One of my best friends (let’s call her Sophia because she’d kill me if I used her real name) really suffers with menopause but she’s too embarrassed to let even her doctor know.

She wakes up at night and can’t get back to sleep but it’s not the night sweats that bother her.

Bike riding and even just walking can be torture.

Intimacy is dicey but it’s not because of mood swings.

Sophia, like many midlife women, has a bad case of vaginal dryness. It’s the very common result of the changes we go through in menopause but no one really talks about it. Unlike hot flashes and roller coaster mood swings, it’s hard to laugh this symptom off.

Many of us keep silent because it’s all caught up in “sexual problems” that many women can’t bring themselves to discuss even with their gynecologists. It’s true that vaginal dryness can interfere with intimacy and disrupt relationships, but it’s worse than that.

For my friend Sophia, even when she’s not in a romantic relationship, vaginal dryness is a real, every day, constant itching, burning and even pinching that wakes her up out of a sound sleep at night.

Why do we get vaginal dryness?

Vaginal dryness can often be attributed to fluctuating hormone levels associated with peri-menopause and menopause. Prior to menopause, estrogen stimulates moisture and keeps the vaginal lining thick. But when estrogen drops, the vaginal walls can thin and dry out.

This condition can be exacerbated by:

• adrenal fatigue;
• too much caffeine, alcohol and sugar;
• use of steroids or cortisone;
• some prescription medications for cancer, ulcers and high blood pressure; and
• antihistamines and antidepressants.

Is lubricating jelly the answer?

Some women, coping on their own, try lubricating jellies to relieve their symptoms. It’s true that lubricating jellies relieve vaginal dryness for a short time but they do not thicken the vaginal tissues and prevent them from cracking. And sometimes such lubrication can block pores or cause allergies.

How is vaginal dryness treated?

Whatever the cause, a doctor will usually treat vaginal dryness with topical estrogens applied to the vagina. Estrogen applied to the delicate vaginal tissue, however, quickly makes its way into the blood stream. For many women concerned with breast and ovarian cancer, this option is worrisome.

Is there a natural treatment for vaginal dryness?

The good news for my friend Sophia is that there are effective and natural solutions for her painful itching and burning. In a clinical study conducted at the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine, Dr. Earl Surwit found that applying an extract of pomegranate to vaginal tissue successfully restored lubrication.

The natural pomegranate extract was as effective as estrogen cream with the additional benefit of not raising estrogen levels. This remarkable pomegranate extract is the main ingredient in MoisturePom Vaginal Ointment. You can learn more about this product at www.MoisturePom.com.

Almost half of menopausal women will experience vaginal dryness at some point. Why suffer in silence when something as simple as pomegranate can return your vagina to its natural juicy state?

Author Bio:

Margie King is a holistic health coach and graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition®. A Wharton M.B.A. and practicing corporate attorney for 20 years, Margie left the world of business to pursue her passion for all things nutritious. She now works with midlife women and busy professionals to improve their health, energy and happiness through individual and group coaching, as well as webinars, workshops and cooking classes. To contact Margie, visit www.NourishingMenopause.com.