An Aspect on Female Aging

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By Carolyn Krieg, DO and Paul Kim, MD

Vaginal dryness and painful intercourse are frequent complaints I hear from my patients. As estrogen levels decline during menopause, most women will experience atrophic vaginitis. This is the technical term for inflammation and thinning of the walls of the vagina due to aging and declining estrogen levels. The changes in the vaginal walls lead to dryness, discomfort, and painful intercourse.

Restoring your estrogen levels often improves these symptoms. Some women use a local hormone (typically estrogen) at a low dose applied directly to the vagina.

Many women, however, do not want to use hormone replacement. This is especially true for women with a history or high risk of breast cancer where hormone replacement therapy might be contraindicated. Other women complain that hormone creams are too expensive or can be messy. There is now another option.

ThermiVa is a non-hormonal, non-invasive treatment for vaginal rejuvenation. The natural aging process can diminish collagen, which is the protein that makes your skin firm and elastic. When the skin has less collagen, it can lose it’s youthful properties. ThermiVa works by using radiofrequency energy to gently heat up the skin and

vaginal tissues to stimulate and re-build your body’s own collagen without discomfort or downtime.

ThermiVa has been shown to help treat multiple conditions that affect vaginal and urinary function including:

• improvement of post-menopausal dryness and moisture balance

• reduction of urinary incontinence

• improved quality of orgasm

ThermiVa is also effective for women who are experiencing vaginal laxity or sagging after pregnancy and childbirth.

As with other temperature-controlled radio frequency treatments used for dermatologic procedures, ThermiVa has been proven to be safe and effective.

If you suffer from any of the above conditions, please contact the Medical Institute of Healthy Aging (formerly Previ Medical Group, INC) to learn more.