How Hormone Levels Impact Vaginal Health

On April 2, 2021

How Hormone Levels Impact Vaginal Health

Is your vagina feeling different than it used to? Changing hormones levels could be to blame.

Hormones are chemicals made by your endocrine system. They act as messengers in your body and have an impact on many of your body’s functions, including reproduction, growth, and metabolism.

Female sex hormones — estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone — play a key role in many body processes, ranging from pregnancy to sexual arousal to the timing of your periods. Hormones also affect your vaginal health, especially during perimenopause and menopause.

Changing hormone levels can cause changes in your vagina. Some of these changes can lead to bothersome symptoms that affect your health and your sex life.

At Virtuosa GYN in San Antonio, Texas, Susan Crockett, MD, and our all-female team of highly trained care providers understand that hormonal fluctuations can affect your vaginal health and your quality of life.

Read on to learn more about this important topic and what you can do to ease the symptoms caused by these fluctuations.

Hormones and your vagina

When you’re younger, relatively stable hormone levels help keep your vagina moist and pliable. But as you go through perimenopause and menopause, a reduction in hormones may cause a condition known as vaginal atrophy.

Vaginal atrophy occurs when the tissue in your vagina becomes dry and thin. The tissue produces less collagen, a protein that provides elasticity and flexibility. Symptoms of vaginal atrophy may include:

Decreased vaginal lubrication
Frequent urinary tract infections
Pain or discomfort during intercourse
Urinary incontinence
Vaginal bleeding, especially after intercourse
Vaginal discharge
Vaginal dryness, itching, burning, inflammation, and irritation

Restoring hormone levels

Hormone replacement therapy can relieve vaginal atrophy and other menopausal symptoms, including hot flashes, night sweats, reduced libido, and mood changes, by restoring hormones and bringing hormones closer to pre-menopausal levels.

At Virtuosa GYN, we recommend bioidentical hormone replacement, which uses hormones that are essentially identical to the estrogen and progesterone your body produces.

Dr. Crockett chooses this type of hormone replacement therapy because she believes it is a more natural approach than synthetic hormone therapy. Bioidentical hormones are safe, effective, and easier for your body to metabolize than synthetic hormones.

To ensure that you’re getting the exact hormone treatment you need, we have your bioidentical hormones custom-compounded by experienced pharmacists. The hormone formulation you receive is tailored specifically for your needs based on carefully calibrated hormone testing.