Why do some postmenopausal women experience vaginal dryness?
SL: Vaginal dryness is also hormonal, and you get it any time you have big shifts in hormones. Not everybody gets it postmenopausally, but a lot of women do. Depending on the degree [of the dryness], you can [use] everything from lubricants to Astroglide. If it’s really bad, then you can use local hormones, which work better than systemic hormones. The creams aren’t so good because they’re absorbed, but there are things like Estring, which is a ring that you put into your vagina—it’s sort of like a diaphragm. It releases a small amount of estrogen over three months. … It works great, and it’s safer than systemic hormones. Ask your doctor to prescribe it. Visit the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation at www.dslrf.org for comprehensive information about women’s health.
