What is vaginal dryness? [with sign language]

Dr Louise Newson discusses vaginal dryness caused by the menopause. #11 in a series of videos with sign language.

Video Transcript:

I am Dr. Louise Newson. I am a GP and Menopausal Expert in West Midlands.

‘Dry Vagina’ is what people commonly use, but then it’s quite scary. And I am not embarrassed by vaginas but people are…you don’t talk to your friends about how dry your vagina is.

The other thing is that most people think that once you are through with the menopause and come out through the other side, you don’t have symptoms – which is true for most symptoms of the menopause.

Unfortunately, dry vaginas carry on becoming drier as you grow older, regardless of what you do. So I see a lot of elderly people who aren’t sexually active but they get a lot of discomfort, irritation – they get a lot of itching, sitting down is more uncomfortable, they go to the toilet more often. They have no idea it is related to a loss of estrogen in the area and that can be really effectively treated just by using local estrogen.

So it is very different to HRT; it doesn’t have the same risks but it transforms their whole lives.