness, a doctor might recommend a systemic approach. This would be hormone replacement therapy (HT), an oral dose of estrogen and progesterone (progestin). However, HT alone may not be effective enough, as there is not a sufficient amount of estrogen reaching the vaginal and vulvar tissues. If you start with HT, you might wait to see if it is effective for GSM symptoms first and then add vaginal hormone therapy (estradiol or DHEA).
Other libido treatments for women on the market are
DHEA-DHEA is a hormone involved in the process of converting cholesterol to estradiol (a type of estrogen). It is newer hormone to be prescribed by physicians taken as a one dose suppository. DHEA increases blood estrogen concentration leading to improvement in sexual arousal and return of libido. Vaginal estrogen and DHEA both increase blood flow, reverse tissue frailty, restore lubrication, repopulate vaginal microbiome with beneficial bacteria, treat vaginal dryness, itching, pain with sex, and may improve odour issues.
Bupropian (Wellbutrin) increases blood flow to the vagina, vulva, clitoris. It can also help for women on anti-depressants that have reduced desire.
Testosterone: While no surprise, there is a paucity of longitudinal research on testosterone and no approved dose for women however, some physicians do prescribe testosterone off label or compounded. Guidelines support testosterone use for libido in women.
Fibanserin/Addyi-acts similar to antidepressants only approved for use by women before menopause. It appears to have a small effect on desire in studies.
Bremelanotide/Vylessi-mechanism of action not known. It is injected 45 minutes prior to anticipated sex. It has shown mild effectiveness however study methodologies may mask effectiveness (Not available in Canada).
Scream cream-topical preparation made by pharmacists the ingredients depends on who is preparing the aim is to improve blood flow. It is rubbed into the clitoris for 15 minutes, this may be more the cause of stimulation and arousal than the cream itself.
· Pelvic floor physiotherapy.
· Laser treatment
· Vibrator and sexual activity
· Liquid lidocaine compresses the vulvar vestibule before sex and can provide relief with 90% of patients in one study reporting comfort during intercourse (in Angelou et al., 2020).
-There are some products on market targeting arousal support such as Epiphany and orgasm with Vella.
Check out materials in this section for more information!
Lately, newer techy tools have joined lasers in this wild west of cutting-edge vaginal devices—most of which are said to increase circulation and activate collagen production in the vagina, which can build lubrication and elasticity. There’s radiofrequency treatments, like the EmFemme 360 (introduced in 2022) and ThermiVa (on the market since 2015), which heat the vaginal walls, kind of like a hot stone massage. There are at-home tools on the market too (no self-lasering, don’t worry), like the Joylux vFit, which is described as an “intimate health device” and is essentially a red-light wand that’s inserted into the vagina for 6- to 10-minute sessions every other day. Joylux is a home device so you can do in the comfort of your home versus a clinic.
Book an appointment with a pelvic health physiotherapist or nurse practitioner at PAUZ today!
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