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We are all getting older one day at a time
…and learning things about that every day too
Women are usually pretty knowledgeable about female anatomy and processes.
From puberty when we get our first period, through pregnancy and childbirth, we get to know quite a lot about our lady bits, and how they work.
But then comes menopause.
Oh boy.
Apart from hearing your mum and aunties moaning about hot flushes, and all the jokes that abound about the same in comedy sketches, the only other things I knew were that:
- Your periods gradually petered out, with a bit of ebb and flow; and
- There are hormones that can help, but there is controversy about their side effects.
What I didn’t know about, was the depressingly named condition, “vaginal atrophy”.
Could there be a name more likely to make you feel like an old crone?
So what is it and what do you do about it?
The Mayo Clinic gives this description on their website:
Vaginal atrophy (atrophic vaginitis) is thinning, drying and inflammation of the vaginal walls that may occur when your body has less estrogen. Vaginal atrophy occurs most often after menopause.
