Janis was a 60 year old sexually active, married woman who came to my clinic about 8 weeks after her hysterectomy (surgical removal of uterus). She read on the internet that all women will have problems with sex after a hysterectomy and this made her very upset and nervous. That is simply not the case, as many women’s sex lives are not impacted by a hysterectomy and other women’s sex lives may actually improve.
Since her hysterectomy, Janis was experiencing vaginal dryness and painful sex. She said that she felt a band within her vagina and when her husband penetrated her there was pain about half way in. She said she felt as though she had two compartments in her vagina. Upon examination, I could see an area of Janis’ vagina that was tight three quarters of the way into her vagina, at the tip of the speculum I used to examine her.
Vaginal health is extremely important in post-menopausal women. Vaginal dryness is one of the most common symptoms that post-menopausal women experience and it likely was coincidental that Janis was experiencing this after her hysterectomy. If the condition is left untreated it may advance to urogenital atrophy of which a woman may experience the following symptoms:
- Vaginal dryness
- Burning
- Itching
- Thin watery discharge
- Post-coital bleeding
- Painful Sex
- Leakage of urine
- Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections
Since Janis was experiencing vaginal dryness and painful sex, I suggested that she try RepaGyn® a hormone free personal moisturizer. At that moment, Janis (with a big grin on her face) pulled a box of RepaGyn® from her handbag and said that she saw RepaGyn listed on my website www.backtothebedroom.ca and thought it might help so she bought it. I also suggested that Janis use vaginal dilators to help stretch the area inside of her vagina. Furthermore, I suggested that a water-based personal lubricant during sex could also be of benefit.
I imagined that sex between Janis and her husband may even be better than ever before when she had a uterine prolapse. Armed with appropriate information and some tools to help with her vaginal dryness and painful sex, Janis was encouraged looking forward to heading back to the bedroom with her loving husband.
