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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffA thin layer of clear fluid coats your vaginal walls. Most of this lubrication seeps through the walls of the blood vessels encircling the vagina. Hormonal changes during your menstrual cycle and as you age affect the amount and consistency of this moisture. A variety of conditions contribute to vaginal dryness. They include:
Decreased estrogen levels
Reduced estrogen levels are the main cause of vaginal dryness. Estrogen, a female hormone, helps keep vaginal tissue healthy by maintaining normal vaginal lubrication, tissue elasticity and acidity. These factors create a natural defense against vaginal and urinary tract infections. But when your estrogen levels decrease, so does this natural defense, leading to a thinner, less elastic and more fragile vaginal lining.
Estrogen levels can fall for a number of reasons:
- Menopause or perimenopause
- Childbirth
- Breast-feeding
- Effects on your ovaries from cancer therapy, including radiation therapy, hormone therapy and chemotherapy
- Surgical removal of your ovaries
- Immune disorders
- Cigarette smoking
Medications
Allergy and cold medications, as well as some antidepressants, can decrease the moisture in many parts of your body, including your vagina. Anti-estrogen medications, such as those used to treat breast cancer, also can result in vaginal dryness.
Sjogren's syndrome
In this autoimmune disease, your immune system attacks healthy tissue. In addition to causing symptoms of dry eyes and dry mouth, Sjogren's syndrome can also cause vaginal dryness.
Douching
The process of cleansing your vagina with a liquid preparation (douching) disrupts the normal chemical balance in your vagina and can cause inflammation (vaginitis). This may cause your vagina to feel dry or irritated.
- Bachmann G, et al. Clinical manifestations and diagnosis of vaginal atrophy. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 25, 2010.
- Casper RF. Clinical manifestations and diagnosis of menopause. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 25, 2010.
- The North American Menopause Society. The role of local vaginal estrogen for treatment of vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women: 2007 position statement of The North American Menopause Society. Menopause. 2007;14:357.
- Bachmann G, et al. Treatment of vaginal atrophy. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 26, 2010.
- Cedars MI, et al. Menopause. In: Gibbs RS, et al. Danforth's Obstetrics and Gynecology. 10th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2008:725.
- Ibe C, et al. Vulvovaginal atrophy: Current and future therapies. Journal of Sexual Medicine. 2010;7:1042.
- Fox R, et al. Clinical manifestations of Sjogren's syndrome: Exocrine gland disease. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 25, 2010.
- Vaginitis. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. http://www.acog.org/publications/patient_education/bp028.cfm. Accessed May 26, 2010.
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