The problem of vaginal dryness can arise at different times in the life of a woman, from adolescence to menopause, at first maybe transitorily but later chronically.
Dr. Magda Belmontesi, dermatologist, tells us about it:
“Vaginal dryness is the scarce or even absent natural secretion important for the well-being of the delicate vulvar ecosystem. In these cases local dryness occurs together with troublesome and at times painful symptoms of itch and irritation. The problem can arise since the young age of 20-25 with a percentage of cases of 30%, progressively increasing to 40% between 40 and 45, that reaches approximately 60% between 50 and 60.
The incidence of this problem is plainly very high and, if most cases are more frequent as a result of the progressive coming of pre-menopause and proclaimed menopause, the second arising cause of vaginal dryness are high levels of stress, that have an incidence equal to 28%, even superior to such a cause like hysterectomy.”
MANY DIFFERENT CAUSES
Nevertheless, there are further causes determining vaginal dryness: arising factors can be also local medications (13%), oral contraceptive therapy (10%), postpartum (8%), breast feeding (4%), vaginal lavages (2%). These data point out how the problem is very widespread among women and how it affects not only women in menopause, but also young, fertile women still having an active sex life.
Therefore – Dr. Belmontesi continues – the opinion that vaginal dryness is a typical problem of elder women, thus not very important, must be disproved. On the contrary, it is very widespread among young and active women as well, who nevertheless are too often ashamed to talk about it, as if it was a fault to hide, or something that makes they feel “old”. For this reason they just don’t talk about it with their doctor and simply prefer to appeal to self-care measures or to their friends’ advice.”
If the modifications induced by menopause (like thinning, dryness of the vaginal mucosa and decreased libido due to a lack of adequate estrogen) are well-known to the woman, less known are the causes of vaginal dryness due to the use of tampons, to the assumption of contraceptive pill, to diabetes, to periods of time like postpartum and breast feeding and, not less important, to conditions like stress that, by reducing the natural vaginal lubrication, makes sexual intercourse painful too. Normal cleansers, also known as “neutral” soaps, thus considered more delicate, are actually very aggressive for the vaginal mucosa because of the strong degreasing power of the soda contained.
A REMEDY THAT STARTS FROM THE BOTTOM
To improve the problem it is important to choose the proper intimate detergent that, besides softly cleansing, moisturising and lubricating the vaginal mucosa, doesn’t heal but remarkably attenuates the symptoms. Another quite unknown aspect is the importance of the components of detergents, that should contain neither lanolin and its derivates and sodium lauril sulphate, nor oil hydrocarbons derived from petrol. In this way the cleansing action results to be really soft and soothing, requirements indicated even for skins attacked by radiotherapy (therapy made on patients affected by cancer), then very sensitive and inflamed, not tolerating common detergents. So, what are the active principles of an intimate detergent ideal to contrast vaginal dryness? Sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, aloe vera, malva (common mallow), chamomile and hyaluronic acid are the most appropriate substances for this indication.
“In fact, – Dr. Belmontesi continues – cleansing oils deterge through “lipidic affinity” as they remove impurities without modifying the protective barrier of the skin and mucosa; aloe vera has a significant decongestant and cicatrizant effect, malva and chamomile have soothing effect and hyaluronic acid, thanks to its hygroscopicity (that is binding water like a sponge), carries out an important action of surface hydration. This must be combined with the use of a lubricant moisturizer to be applied on the mucosa after the cleansing. Indicated also to lubricate the vaginal mucosa during sexual intercourse, the moisturizer must have properties similar to those of the detergent; furthermore, it must be water soluble, not greasy, not perfumed, not sticky, practically as similar as possible to the normal vaginal secretion. The active principles contained in the moisturizer must be hyaluronic acid (lubricating and moisturizing), elastin (elasticizing), vitamin A with protective action on the epithelium, calendula with soothing and anti-irritating action. It is also important that the moisturizer does not contain lanolin and oil hydrocarbons derived from petrol (that may cause the alteration of condom latex) and that it is free from spermicide action. These properties, difficult to be find all together in a single product, are contained in creams and detergents of the Lubrigyn Line (Uniderm Farmaceutici), available in drugstores without prescription.
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