Part of your vagina may disappear during menopause

It seems that post-menopausal women have been tight-lipped about this.

On social media this week, thousands of women have been shocked to learn that part of the vulva can disappear during the “change”.

“These small labia – when you’re a child, you don’t have them, you grow them at puberty and lose them at menopause,” said Dr. Rachel Rubin, a board-certified urologist and sexual medicine expert. a TikTok.

This was definitely news to the video’s 1.2 million viewers, most of whom were women who had no idea what was in store for their bodies.

“LOSE THEM?! Sorry… what?! I’m 41… how long do I have left with my lips?” commented a surprised woman.

“Scientific education has failed us, e.g. WHAT DO WE MEAN LOSE THEM???” demanded another horrified onlooker.

Many had questions about the mechanics, with one asking: “Do they just fall off? Do we get money for them like baby teeth?”

Meanwhile, some asked their postmenopausal mothers to weigh themselves, though few seemed to get the answers right.

Science also doesn’t have many answers: “There’s a lack of research on this part of the body,” Rubin said. “Literally, all the research we have is from when people want to cut their lips to look more like porn stars.

The change you didn’t know about

Menopause – the stage when a woman’s periods stop permanently and pregnancy is no longer possible – usually begins between the ages of 45 and 55. Common symptoms include hot flashes, night sweats, trouble sleeping, and pain during sex.

There are some changes that many women don’t expect, including shrinking of the labia minora, or “inner lips” of the vulva. These sensitive folds play a vital role in protecting the vaginal openings and urethra from infection, irritation and dryness, while also contributing to sexual arousal and lubrication.

In youth, the labia minora is usually very small, developing during puberty due to hormonal changes. As women age, they usually decrease in size and in some cases may disappear completely, according to Dr. Stephanie Finley, a Florida-based OB/GYN.

The labia minora is not the only part of the vulva that changes during menopause.

Finley points out that women can also experience loss of pubic hair, a shrinkage of the mons pubis (fatty lump above the pubic bone) and a reduction in the size of the labia majora – or outer lips – along with the clitoris and its hood.

“We don’t know exactly all the reasons for this, but there is aging happening everywhere in our bodies, and the vulva is no different,” Finley said in a TikTok response to Rubin’s viral post.

Rubin is actively investigating this issue, aiming to find out whether estrogen or testosterone is responsible for these changes, whether every woman experiences them in the same way, and whether the labia minora can ever grow.

Why doesn’t anyone talk about it?

First time hearing that your labia minora may shrink later in life? You are not alone. Rubin’s video sparked more than 5,000 comments, many from shocked viewers who had no idea this happens to women as they age.

In an Instagram video, Rubin shared her theory about why so many are now learning about menopausal vulvar changes: a lack of information among health care professionals.

“When I was in medical school, we were allowed to do a pelvic exam on a person and were told to stay away from the clitoris so as not to make the patient ‘uncomfortable,'” Rubin said.

So while doctors are routinely trained how to use speculums, find the cervix and perform Pap tests, Rubin said they’re not taught how to properly examine vulvas.

“It’s a big problem because they change,” Rubin said. “If no one teaches your doctor this, then when you go to them for pain, dryness and painful sex, they won’t actually know how to help you.”