An ancient adage from Chinese medicine states, “A doctor would rather treat 10 men than one woman.” In a way, this validates what women have always known—that they are indeed intricate creatures. At the heart of a woman’s complexity are her hormones, their ebb and flow influencing all aspects of physical, emotional and mental wellness. Sexy hormones are sex hormones including, but not limited too, estrogen, testosterone, DHEA and progesterone. When a woman’s hormones are in balance, she feels fabulous, her skin glows, she has energy and vitality.
Sexual desire and satisfaction are affected by hormone havoc. A woman’s feelings of being “sexy” are hormone driven. Sex is a central part of who we are. It is the basis for our relationships. Men are being prescribed the “little blue pill” in record number and you can’t turn on your computer without being bombarded by spam to make “it” bigger, longer and stronger. Yet according the University of Chicago study, 43 percent of women have no sex drive; and over 51 percent of women are suffering with pain during intercourse. Not much is being done in the research community to help women with sexual health concerns. Most people believe a drop in a woman’s libido is age-related affecting only older women but over 21 percent of women 70 or older still have regular sex and younger women in their 30s tend to be the ones with the biggest declines in libido due to stress, working, young families and lack of time.
Factors Affecting Sexual Health
So many factors contribute to a decline in a woman’s libido:
- Low thyroid (hypothyroidism)
- The birth control pill
- Excess levels of the hormone prolactin
- Low testosterone
- Prescription and over-the-counter medications especially anti-depressant medication
- Stress
- Hormone disrupting estrogens in the environment
- Relationship problems
- Hysterectomy where the nerves for pleasure are accidentally damaged.
If you are struggling with low libido, pain upon intercourse, no or blunted orgasms or vaginal dryness certain, diagnostic tests should be performed:
- A blood test for Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) should be performed. The result should be below 2.0. Above 2.0 is an indicator of subclinical low thyroid. Doctors do not prescribe medication until your TSH is above 5.5 but by then you may have a multitude of low thyroid symptoms (including weight gain, depression, constipation, feeling cold, hair loss, low to no libido, infertility, recurring miscarriage, terrible hot flashes and night sweats and more).
- A blood test for free testosterone, which measures testosterone that is not bound to sex hormone binding globulin. Testosterone is the hormone of desire and when it is low, sex drive and the ability to reach climax is affected.
- A saliva hormone panel for estrogens including estradiol, estrone and estriol. Blood testing is not accurate in measuring estrogen levels—saliva is more accurate.
