Slip
Sliding
Away
Turning back the clock on your vagina
By Lauren Streicher, MD
This book is not intended
to replace medical advice and should be used to supplement, not replace, care by your personal health care clinician. The publisher and author disclaim liability for any medical outcomes that may occur as a result of applying methods suggested or discussed in this book.
SLIP SLIDING AWAY:
Turning Back the Clock On Your Vagina Copyright 2021
by Lauren Streicher, MD. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the
case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
For information or permission, contact WUDT Press, info @ BigThings.com.
Book cover, Francey and format designed by Joe Darrow
ISBN: 9798732750980
About Lauren Streicher, MD, FACOG, NCMP
DR. LAUREN STREICHER is a bestselling author, a Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern Universitys Medical School, the Feinberg School of Medicine, a Certified Menopause Practitioner of The North American Menopause Society, and the medical director of the Northwestern Medicine Center for Menopause and the Northwestern Medicine Center for Sexual Medicine.
In addition to her consumer books and articles, she has authored multiple scientific publications. Dr. Streicher is routinely interviewed as a reliable, accurate source for national publications such as The New York Times, Newsweek, the Associated Press and dozens of magazines. She writes a monthly column for Prevention Magazine. She was the 2019 recipient of the North American Menopause Society Media Award.
Dr. Streicher is the Medical Correspondent for Chicagos top rated news program, the WGN Morning News, and has multiple appearances on The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, NPR, Dr. Radio, Nightline, The Dr. Oz Show, Fox and Friends, The Steve Harvey Show, CBS this Morning, ABC News Now, NBC Nightly news, 20/20, and World News Tonight.
She lives in Chicago with her writer-producer husband, Jason Brett, and their dog KJ. They have four grown daughters.
Other books by Dr. Streicher: The Essential Guide to Hysterectomy 1st edition M. Evans & Company 2nd edition M. Evans & Company
Sex Rx: Hormones Health and Your Best Sex Ever Harper Collins (Originally released as Love Sex Again )
Contents
Introduction:
Dr. Streichers Inside Information Series
Chapter 1
Whose Vagina Is This and Why Is It on My Body? Women are frequently blindsided by not only the physical changes that occur with the onset of menopause but also the dryness, pain, itching, recurrent urinary tract infections, and constant gotta go feeling.
Chapter 2
Whats Up Down There?
Men have always had the clear advantage of being able to inspect their genitals with very little effort on their part. Womens genitals are not quite as accessible, resulting in a lot more uncertainty about whats normal and whats not.
Chapter 3
A Walk Down the Feminine Hygiene Aisle When things seem to be awry, its tempting to dash to the store and get a basketful of products that promise to keep your vagina smelling like an English garden. But before you make that expensive run, know which products might actually help and which ones may make matters worse.
The Lowdown on Lubes
Most drugstores have a dizzying selection of personal lubricants that promise everything from making things more slippery to increasing libido. But the most popular lubricants actually make vaginal tissue dryer! Learn what helps and what harms.
Chapter 5
Moisturizers Are Not Just for Your Face The battle to keep skin from succumbing to the ravages of time is a never-ending, exhausting processa battle fought through the regular slathering of moisturizer on your face, neck, legs, and, yes, vagina.
Chapter 6
Rings, Creams and Other Things
When it comes to vaginal estrogen products, you have a lot of choices. All are safe, all are effective, and all require a prescription.
Chapter 7
DHEA-Hey! Hey!
DHEA is the FDA-approved hormone building block that works inside vaginal cells so your own body can produce estrogen and testosterone to treat vaginal dryness and painful sex.
Chapter 8
A Pill a Day to Keep Dryness Away For those who would rather put a pill in their mouth than in their vagina, ospemifene is a non-estrogen option to alleviate vaginal dryness and painful intercourse..
CONTENTS
Chapter 9
Why Mona Lisa Is Smiling
Not only can you laser your face smooth, laser your pubic hair away, and laser off regrettable tattoosnow you can also laser your vagina.
Chapter 10
Other Barriers to Entry
Youve done it all: bought the lubricants, moisturizers, and every prescription product on the market and even shelled out for a laser treatment. And there is still no way, no how that penis is going in there. Meet your pelvic floor.
Chapter 11
Calling Dr. Google?
Scroll the web and youre likely to be bombarded with a plethora of advice and products that promise to remove wrinkles, tighten your vagina, cure incontinence, and ensure orgasmic ecstasy. Know how to navigate!
Chapter 12
finding your vagiNA TEAM How to know if the person to whom you are about to bare your souland your vaginais an expert in your particular problem.
Chapter 13
Wrapping Up
Its overwhelming! Where to begin? And is there any truth to the saying Use it or lose it?
resources and terminology Books, websites and further information.
Acknowledgments
The saga of Franceys
journey through menopause continues!
DR. STREICHERS INSIDE INFORMATION: Hot Flash Hell (July 2021)
DR. STREICHERS INSIDE INFORMATION: Dating After 40
Making It Awesome Instead of Awful (October 2021)
DR. STREICHERS INSIDE INFORMATION: Cancer and Sex (January 2022)
DR. STREICHERS INSIDE INFORMATION: Finding Your Menopause Mojo (April 2022)
DR. STREICHERS INSIDE INFORMATION: IncontinenceSay No! to Diapers (August 2022)
DR. STREICHERS INSIDE INFORMATION: Post-40 Skin, Hair, and Nails (November 2022)
To Jason- the love of my life
In loving memory of my parents, Lyle Bass Streicher and Dr. Daniel Streicher
Introduction
Dr. Streichers Inside Information Series
IF EVERY MAN woke up on his 50th birthday and started having all-day, all-night hot flashes, couldnt think, and couldnt function, if his bones started to deteriorate at an alarming rate, if his risk for heart disease dramatically increased, if his penis shrunk to the size of a breakfast sausage, and if he were incapable of any sexual activity, he would not be told, This is a normal part of aging. He would be given solutions. Lots of them.
Yet the eighty percent of menopausal women who experience symptoms that impede their ability to think, sleep, work, and function sexually are expected to put up with hot flashes, vaginal dryness, weight gain, and insomnia. For most women, this occurs when they are at the prime of their professional and personal lives, but these changes can happen even earlier if someone enters menopause as a result of chemotherapy, radiation, medication, or surgery.