HOW TO CHOOSE A PERSONAL LUBRICANT FOR BEST INTIMATE RESULTS

Lubricant choices can be overwhelming.   When choosing the best lubricant for your situation, I am here to tell you that consistency does matter. 

Depending on what your arousal needs are some lubricants can provide a better experience than others.  Below let’s explore a concise how-to on how to choose your next lubricant. 

This option is for moderate to mild to severe symptoms of vaginal dryness, silicone-based lubricants can provide a thick layer of coverage to allow for comfortable penetration and thrusting.

Women with significant untreated estrogen loss or vaginal penetration issues with decreased arousal would most likely benefit from this consistency of personal lubricant. 

Consider an option without many other artificial ingredients that may further irritate the vaginal tissue. 

This option can relieve mild to moderate vaginal dryness. These lubricants are often water and silicone-based. An adequate amount can provide a good amount of coverage.

Women who may achieve but not sustain lubrication will likely benefit from this option.  This may also provide enough coverage for the woman who can achieve lubrication as time passes with ongoing activity but needs assistance in the beginning. 

This is the best option for mild vaginal dryness. Oil by nature is not tacky & provides adequate coverage over mildly dry vaginal surfaces. Natural options to consider are almond, vitamin E, coconut, and olive oil. 

Women in the perimenopause phase or hormonal states with estrogen fluctuation may benefit from this option.  The oil would likely require reapplication with prolonged activity or work best if a woman still has at least intermittent moderate lubrication.  

The water-based personal lubricant options with a ropy consistency can provide adequate comfort in cases of mild to moderate cases of vaginal dryness. The ropy consistency allows for extensive coverage and lasting adequate application.

Most often women in a premenopausal state without estrogen decline will benefit most from this consistency.  Since the water base can be thin, this option works best on vaginal tissue that is not damaged from long-term dryness.  The woman who needs a bit more lubricant to “get started” or “keep going” in addition to what her body supplies will find this option most beneficial. 

If you do not have improved symptoms or are not a candidate for the over-the-counter options, personal lubricant choices should be discussed with a healthcare provider.

Lastly, since some vaginal dryness requires consideration of prescription estrogen, it is equally important to discuss any persistent vaginal dryness symptoms with a healthcare provider. Understand how estrogen impacts the vagina in this article here Layered Wellness (beehiiv.com).

Hot Topics In Women’s Health

Understanding the memorandum to advance women’s health research and address disparities:

What’s in a Presidential Memorandum? Explaining the One Establishing the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research < Yale School of Medicine

Soul-Full ‘Scripts

How Are You Showing Up As The Change You Seek?

Periodically taking inventory of your life is an amazing way to take accountability and make changes in circumstances or a life that is no longer aligned with how you desire to experience your life. 

With change, there can be procrastination, overwhelm on where to start, and even concern over what people outside of you may think.  When authentic change is due, your attraction to the newly desired version of you will guide you on the actions necessary to step into this version. 

How you show up daily will impress what you see and receive in the environment around you. If you are showing up with expectations of failure and assumptions that nothing working out for you to reach your goals, you will not only experience this result in the immediate future but until you change your position in your daily experiences.  While hyper-focused on how circumstances do not work out, you have the chance to miss what wins (albeit small) that may show up in the same scenario.  Even if not going exactly as you may have planned, experiences that do not provide you with the desired outcome can be credited for redirecting your path so that success is indeed imminent. 

As you show up for yourself daily, be mindful of how you are showing up. What are your assumptions, expectations, prepared energy states, and so much more?  Is the version of you in line with who you desire to be? Are you engaging with the world around you from the undesired state or the version who is ready to receive the life of her dreams?  

Take up space as the change in the world you'd like to see, specifically starting in your own life.  As you see the change happening around you and further master how to control your outcome the less you will accept living in a mindset that does not serve you abundance. 

Let’s Get Clinical: Ask Dr. Johnson a question

Here I answer real questions that I have been asked by patients, family members, and strangers (once they find out I am a doctor).

I try to answer these questions in relatable and educational ways as I believe if one person has this question so do many others :) 

Is there an age that I should get my hormones checked?

This is a very common question that many women ask healthcare providers or discuss with their peers. 

Unless I know the specific clinical history of the women in question, my answer is almost often the same: maybe…

Having a panel of general hormone monitoring by itself will not provide the clinician or the patient an answer if the results are normal but the patient still has symptoms.  I find it more useful to have a complete history taken first,  followed by a discussion on treatment goals for said complaint, and then consider what if all testing should be considered and in what sequence.  This allows for a plan of sequential order that rules in/out illnesses while planning for the next steps. 

Women in menopause and the postpartum period are examples of states that are known to create a decrease in hormones and hormone imbalances that do not need labs to correctly identify treatment strategies.  Most women in this state can identify what symptoms are most bothersome with a trained women’s health provider who can comprehensively discuss treatment options for their case.  Having labs will not necessarily change treatment options in most of these cases. 

There are of course unique situations that may require laboratory testing to address hormone care.  If blood work is recommended for your situation, have a plan of result communication preferences, any required subsequent testing especially if required for ongoing treatment, and of course, any follow-up visits scheduled with your clinical team.

Regardless of what you may be hearing in media, via socials, or from your social community, all concerns should be discussed individually with a licensed healthcare provider.  

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