To miss my more youthful vulva

[OptimismvsRealism]

I did not expect this bit of ageing at all (esp as I don't have kids so nothing controversial has ever really happened down there)

But I miss it feeling moister and bouncier and just generally more resilient and upbeat

And I miss not needing to pee every half hour

And then when you do pee it feels like there's more to come

Feel quite bummed out (was going to do a front bum pun but decided too shudder) to contemplate the next four decades with a buzzkill down there

Just bought some! Would really like it this put me back five years or so.

I’m not sure it can do that but it can definitely help in many ways. I wouldn’t be without it now. You can get it on prescription if that’s of any use to you - I get free prescriptions due to a medical exemption so that works well for me.

You do have to use it regularly and consistently to see a difference - don’t just use it for a couple of weeks and stop. It’s a long term treatment.

I mean good for you but it's definitely not about caring/ feelings on my part - unless you mean the feeling of my vag being rubbed raw and then a week of thrush as it seems unable to clear itself out like it used to. No investigation needed when you're sitting on a depressed and slightly itchy ham joint all day.

Thanks - I'll persevere. My GP is awful so I want to avoid speaking to them as long as possible.

On another thread a poster asked what would you do in your 40's. I'd honestly get drinking and shagging in. I never knew that once fully through the menopause, your labia get smaller. Men over 50 (as you will be) will be happy to use lube with you. I think early 40's can be difficult, it's easier once you are post menopause and you are all a bit older (and the men have to have a level of acceptance because they can't pull women in their late 20's/30's). Newsflash men don't age better than women and balls get old.

While eating a lot of sugar and processed refined carbs isn’t good for you. Only about 4% of skin aging is down to glycation so while you aren’t wrong to suggest the OP improve her diet the most benefit to her Vulva will come from systemic and local estrogen supplementation.

It does vary a lot by woman as to when these effects start and how bad. I see a LOT of vulvas and vaginas in my job and some ladies seem to hit the genetic lottery and manage to have youthful looking ones into their 50s. It's partly hormones and partly to do with how your body does collagen (same as our faces!) and pelvic floor strength and muscle tone. Also body fat levels.

Topical oestrogen and/or HRT definitely helps. But some of it is genetic.

Investigation is very much needed when you have clear medical symptoms. But this was not what you put in your original post, was it?
Also I can see below that you don't want to speak to your GP either so what is there to say. Yes, shame your vulva is not what it used to be 🙄

@Ponoka7 It is so true that men also age and often look much older than their female peers unlike the old misogynistic trope that women age like milk and men age like wine.

Idk my ex is 55 and still has about four women on the go on any given day. Actually probably five. I bet one day they'll name a newly discovered std after him.

Estriol 1mg cream. Used to be called Ovestin. Game-changer x

I'm in my 40s and got it lasered. They do the outside and inside. Its made a huge difference as it encourages new collagen growth. I used to not be able to go running after drinking coffee, now I can.

@OptimismvsRealism the NICE guidelines is that if a woman enters peri before 45, she should be on HRT. Women having incontinence issues aren't seen as part of aging anymore. You should have a referal to the continence issues. It means an internal and a exercise program to suit you. So I wouldn't put off sering a GP, they won't deal with you, they'll just make referals.

Peeing every 30 minutes or so isn't normal. Please see your GP, this might be something that's so easily treated

I reached the conclusion recently that the NHS doesn't want to treat me, it wants to find the precise maximum level of suffering it can make me accept in order to minimise what it spends on me. So, no, I don't think my GP wants to help me so why bother with the humiliating ritual of trying to speak to them. Don't get me wrong it's annoying spending thousands on healthcare.

Topical oestrogen really does restore 'pizazz' as you put it.

But:
It's for the rest of your life
You need it both outside and inside
You most likely will need it more often than the twice a week it says on the instructions
You will still likely need to use lube

But you absolutely do not have to put up with it.

I've never heard of this!! Has it improved your general lubrication?? Ha sorry for this really personal q.

Estriol cream.
My vulva had gone grey. Now it's pink and healthy again. And testosterone means it tingles again.

Oh and I never wee unnecessarily since using it.

I have been wondering about testosterone! Do you take it alone or with other systemic stuff?

Yes! Obv you have to pay privately for it but it has increased sensation, moisture and tightness. I had three sessions spaced 12 weeks apart then one every year as a top up.

Its basically fraxel laser which you can also have done on your face to encourage elasticity and new collagen.

Ps. I thought I had thrush constantly. The estriol cream sorted it all out.

I use it daily. All over vulva and shove some inside too.

Not that I even used to investigate with a mirror so no idea what my vulva looked like in my youth or pre children.
However I have explored the last few years since I began trimming down below. These days sadly it is not so much the trimming back the bush as the wilderness is thinning, but attempting to control the grey hairs!
My periods continued until I was 58 and since then I have noticed a decline in this area. Having periods so long was a pain but I think it kept things more plump for sure.

What kind of exercises helped? Help!

I am on systemic HRT but my GP really seems to hate proscribing it for me at every review I get told how I will have to come off it sooner or later and that I am only delaying all the unpleasant symptoms of menopause. I asked about topical HRT due to my painful vulva and was told I was already on enough hormones and any more would be harmful to me. Trying to increase my dose of HRT was also not easy and met with a lot of resistance from her.

I had to go private and buy my own topical estrogen for £55 a tube to deal with the pain I had and within a couple of weeks things were so much better. I am trying to get up the courage to ask my GP again for topical estrogen for my Vulva but it shouldn’t be this hard to get the treatment you need.

I haven’t told my GP yet but I have no intention of stopping HRT at any point in the future unless absolutely necessary.