How to Get Rid of Menopause Dryness Naturally
Menopause is a tumultuous period is a woman's life. Hormonal changes bring about a lot of body and behavioral changes. One of the most common sexual problem that women face due to a drop in the production of estrogen is vaginal or Menopause Dryness.
Low estrogen levels make walls of the vagina thin and dry. this dryness is also accompanied with a burning sensation in the vagina. It not only makes penetrative sex extremely painful but can also lead to bleeding during intercourse. No wonder, women who go through vaginal dryness, lose their appetite for having sex.
This can be detrimental for your relationship, specially if you have a demanding spouse.
How to Get Rid of Menopause Dryness Naturally
1. DRINK MORE WATER
First and foremost, make sure your body is well hydrated. Avoid drinks that have caffeine in them. However, you can supplement water with fruit juice.
2. QUIT SMOKING
Women who smoke, often experience extreme form of vaginal dryness. Hence, it is great idea to give up those cigarettes.
3. GET ENOUGH OF ESSENTIAL FATS IN YOUR DIET
Not all fat is bad. Your body needs essential fats for the production of hormones like estrogen and progesterone. If your diet is deficient in such fats, you are likely to have low levels of estrogen in your body which can lead to vaginal dryness.
Best sources of essential fats like Omega 3 include olives, olive oil, flaxseed oil, nuts and beans, fish like salmons etc.,
4. EAT SOY
Soy and soy products can also help increase the production of estrogen. Therefore, it is important to include such foods in your diet.
5. NATURAL OR HERBAL SUPPLEMENTS
Such supplements have been a blessing for menopausal women. They are a blend of herbs and other natural ingredients that not only increase the production of sex hormones but also increase blood flow to the genitals.
They encourage natural lubrication and help you get over vaginal or menopause dryness. In addition to this, they also help relieve menopause symptoms. Increased blood flow to the clitoris ensures greater clitoral sensitivity so as to speed up arousal and increase response to sexual stimulation.
Some of the ingredients used in such supplements include ginkgo biloba, epimedium sagitattum, niacin, hops extract, black cohosh, damiana, red raspberry etc.,
Such supplements are absolutely safe and free of side effects.
Besides supplements, there are some lubricants that can also be a big help. They are made with finest aloe, shea butter, cocoa butter, l-arginine etc., and work immediately on application. Not only do they provide a slippery and velvety touch but also ensure increased blood flow to the clitoris.
Women are buying such supplements and gels in huge numbers to enjoy physical side of love.
So, if You Want to Get Rid of Menopause Dryness and Boost Your Libido, check out the Best Female Libido Enhancers including supplements and gels that have been featured in FOX NEWS and the Hit TV Show THE DOCTORS.
A Guide to Menopause Treatment
Menopause is a very tough transition time in any woman's life, and during this natural process, ovaries stop making the eggs, the body produces less progesterone and estrogen, and monthly cycles becomes less frequent, ultimately coming to an end. If a woman does not get periods for 12 months in a row, and there is no other medical cause for it such as illness or pregnancy, she has reached menopause.
Menopause usually happens after the age of 45, and it is beneficial to get enough information about it by talking to your doctor regarding symptoms that might be of concern so that you can get the right treatment at the right time. Termination of periods is the only common symptom of menopause, and for each woman, the experience of going through this phase is different.
Some of the most commonly experienced menopausal symptoms include change in the period pattern, vaginal dryness, hair loss, hot flashes, trouble sleeping through the night, trouble focusing, crying spells, flushed complexion, fuzzy thinking, weight gain, diaphoresis, breast tenderness, irritability, and forgetfulness. Certain menopausal symptoms can be treated by using herbal or other plant-based products such as soy in the form of powder or pill, or other sources of phytoestrogens such as black cohosh, dong quai, valelrian root and wild yam.
If used properly, menopausal hormone therapy can be quite useful in relieving the moderate to severe symptoms of menopause and also prevent the bone loss. MHT helps menopausal women by reducing hot flashes and night sweats, treats vaginal symptoms such as dryness and discomfort, increases the level of hormones progesterone and estrogen, eases mood swings and also slows down bone loss, but it may also increase the risk of certain medical conditions such as stroke, breast cancer and heart disease.
Menopause is not a disease and does not require any definitive treatment or cure. Using vitamin E, SSRI drugs, megestrol acetate, and neurontin for hot flashes, vaginal moisturizers, low dose vaginal estrogen ring, water-soluble lubricants and estrogen by mouth for dry vagina and painful intercourse, counseling, estrogen and SSRI drugs for depression and mood swings, and raloxifene, bisphosphonates, vitamin D, calcitonin, estrogen, and tamoxifen for bone loss during menopause have been quite helpful to alleviate the symptoms.
So far, estrogen has been the most effective treatment for hot flashes, but, the risks and benefits associated with this therapy need to be carefully considered. Meditation, massage, relaxation therapy, and acupuncture are few effective alternative therapies that can relieve symptoms of menopause, and for women who cannot take hormonal therapy due to its side-effect, these therapies are life-savers.
Early Menopause Symptoms – Facts on Menopause
Loss of interest for the sexual intercourse is one of the early menopause symptoms which are normally experienced by a lot of women. Hormones are what it drive any sexual desires in women and if at all it does not respond accordingly, then one will lose the interest of making love and this is exactly what normally happens in many women during the menopause period. Moreover, the vaginal dryness also plays a great role in making one to loose the sexual desire as it makes the intercourse to be painful.
Early menopause symptoms are also characterized by less vaginal lubrication which results to the loss of sexual desire. Once the estrogen levels drops in any woman, it will eventually lead thinning and drying of the vaginal walls which actually results in less lubrication and causing too much pain when one engages in any sexual activity. For this reason therefore, you will find so many women losing the sexual interest completely.
Changes that are experienced in the menstrual cycle are also one of the early menopause symptoms that many women undergo. Menopause will always cause the hormonal imbalance which will eventually lead to women getting their monthly cycles very early or to delay for a long period of time. Hormones is what it allows the production of the egg for any ovulation and once the hormones are tampered with, then it results to early or delayed menstrual cycles.
Hot flashes are also other very common early menopause symptoms which are normally encountered by women in this stage of life. Lack of estrogen during menopause period will always result to the cause of hot flashes. All this is normally brought about by the hormonal imbalance in the body which boosts the metabolism rate in the body. Hot flashes are also as a result of wrong signal derived from the adrenal gland which pushes extra energy.
Early menopause symptoms are clearly seen when one encounters some strange hair growth and more especially in the unwanted areas. Testosterone is what it determines the growth of hair in our bodies and once it is actually tampered with it will result to unwanted hair growth and even sometimes lead to hair loss. Once the estrogen drops, then it would result to the testosterone imbalance which will eventually result to the unwanted hair growth or the hair loss.
Estrogen and Breast Cancer – The Evolving Mystery
As many women begin the transition through menopause a lot of consideration goes into the idea of taking Hormone Replacements - whether it is just Estrogen (Estrogen Therapy or ET) or a combination of Estrogen and Progesterone (Hormone Therapy or HT). For the purpose of this article Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) will refer to both HT and ET.
Replacing your hormones with either natural or synthetic (laboratory made) forms of hormones may offer some benefit by helping to reduce many of the symptoms of early menopause - such as, hot flashes, insomnia, moodiness, and vaginal dryness. As well as more serious problems that may result from menopause like weakened bones, and osteoporosis.
But as with EVERY pharmaceutical product made to help relieve pain or discomfort there are risks, and hormone therapy is not without them. What's important is that your unique health history and risk factors are discussed with your doctor to best determine whether or not HT or ET is the best option for you.
Estrogens Impact on the Breast
What you have to recognize is that the scientific community is just beginning to realize the uniqueness of every woman's hormone profile. The effect of HRT on one of your female friends may be vastly different from the effect they have on you. This is why there is such a large amount of variation in what each woman experiences as they transition through menopause. This is also one of the greatest challenges that Doctor's and Scientist face in their effort to understand the affects HRT has on the female breast.
Probably the biggest concern women have about HRT is the increased risk of that dreaded disease - Breast Cancer! Breast cancer risk, like many diseases, increases with age for women, but it is not specifically affected by menopause. Unfortunately, recent studies have generated a lot of conflicting data between HRT and breast cancer risk.
But, before I go into the risk of developing breast cancers from HRT, it is important that you understand how Estrogen and Progesterone hormones affect your body, or more particularly, your breasts.
There are two primary thoughts on how cancer develops in the breast. One is that cancer tends to appear in fast growing tissue - Estrogen (and Progesterone) can cause breast tissue to grow at a faster rate - therefore this may be one way Estrogen is related to developing breast cancer. A second theory is that when estrogen is broken down in breast tissue the resultant compounds may bind to genetic material (DNA) and damage it. Damaged DNA is a common cause of cancers. For the moment - these are two primary theories on how HRT may increase the development of breast cancer.
Understand that the scientific community is hard at work trying to unravel the link between Estrogen and Breast Cancer -- or if there is even really a link -- but good science takes time. There are so many variables (like medical history and diet) in every study that it is impossible to blame ET or HT alone for breast cancer. Although the results of many clinical trials does show that HRT MAY increase the risk of developing breast cancer.
The Risk Factors
As a result of the various studies and clinical trials done, one thing is for sure, many more studies will need to be done before we unravel the mystery of HRT and breast cancer. In the mean time be aware of the fact that:
Breast cancer risk is increased with the use of ET, and to a greater extent with HT, use beyond 5 years. And observational data suggest a slight potential increase for breast cancer with HRT use for less than five years.
By how much the risk is increased is not exactly clear at this point and will likely vary depending on each woman's unique genetic makeup, diet and exposure to various environmental factors. Obviously, the risk factor of taking HRT has a much greater impact if you are already at risk of developing breast cancer. If you fit into any of the categories below - then most physicians would probably agree that you should avoid HRT.
If you are a breast cancer survivor: The concern is that HRT may stimulate the growth of small or hidden tumors, it is nearly impossible to determine how many women harbor these hidden cells known as micrometastases. If you have a family history of breast cancer: It is not clear whether women with a family history are at increased risk of developing breast cancer when taking HRT and therefore the medical community is cautious about recommending it. If you have a history of: Uterine cancer, Liver disease, Blood clots, Undiagnosed vaginal bleeding or Heart disease.
One major consideration when contemplating HRT should be whether or not you are at a higher than average risk of developing breast cancer. Some other minor factors that may increase your cancer risk are weight gain and women who experience menopause later in life than average.
HRT - A Personal Decision
HRT is really a personal choice - there is no right or wrong answer. While some women may not want to accept the risks associated with HRT others may want to. Each woman must decide for herself, with input from her doctor, the best course of action. Both patient and doctor should be comfortable with the decision to take HRT or to pursue other treatments.
If you do decide to try HRT make sure you work closely with your doctor - prescribing the right dosage may sometimes turn into a bit of a guessing game. Keep your doctor informed as to how you are feeling and whether or not you think it is helping. The best thing you can do is actually keep a journal and track the symptoms that you're hoping HRT will help with. The lower the dosages and the shorter the duration is best if you are worried about increased breast cancer risk. But again your personal situation should be discussed in detail with your doctor, if you have another medical condition where the benefits HRT provide outweigh the increased breast cancer risk, then HRT should be considered.
If HRT is not for you - you are not without help. Thanks to all the ongoing research, new therapies and alternatives are being investigated every day and have proven successful for many women. But a word of warning - since this is a very new field, don't necessarily believe every thing you hear and read. There are a lot of companies trying to take advantage of this relatively new market. And since a lot of the herbal remedies are not regulated by the FDA some companies will package almost anything with no regard for scientific data to back up their claims. Look for resources that are impartial and companies that provide actual data to support what they are claiming.
Lastly, I personally am an advocate of a healthy diet and active lifestyle to beat menopausal symptoms and weight gain -- you should know that every clinical study I have read has shown that these two factors are proven to ease the menopause transition by regulating hormones naturally. And with no increased risk of breast cancer -- actually eating the right foods will help prevent breast cancer as well as many other types of cancer and disease. So regardless of your HRT decision -- the first step you should take when it comes to helping yourself is to eat a proper macronutrient profile and get that body of yours moving!
Menopause Options – There Are Many
Every woman will go through the life changing menopause. Each woman is unique, which means each menopause that is experienced differs. Some woman travel through this stage of her life without any problems while others suffer from a very difficult time, which can affect their life and the lives of those closest to them.
Thankfully today there is lot of help out there for those women of a certain age, and any woman experiencing problems should reach out for help and explore the different options on offer.
Some women use herbs to help combat the unpleasant symptoms, other choose to use Hormone Replacement treatment (HRT). The Herbal route can offer fewer side effects than medical drugs, which make them popular.
The menopause can take years to complete and is heralding a new stage of the woman's life. Once it is known that menopause has started it is important to take control. A nutritious diet is important as too is exercise.
It is quite possible to combine both conventional hormone replacement treatment and alternative therapies. The important thing is to become educated and to make choices that suit you.
During the menopause the ovaries stop making estrogen and progesterone. As part of the menstrual cycle the ovaries also make androgens and testosterone. So with the hormone levels changing many ladies need help in replacing them. This is where Hormone Replacement Treatment comes in. HRT can relieve the unpleasant symptoms sometimes suffered, for example hotflashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness and loss of libido and can give protection against osteoporosis, heart disease and stroke but on the down side HRT does present some risks which should be discussed with your physician.
HRT can be very useful for those women who have a surgical pause where the ovaries and usually her uterus and fallopian tubes are removed. When this is done there is a much more sudden drop in sex hormone levels than when the menopause takes its natural course. This sudden drop can cause many health problems especially in younger women.
Some women choose to use herbal treatments to help them through the difficult times. If this route is chosen than a physician should still be consulted as some herbal products can have side effects and may react with other prescribed medication.
It is also believed that Soy and soy products can help with the symptoms of menopause but there is some controversy over this.
During the menopause stage of life it has been found that regular exercise offers huge benefits in aiding with the discomfort of symptoms. I am not talking about a punishing routine but gentle exercising that aids with mobility and relaxation. Just by choosing to use the stairs and not the elevator is a start. Practicing yoga stretches is also a good way of exercising.
One of the hardest things for women and their families during this time is the emotional problem that can come along. Leading a woman to act or react in ways alien to their normal behavior patterns. Anger and depression are emotions commonly seen amongst menopausal women. It is so important to nurture yourself during this time. Spend time doing relaxing things. Make this a way of life. Treat yourself to massages, manicures, aromatherapy treatments, anything to help you feel good.
Living with Menopause
Some women will say that menopause is a natural experience and quite enjoyable. Most women will not agree. The symptoms of menopause can be confusing and difficult for both women and everyone around them. Diet and exercise can help women ease them into the next stage of their life and it really does make a difference.
Many women go through menopause without even knowing or understanding what is going on with their bodies. The number of eggs in women's ovaries decreases and estrogen and progesterone levels waver and then decline. Periods will be irregular for a while (different with all women) and then stop altogether. Because of the drastic hormone changes, women's bodies go through various side effects.
Menopause side effects aren't your everyday headaches and cramps, but instead women could suffer some serious health effects. Weight is usually redistributed and will go straight to the stomach. This is why an exercise program is encouraged. There is also an increased risk of heart disease and osteoporosis. Consuming extra calcium can help prevent osteoporosis. Cholesterol levels also rise in many women.
Symptoms of menopause that most women can expect to experience, whether mild or severe, include hot flashes, insomnia, anxiety, fatigue, mood swings, frequent urination, vaginal dryness, and even depression in some cases. There are conventional medications that can be taken to boost your estrogen levels and help minimize symptoms. One of the best ways to enjoy a healthy, happy menopause lifestyle is by eating a nutritious and healthy diet.
During menopause it is important that you keep in close contact with your doctor and schedule regular check up appointments. You will need regular physical examinations and regular Pap smears as a precaution. After menopause, be prepared to have a mammogram every year or two after the age of 40, and then annually after 50. Try and schedule a screening for colon cancer about every three to five years and a cholesterol check every three years as well. While most of these check-ups and screenings are only preventative and precautionary, it is still a good idea to have them done so as to ensure your health. Because women have a tendency to be plagued with osteoporosis and bone deterioration, some doctors will suggest an ultrasound of the pelvic area to measure bone density.
All women will have a list of questions to ask both before the menopause process starts, during the transition, and afterwards. It is important that women stay well informed about the changes going on in their bodies. One of the easiest ways to do this is stay in close contact with your doctor, and if you have embarrassing questions, ask him anyway, he's probably been asked the same thing before.
Hot Flash – Menopause is Manageable
Power, energy and freedom! These are meant to be the rewards of menopause. An informed woman can improve her physical health and appearance, as well as maximise her energy and enhance her quality of life, whatever her age. Every woman has a different reaction to the hormonal upheavals that take place in the body during menopause. However, weight-bearing exercise and a more active lifestyle, plenty of relaxation, sensible nutrition and supplementation and eating good natural foods make for a healthy framework that should last well beyond the years of menopause.
Some experts might claim that menopause has been "medicalised". Starting on Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) can sometimes be wonderful - hot flushes stop, sleep patterns and mood swings improve. However, we are still exploring the aspects of clinical safety and long term use. There is still confusion and disagreement over HRT, but there is no denying the benefits to women who are genuinely low in oestrogen after menopause. These benefits lie in the ability of this important female hormone to relieve vaginal dryness, mood swings and to stop hot flushes. Heightened stress levels tend to make hot flushes worse.
Each year the skin's biochemical processes slow down a little as a result of free-radical damage, internal and external pollution and ageing. Hydrating your skin by maintaining adequate hydration ensures the suppleness of the skin structure, and this must be supported by increased intake of the omega-3 fatty acids. Scaly skin is a common sign of omega-3 deficiency. Hair care is important and hair structure and follicle health is also supported by the fatty acids found in oily fish like tuna and salmon or in supplements. Our body demands more support for moisture as we age.
Life is about give and take, and the same applies to menopause. There are swings and roundabouts. What you lose on the youth and beauty stakes you gain with the wisdom of your years and your freedom.
In conjunction with other dietary measures, plus moderate exercise and regular periods of relaxation, these nutrients are important during this stage of your life:
For general symptoms, take magnesium, calcium and the B vitamins For hot flushes, take vitamin E, essential fatty acids and ginseng, along with the herbs vitex or black cohosh For anxiety attacks, take B vitamins & magnesium For depressive states, take B vitamins, vitamins C and E and magnesium For lack of libido, take magnesium, zinc, iron and B vitamins For heavy periods, concentrate on eating an iron-rich diet For skin problems, take zinc and B vitamins To prevent osteoporosis, take calcium, vitamin D, magnesium and essential fatty acids