Woman in Her 40s Endures Painful Sex After 5 Minutes, Prompting Advice to Seek Medical Care
Updated
Updated · Slate · May 24
Woman in Her 40s Endures Painful Sex After 5 Minutes, Prompting Advice to Seek Medical Care
3 articles · Updated · Slate · May 24
Summary
A husband told Slate’s advice column his wife can tolerate intercourse for only about five minutes before pain and dryness force them to stop, and that she refuses to see a doctor.
The column said the change in her 40s could point to perimenopause or vaginal atrophy, conditions linked to falling estrogen that can cause thinning, dryness and painful sex.
Short-term relief may come from switching from water-based lubricants to silicone products or trying moisturizing suppositories, though the advice stressed those are stopgaps rather than a diagnosis.
The response urged a gynecologist visit because infections or inflammation—including yeast infections, vaginitis, ureaplasma and mycoplasma—could also be involved, and said pain during sex should not be endured.