Vulvovaginal atrophy causes negative effects to the vagina due to hormone imbalances caused by one or more of several conditions. Almost 50% of women will experience vaginal dryness following menopause, which affects nearly 45 million women. However, the medication Estring may be able to help provide vaginal atrophy treatment for some women.
What is Vulvovaginal Atrophy?
Vulvovaginal atrophy, also called atrophic vaginitis, is the atrophy, or degeneration, and inflammation of the vagina. It occurs because of a lack of estrogen production that stems from circumstances such as breastfeeding, hormone-reducing medication, or, most commonly, menopause.
Symptoms are usually present in the genital area. Before treating a possible case of vaginal atrophy, doctors look out for common symptoms such as itching, burning, dryness, painful sexual intercourse with bleeding, white discharge, or a foul-smelling discharge from infection. This condition can also be one of few causes of postmenopausal bleeding.
Its effects cause significant discomfort for women, especially those who wish to continue sexual intercourse during or after treatment with hormone-reducing medicines or post-menopause. Atrophy may also affect the urinary tract, which can cause painful urination, bloody urine, infrequent urination, incontinence, and urinary tract infections. These discomforts make finding an effective treatment for vaginal atrophy a priority for patients suffering from this condition.
What is Estring?
Estring is a medication engineered to provide estrogen to women who suffer from a lack of female hormones. Its active ingredient is estradiol, which acts as an agonist of the estrogen receptor in humans.
The lowered production of estrogen is a natural consequence of aging, wherein the development and maintenance of reproductive tissue in female hormones slows. The result is a slowed or stifled reproductive system, including the systems that allow for comfortable sexual intercourse.
Estring replaces the processes that activate hormone production in healthy females.
How Can Estring Aid Vaginal Atrophy Treatment?
Estring provides treatment for atrophic vaginitis by reactivating the parts of the brain that govern the production of estrogen. It signals the body to increase production of estrogen to continue to develop and maintain the parts of the body that are necessary for a healthy reproductive system.
Normal estrogen levels allow the body to produce and deliver the mucous necessary to prevent vaginal dryness on a level that prevents sexual intercourse. Keeping estrogen high also improves sex drive in women and helps protect against unnecessary infections. It helps prevent unwanted injury in the genital area, which can lead to injury and disease of a severe degree.
If you are post-menopausal or are currently experiencing vaginal dryness resulting from decreased estrogen production after childbirth, a medicinal treatment that lowers your hormone levels, or menopause, ask your doctor if estradiol could be a safe treatment for the effects of vaginal atrophy.
