“Why Does It Hurt When I Have Sex?” (And What To Do About It)
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This is one that affects mostly women, with 43% of American women reporting such issues at some point. There’s a distribution curve to this, with higher incidence in younger and older women; younger while first figuring things out, and older with menopause-related body changes. But, it can happen at any time (and often not for obvious reasons!), so here’s what OB/GYN Dr. Jennifer Lincoln advises:
Many possibilities, but easily narrowed down
Common causes include:
- vaginal dryness, which itself can have many causes (half of which are “low estrogen levels” for various different reasons)
- muscular issues, which can be in response to anxiety, pain, and occur as a result of pelvic floor muscle tightening
- vulvar issues, ranging from skin disorders (e.g. lichen sclerosis or lichen planus) to nerve disorders (e.g. vestibulitis or vestibulodynia)
- uterine issues, including endometriosis, fibroids, or scar tissue if you had a surgery
- infections, of the STI variety, but bear in mind that some STIs such as herpes do not necessarily require direct sexual contact per se, and yeast infections definitely don’t. Some STIs are more serious than others, so getting things checked out is a good idea (don’t worry, clinics are discreet about this sort of thing)
- bowel issues, notwithstanding that we have been talking about vaginal sex here, it can’t be happy if its anatomical neighbors aren’t happy—so things like IBS, Crohn’s, or even just constipation, aren’t irrelevant
- trauma, of various kinds, affecting sexual experiences
That’s a lot of possibilities, so if there’s not something standing out as “yes, now that you mention it, it’s obviously that”, Dr. Lincoln recommends a full health evaluation and examination of medical history, as well as a targeted physical exam. That may not be fun, but at least, once it’s done, it’s done.
Treatments vary depending on the cause, of course, and there are many kinds of physical and psychological therapies, as well as surgeries for the uterine issues we mentioned.
Happily, many of the above things can be addressed with simpler and less invasive methods, including learning more about the relevant anatomy and physiology and how to use it (be not ashamed; most people never got meaningful education about this!)*, vulvar skin care (“gentle” is the watchword here), the difference a good lube can make, and estrogen supplementation—which if you’re not up for general HRT, can be a topical estrogen cream that alleviates sexual function issues without raising blood serum estradiol levels.
*10almonds tip: check out the recommended book “Come As You Are” in our links below; it has 400 pages of stuff most people never knew about anatomy and physiology down there; you can thank us later!
Meanwhile, for more on each of these, enjoy:
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Want to learn more?
You might also like to read:
- Water-based Lubricant vs Silicon-based Lubricant – Which is Healthier? (counterintuitively, it’s the silicon! But do give it a quick read, because here be science)
- How To Avoid Urinary Tract Infections (may be relevant; always good to know)
- Come As You Are – by Dr. Emily Nagoski (book; if we could only recommend one book on responsible vagina ownership, this would be the one)
Take care!
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Holistic Approach To Resculpting A Face Affected By Hypothyroidism, PCOS, Or Menopause
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Mila Magnani has PCOS and hypothyroidism, but the principles are the same for menopause because both menopause and PCOS are a case of a hormone imbalance resulting in androgenic effects, so there’s a large amount of overlap.
Obviously, a portion of the difference in the thumbnail is a matter of angle and make-up, but as you can see in the video itself, there’s also a lot of genuine change underneath, too:
Stress-free method
Firstly, she bids us get lab tests and work with a knowledgeable doctor to address potential thyroid, hormonal, or nutrient imbalances. Perhaps we already know at least part of what is causing our problems, but even if so, it doesn’t hurt to take steps to rule the others out. Imagine spending ages unsuccessfully battling PCOS or menopause, only to discover it was a thyroid issue, and you were fighting the wrong battle!
Magnani used a natural route to manage her PCOS and hypothyroidism, while acknowledging that medication is fine too; it’s usually cheaper and more convenient—and there’s a lot more standardization for medications than there is for supplements, which makes it a lot easier to navigate, find what works, and keep getting the exact same thing once it does work.
Other things she recommends include:
- Lymphatic drainage: addressing the lymphatic system to reduce puffiness. Techniques include lymphatic drainage massage, stretching, rebounding (trampoline), and dry brushing. She emphasizes that for facial de-puffing, it’s important to treat the whole upper body, not just the face.
- Low-impact exercise: she switched from high-intensity workouts to low-impact exercises like nature walking and gentle stretching to reduce stress and improve health.
- Nervous system regulation: she worked on nervous system regulation by means of journaling, breathwork, and stimulating the vagus nerve, which improved sleep and reduced stress and anxiety. These things, of course, have knock-on benefits for almost every part of health.
- Diet: she adopted a low-glycemic diet, reduced salt intake, and cooked at home to avoid water retention caused by high sodium in restaurant meals.
- Natural diuretics: she uses teas like hibiscus and chamomile to reduce puffiness after consuming high-sodium foods.
- Sauna and sweating: consider a sauna mat or hot baths to detox and reduce swelling; that’s what she uses in lieu of a convenient sauna.
You may be wondering how quickly you can expect results: it took 3–6 months of daily effort to see significant changes, and she now maintains the routine less frequently (every 2–3 days, instead of daily).
For more on all this, enjoy:
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Want to learn more?
You might also like to read:
- What Does “Balance Your Hormones” Even Mean?
- 7-Minute Face Fitness For Lymphatic Drainage & Youthful Jawline
- Saunas: Health Benefits (& Caveats)
Take care!
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The Anti-Stress Herb That Also Fights Cancer
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What does Rhodiola rosea actually do, anyway?
Rhodiola rosea (henceforth, “rhodiola”) is a flowering herb whose roots have adaptogenic properties.
In the cold, mountainous regions of Europe and Asia where it grows, it has been used in herbal medicine for centuries to alleviate anxiety, fatigue, and depression.
What does the science say?
Well, let’s just say the science is more advanced than the traditional use:
❝In addition to its multiplex stress-protective activity, Rhodiola rosea extracts have recently demonstrated its anti-aging, anti-inflammation, immunostimulating, DNA repair and anti-cancer effects in different model systems❞
Nor is how it works a mystery, as the same paper explains:
❝Molecular mechanisms of Rhodiola rosea extracts’s action have been studied mainly along with one of its bioactive compounds, salidroside. Both Rhodiola rosea extracts and salidroside have contrasting molecular mechanisms on cancer and normal physiological functions.
For cancer, Rhodiola rosea extracts and salidroside inhibit the mTOR pathway and reduce angiogenesis through down-regulation of the expression of HIF-1α/HIF-2α.
For normal physiological functions, Rhodiola rosea extracts and salidroside activate the mTOR pathway, stimulate paracrine function and promote neovascularization by inhibiting PHD3 and stabilizing HIF-1α proteins in skeletal muscles❞
~ Ibid.
And, as for the question of “do the supplements work?”,
❝In contrast to many natural compounds, salidroside is water-soluble and highly bioavailable via oral administration❞
~ Ibid.
And as to how good it is:
❝Rhodiola rosea extracts and salidroside can impose cellular and systemic benefits similar to the effect of positive lifestyle interventions to normal physiological functions and for anti-cancer❞
~ Ibid.
Source: Rhodiola rosea: anti-stress, anti-aging, and immunostimulating properties for cancer chemoprevention
But that’s not all…
We can’t claim this as a research review if we only cite one paper (even if that paper has 144 citations of its own), and besides, it didn’t cover all the benefits yet!
Let’s first look at the science for the “traditional use” trio of benefits:
When you read those, what are your first thoughts?
Please don’t just take our word for things! Reading even just the abstracts (summaries) at the top of papers is a very good habit to get into, if you don’t have time (or easy access) to read the full text.
Reading the abstracts is also a very good way to know whether to take the time to read the whole paper, or whether it’s better to skip onto a different one.
- Perhaps you noticed that the paper we cited for anxiety was quite a small study.
- The fact is, while we found mountains of evidence for rhodiola’s anxiolytic (antianxiety) effects, they were all small and/or animal studies. So we picked a human study and went with it as illustrative.
- Perhaps you noticed that the paper we cited for fatigue pertained mostly to stress-related fatigue.
- This, we think, is a feature not a bug. After all, most of us experience fatigue because of the general everything of life, not because we just ran a literal marathon.
- Perhaps you noticed that the paper we cited for depression said it didn’t work as well as sertraline (a very common pharmaceutical SSRI antidepressant).
- But, it worked almost as well and it had far fewer adverse effects reported. Bear in mind, the side effects of antidepressants are the reason many people avoid them, or desist in taking them. So rhodiola working almost as well as sertraline for far fewer adverse effects, is quite a big deal!
Bonus features
Rhodiola also putatively offers protection against Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and cerebrovascular disease in general:
Rosenroot (Rhodiola): Potential Applications in Aging-related Diseases
It may also be useful in the management of diabetes (types 1 and 2), but studies so far have only been animal studies, and/or in vitro studies. Here are two examples:
- Antihyperglycemic action of rhodiola-aqeous extract in type 1 diabetic rats
- Evaluation of Rhodiola crenulata and Rhodiola rosea for management of type 2 diabetes and hypertension
How much to take?
Dosages have varied a lot in studies. However, 120mg/day seems to cover most bases. It also depends on which of rhodiola’s 140 active compounds a particular benefit depends on, though salidroside and rosavin are the top performers.
Where to get it?
As ever, we don’t sell it (or anything else) but here’s an example product on Amazon.
Enjoy!
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- Perhaps you noticed that the paper we cited for anxiety was quite a small study.
Herbs for Evidence-Based Health & Healing
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Herbs for Evidence-Based Health & Healing
Herbs have been used since prehistoric times to treat injuries and illnesses, but which ones actually work, as opposed to being “old wives’ tales”?
Even today, in pharmacies herbals products may come with a disclaimer “based on traditional use only”, which, in scientific terms, means it likely performs no better than placebo.
This is a “Saturday Life Hacks” edition, not a “Research Review Monday”, so we won’t be doing any deep-dives today, and will instead keep things short and snappy. We’ll also spotlight one main benefit, rather than trying to cover all bases, as we often have room to do on a Monday!
Basil
Helps boost immunity:
Chamomile
Significantly reduces symptoms of osteoarthritis:
(This one challenged your writer’s resolve as it does so many things, it was hard to pick just one. So, she went with one that’s less known that “settling the stomach” and “relieving PMS” and “relaxation” and so forth)
Echinacea
Significantly reduces the risk of catching a cold (but won’t help once you’ve caught it):
Echinacea for preventing and treating the common cold
Elderberry
Significantly hastens recovery from upper respiratory viral infections:
Evening Primrose
Fights neuropathy, along with many other benefits:
An updated review on pharmacological activities and phytochemical constituents of evening primrose
Fennel
Antinflammatory, along with many other benefits:
Ginkgo biloba
Antioxidant effects provide anti-aging benefits:
Advances in the Studies of Ginkgo Biloba Leaves Extract on Aging-Related Diseases
Ginseng
Combats fatigue:
Ginseng as a Treatment for Fatigue: A Systematic Review
Lavender
Enjoyed for its sedative effects, which is really does have:
Evidence for Sedative Effects of the Essential Oil of Lavender after Inhalation
Sage
Helps fight HIV type 1 and Herpes simplex type 2 (and probably other viruses, but that’s what we have the science for right now):
Aqueous extracts from peppermint, sage and lemon balm leaves display potent anti-HIV-1 activity
Valerian
Inconclusive data; “traditional use only” for restful sleep.
Can’t have everything!
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Power Plates – by Gena Hamshaw
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Superfoods are all well and good, but there are only so many ways one can reasonably include watercress before it starts becoming a chore.
Happily, Gena Hamshaw is here with a hundred single-dish vegan meals, that are not only nutritionally balanced as the subtitle promises, but also, as the title suggests, are nutritional powerhouses too.
In the category of criticism, some ingredients are not so universally available as others. For example, depending on where you live, your local supermarket might not have freekeh, gochujang, or pomegranate molasses.
However, most of the recipes have ingredients that are easy enough to source in any medium-sized supermarket, and for the ones that aren’t, we do recommend ordering the ingredient online and trying something you might not otherwise have experienced—that’s an important thing in life, after all!
Bottom line: if you’d like plant-based meals that are packed full of nutrients and are delicious too, this is a top-tier recipe book.
Click here to check out Power Plates, and enjoy a wide variety of plant-based cuisine!
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Never Too Late To Start Over: Finding Purpose At Any Age
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Dana Findwell’s late 50s were not an easy time, but upon now hitting 60 (this week, at time of writing), she’s enthusiastically throwing herself into the things that bring her purpose, and so can you.
Start where you are
Findwell was already no stranger to starting again, having been married and divorced twice, and having moved frequently, requiring constant “life resets”.
Nevertheless, she always had her work to fall back on; she was a graphic designer and art director for 30 years… Until burnout struck.
And when burnout struck, so did COVID, resulting in the loss of her job. Her job wasn’t the only thing she lost though, as her mother died around the same time. All in all, it was a lot, and not the fun kind of “a lot”.
Struggling to find a new career direction, she ended up starting a small business for herself, so that she could direct the pace; pressing forwards as and when she had the energy. This became her new “ikigai“, the main thing that brings a sense of purpose to her life, but getting one part of her life back into order brought her attention to the rest; she realized she’d neglected her health, so she joined a gym. And a weightlifting class. And a hip-hop class. And she took up the practice of Japanese drumming (for the unfamiliar, this can be a rather athletic ability; it’s not a matter of sitting at a drum kit).
And now? Her future is still not clear, but that’s ok, because she’s making it as she goes, and she’s doing it her way, trusting in her ability to handle what may come up, and doing the things now that future-her will be glad of having done (e.g. laying the groundwork of both financial security and good health).
Change can sometimes be triggered by adverse circumstances, but there’s always the opportunity to find something better. For more on all of this, enjoy:
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Want to learn more?
You might also like to read:
Take care!
Don’t Forget…
Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!
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