In a sense, the most “natural” replacement for lost estrogen is estrogen, which is a prescription product (like Premarin or Estrace vaginal cream, Estring, Vagifem, or the non-estrogen Osphena).
If, for a number of reasons, you prefer not to take that path, the next-best option is to maintain vaginal tissues by using a moisturizer regularly, two to three times a week. Moisturizers are designed to bring more moisture--no surprise--into the vagina to prevent the progressive dryness that occurs in menopause with the absence of estrogen.
You might also try
Stronvivo, which some research shows improves vaginal moisture. It does this by improving blood flow, and that circulation also supports tissue health.
Dr. Barb DePree, M.D., has been a gynecologist and women’s health provider for almost 30 years and a menopause care specialist for the past ten.
22 comments
Had a hysterectomy years ago, only ovaries left. No HRT at the time. Years later suffered menopause symptoms and put onto Premarin. Been on this for 7 years or more. I suffer from extremely dry and thin skin. If bumped bleeds and bruises easily. Also on Blood pressure tablets. Could premarin be reason for my dry and thin skin. I’m looking for an alterative as I’ve been told continual use of premarin can lead to breast cancer. Regards Janet UK.
Gita, There is no risk in continuing on premarin and if there are symptoms that it is helping then continuing is likely a good idea. The risk is if a woman has known heart disease and then later starts estrogen that there is risk, but for women who started early in menopause and have continued there isn’t added heart disease risk. This is what we call the ‘timing hypothesis’, there is a window of time that it is safest to initiate estrogen therapy, and that window is early in menopause. The oral estrogen (vs transdermal), like premarin has a small increased risk of blood clot formation, so that is a risk that should be assessed for each individual. And, no there isn’t a natural source of estrogen, estrogen is prescription only.
I m 67 yrs old. Got hysterectomy done 30 yrs ago. Overies were removed too. Since then, taking one pill Premarin.625
Since I am now a heart patient and CRT-D was implanted due to heart failure 4 yrs ago, please suggest if I should still take Premarin .625 ?
I have heard its bad for heart condition🤔
Barbara, we carry a number of vaginal moisturizers on our site https://middlesexmd.com/collections/vaginal-moisturizers You can also speak to your provider about prescription options mentioned in this post.
Where can I purchase vaginal moisturizer, and what are the names?