Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share #371 – Women's sexual health: desire, arousal, and orgasms, navigating perimenopause, and enhancing satisfaction | Sally Greenwald, M.D., M.P.H.
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
#371 – Women's sexual health: desire, arousal, and orgasms, navigating perimenopause, and enhancing satisfaction | Sally Greenwald, M.D., M.P.H.
View the Show Notes Page for This Episode
Become a Member to Receive Exclusive Content
Sign Up to Receive Peter's Weekly Newsletter
Sally Greenwald is an OB-GYN who specializes in women's sexual health from a hormonal and physiologic perspective, with expertise spanning desire, arousal, pelvic floor function, contraception, and menopause care. In this episode, she explains why sexual health is a vital component of overall well-being, exploring topics such as the drivers of desire, the anatomy of sexual function, myths and realities around orgasm, and the role of hormones in perimenopause and menopause. She also covers vaginal and pelvic health, pain with sex, evidence-based therapies for low desire and arousal, how contraception and medications can affect sexual function, and practical strategies for enhancing sexual satisfaction and maintaining intimacy across life stages. This episode offers a comprehensive, evidence-based discussion with immediate real-world relevance for women as well as for men who want to better understand their partners.
We discuss:
- How sexual health influences physical health, emotional well-being, and relationships [3:15];
- Understanding the physiology of the female orgasm, sexual comfort and satisfaction, and the disparity between men and women [12:45];
- Foreplay, the science of desire, and methods to help women cultivate arousal and connection [19:00];
- The physiology and sources of female lubrication, the role of clitoral nerve anatomy in pleasure, and the use of lubricants and vibrators to enhance comfort and sexual health [23:45];
- Understanding female anatomy and what is needed for orgasm [31:15];
- Understanding sexual desire, how to cultivate it, the role of hormones, and testosterone therapy in women [41:15];
- Personalizing perimenopause care: how desire for ovulation guides the choice between contraception and menopausal hormone therapy [49:30];
- Considerations for choosing contraceptives and hormonal therapies during perimenopause [59:45];
- Factors negatively affecting desire, and why female libido persists with age and fluctuates across the menstrual cycle [1:11:00];
- How sexual trauma and physical pain can affect sexual health, and evidence-based strategies for recovery [1:15:15];
- Vaginal care routine: lubricants, moisturizers, topical hormones, and other approaches for vaginal health [1:19:15];
- Tips for sexually satisfying your female partner [1:25:45];
- The pharmacology of arousal: various treatments for low sexual desire in women [1:30:30];
- Sex during and after pregnancy: impact on arousal, safety of sex, and how to manage postpartum recovery and pain [1:37:45];
- How Sally would redesign sex education [1:42:15];
- Sally's optimism about a new era in women's sexual health [1:49:00]; and
- More.
Connect With Peter on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube
View all episodes
By Peter Attia, MD
4.7
74317,431 ratings
View the Show Notes Page for This Episode
Become a Member to Receive Exclusive Content
Sign Up to Receive Peter's Weekly Newsletter
Sally Greenwald is an OB-GYN who specializes in women's sexual health from a hormonal and physiologic perspective, with expertise spanning desire, arousal, pelvic floor function, contraception, and menopause care. In this episode, she explains why sexual health is a vital component of overall well-being, exploring topics such as the drivers of desire, the anatomy of sexual function, myths and realities around orgasm, and the role of hormones in perimenopause and menopause. She also covers vaginal and pelvic health, pain with sex, evidence-based therapies for low desire and arousal, how contraception and medications can affect sexual function, and practical strategies for enhancing sexual satisfaction and maintaining intimacy across life stages. This episode offers a comprehensive, evidence-based discussion with immediate real-world relevance for women as well as for men who want to better understand their partners.
We discuss:
- How sexual health influences physical health, emotional well-being, and relationships [3:15];
- Understanding the physiology of the female orgasm, sexual comfort and satisfaction, and the disparity between men and women [12:45];
- Foreplay, the science of desire, and methods to help women cultivate arousal and connection [19:00];
- The physiology and sources of female lubrication, the role of clitoral nerve anatomy in pleasure, and the use of lubricants and vibrators to enhance comfort and sexual health [23:45];
- Understanding female anatomy and what is needed for orgasm [31:15];
- Understanding sexual desire, how to cultivate it, the role of hormones, and testosterone therapy in women [41:15];
- Personalizing perimenopause care: how desire for ovulation guides the choice between contraception and menopausal hormone therapy [49:30];
- Considerations for choosing contraceptives and hormonal therapies during perimenopause [59:45];
- Factors negatively affecting desire, and why female libido persists with age and fluctuates across the menstrual cycle [1:11:00];
- How sexual trauma and physical pain can affect sexual health, and evidence-based strategies for recovery [1:15:15];
- Vaginal care routine: lubricants, moisturizers, topical hormones, and other approaches for vaginal health [1:19:15];
- Tips for sexually satisfying your female partner [1:25:45];
- The pharmacology of arousal: various treatments for low sexual desire in women [1:30:30];
- Sex during and after pregnancy: impact on arousal, safety of sex, and how to manage postpartum recovery and pain [1:37:45];
- How Sally would redesign sex education [1:42:15];
- Sally's optimism about a new era in women's sexual health [1:49:00]; and
- More.
Connect With Peter on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube
More shows like The Peter Attia Drive
View all
The Tim Ferriss Show
16,079 Listeners
The Human Upgrade: Biohacking for Longevity & Performance
7,231 Listeners
The Rich Roll Podcast
11,917 Listeners
High Intensity Health with Mike Mutzel, MS
1,224 Listeners
The Ready State Podcast
501 Listeners
The Proof with Simon Hill
2,639 Listeners
The Genius Life
4,891 Listeners
Dhru Purohit Show
3,521 Listeners
The Dr. Hyman Show
9,274 Listeners
Everyday Wellness: Midlife Hormones, Menopause, and Science for Women 35+
154 Listeners
You Are Not Broken
1,091 Listeners
Huberman Lab
29,176 Listeners
Longevity by Design
183 Listeners
The Dr. Gabrielle Lyon Show
1,203 Listeners
The Dr. Layne Norton Podcast
284 Listeners