5 Expert Tips for Bolstering Your Sexual Health 

There’s a lot that goes into overall wellness — good physical and mental health, being connected, and an active and healthy sex life, to name just a few. It’s this last one — a healthy and active sex life — that can be tricky, depending upon your circumstances.

As women’s health experts, the team here at Bay Area Physicians for Women’s Health understands the value of good sexual health. To that end, we want to outline five great tips that can help bolster this important area of your well-being.

1. Stay one step ahead of sexually transmitted infections

Despite awareness and education efforts, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are still making their rounds in alarming numbers — in 2023, there were more than 2.4 million cases of syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia in the United States.

A great way to safeguard your sexual health is to protect yourself against STIs, which includes regular testing, which we can perform here. As well, we can discuss ways in which you can lower your risks for STIs, including condom use and more.

2. Take hormones after menopause

Many women who pass through menopause experience a decline in sexual health thanks to the change in hormones. For example, more than half of postmenopausal women struggle with vaginal dryness.

If your sex life has been derailed by menopause, we can set you up with hormone therapies that offset the side effects of menopause, such as vaginal dryness and vaginal atrophy.

3. Address painful sex

Did you know that 40% of women experience painful intercourse at some point in their lives? If you count yourself in this group and the problem isn’t going away, please come see us. Many conditions can lead to painful sex, such as fibroids and endometriosis, and we can help get to the bottom of the issue to improve your reproductive and sexual health.

4. Stay in good health

Life can get busy, and great health practices can slide. When they do, no area of your health is safe. So, to maintain great sexual health, it’s important to keep up with general health practices, such as:

• Enjoying seven to nine hours of sleep each night
• Eating healthy foods
• Not carrying extra pounds
• Exercising
• Managing stress

Any efforts you make on any of these fronts are efforts that will boost your health on every level.

5. Stay sexually active

This last tip is especially for women who are facing age-related changes to their vaginal health. We discussed vaginal dryness and atrophy and how hormones can help, but another solution is keeping your vaginal tissues active. 

Many areas of your body operate on a use-it-or-lose-it basis, and this includes your vagina. In other words, the more sexually active you are, the more your body pays attention to the health of those tissues and sends in the necessary resources to keep the tissues healthy and flexible.

If you would like more specific ideas about bolstering your sexual health or you have a problem you’d like us to investigate, we’re happy to help. To meet with one of our women's health experts, simply contact our office in Mobile, Alabama, to schedule a consultation.