“Lichen sclerosus is an inflammatory disorder that affects skin on your genitals. It causes irritation, skin changes, itching and pain. It’s most common in people assigned female at birth, including women who have been through menopause and girls who haven’t started puberty. There’s no cure for lichen sclerosus, but treatment can relieve symptoms.” - Cleveland Clinic.

Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause (GSM)

“The genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) is a new term that describes various menopausal symptoms and signs including not only genital symptoms (dryness, burning, and irritation), and sexual symptoms (lack of lubrication, discomfort or pain, and impaired function, but also urinary symptoms (urgency, dysuria, and recurrent urinary tract infections).” - National Library of Medicine.

What is the connection between GSM and lichen sclerosus?

In the episode, Dr. Rachel Pope is joined by her two buddies, experts, and the Menopause Retreat co-founders: Anna Myers, Urology Nurse Practitioner & Sex Counselor, and Jean Marino, Women's Sexual Health and Menopause expert to discuss lichen sclerosus in post-menopausal women, GSM, symptoms and how to get the correct diagnosis.

Featured in this episode:

• Symptoms of GSM
• Symptoms of lichen sclerosus
• Overlap between GSM and lichen sclerosus
• Vaginal estrogen for relief
• Getting a check up with your health care provider

Submit your questions on anything and everything women's health-related and we will answer them in one of our episodes.

Want more from Our Womanity?

Looking for practical advice for women in their 60s who want to become sexually active or want to improve their current sex life? Check out Sex in Your Sixties: Who says the fun has to stop? Written by a multidisciplinary group of health professionals who address issues such as pain with sex, low desire for sex, orgasm difficulties, your bladder and sex, same sex partners, vulvar skin conditions, trauma and more.

Subscribe to our newsletter here to stay updated and not miss out on new episodes.

Check out our next Menopause Retreat here so you can be part of the conversion in person.

Have you heard of the term “spectatoring?”

Masters and Johnson coined the term “spectatoring,” and Psychology Today describes it as, “watching yourself have sex, accompanied by an anxious, internal, self-conscious dialogue. The internal chatter can include worries about one’s body (‘I wonder if he thinks I look fat’) or about one’s sexual performance (‘He must be bored, I’m taking too long to come’; ‘Does he like the way I am touching him?’).”

Our minds are powerful tools!

This may be new to some but a majority of women struggle with spectatoring during sex and reaching orgasm. Other women never reach orgasm.

In the episode, Dr. Rachel Pope is joined by her two buddies, experts, and the Menopause Retreat co-founders: Anna Myers, Urology Nurse Practitioner & Sex Counselor, and Jean Marino, Women's Sexual Health and Menopause expert to discuss mindfulness, orgasm, and the research behind it. As well as, tips on how women can use their thoughts to reach climax.

Featured in this episode:

• Spectatoring
• Being present during sex
• Mind-body connection
• Sensate Focus
• Fantasizing for arousal

Submit your questions on anything and everything women's health-related and we will answer them in one of our episodes.

Want more from Our Womanity?

Looking for practical advice for women in their 60s who want to become sexually active or want to improve their current sex life? Check out Sex in Your Sixties: Who says the fun has to stop? Written by a multidisciplinary group of health professionals who address issues such as pain with sex, low desire for sex, orgasm difficulties, your bladder and sex, same sex partners, vulvar skin conditions, trauma and more.

Subscribe to our newsletter here to stay updated and not miss out on new episodes.

Check out our next Menopause Retreat here so you can be part of the conversion in person.

This episode’s question is: If you don’t use it, are you gonna lose it?

The phrase “use it or lose it” has been made in reference to anything from golf, to vacation days, to gift cards. The concept seems to have come from doing the books in your business, which “encourages anyone with budget responsibility to launch projects that would cost money in the coming year with this year's budget.” - BrainZooming.

But how does “use it or lose it” apply to women’s bodies, sex, and overall sexual health? Does not being sexually active impede arousal, enjoyment, and the vaginal canal? Do women need to have penetrative sex to make sure they don’t “lose it”?

According to Medical Daily, “Sex is like a muscle; if you don’t exercise it, it’s gone.” MedicineNet says, “The key to keeping a healthy sex life is staying sexually active. When it comes to sex, the saying, ‘use it or lose it,’ applies to both men and women.”

Women ask us, people quote this– is there truth to this phrase or is it just demeaning to women? Let’s find out!

In the episode, Dr. Rachel Pope is joined by her two buddies, experts, and the Menopause Retreat co-founders: Anna Myers, Urology Nurse Practitioner & Sex Counselor, and Jean Marino, Women's Sexual Health and Menopause expert. The ladies dispel the myths of “use it or lose it,” and discuss the truths behind not using “it.”

Featured in this episode:

• “Is it my fault?”
• “Should I keep having sex, even when it’s painful?”
• Women seeking their own pleasure
• Estrogen for relief
• Vibrators to keep the “it” open

Submit your questions on anything and everything women's health-related and we will answer them in one of our episodes.

Want more from Our Womanity?

Looking for practical advice for women in their 60s who want to become sexually active or want to improve their current sex life? Check out Sex in Your Sixties: Who says the fun has to stop? Written by a multidisciplinary group of health professionals who address issues such as pain with sex, low desire for sex, orgasm difficulties, your bladder and sex, same sex partners, vulvar skin conditions, trauma and more.

Subscribe to our newsletter here to stay updated and not miss out on new episodes.

Check out our next Menopause Retreat here so you can be part of the conversion in person.