Vaginal Dryness: What Causes It

The most common cause of vulvavaginal dryness is low estrogen. It isn't just menopause. Women can have low Estrogen at various stages of their life. They can be breast feeding, they could have just had a baby where all the hormones have gone way down after being pregnant, they can be on anti-breast cancer medications that are anti-estrogens. They can be on Chemotherapy. They could have been exposed to pelvic radiation for pelvic cancers. Certain medications can cause dryness -- even nonspecific antihistamines. There are some birth control pills that are only Progesterone pills or Progesterone birth control and they don't have estrogen and I've noticed over time, that women are on these a long time, they know that they have decreased lubrication and suffer with some vaginal dryness. There are even lifestyle factors that come into play that can aggravate dryness: Smoking, excess alcohol, lack of sexual activity and even obesity can impact your vulvavaginal area.

I encourage women to speak to their doctors. This is not a condition that women should suffer in silence. There are terrific remedies out there to improve your overall quality of life.