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Management of Sexual Dysfunction in Men and Women pp 325–336Cite as

Female Sexual Dysfunction and Premature Menopause with Focus on Women’s Wording

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Abstract

Spontaneous premature menopause (PM) affects 1 % of women younger than 40. Iatrogenic PM affects other 5–7 %. PM may affect sexual identity, sexual function, and sexual relationships, the three major contributors of women’s sexuality. Body image and body feelings may change dramatically, as women’s wording indicate. The younger the woman, the lower the probability of fulfilling the different key goals of her life cycle (feeling sexy and attractive, falling in love, having a satisfying sexual life, forming a stable couple/getting married, having children). Modulators of PM that impact on women’s sexuality include: etiology of PM, current health and psychosexual status, possibility or not of using hormone replacement therapy (HRT), relational status (single versus couple), possibility or not to have access to infertility treatments, quality of the health-care providers, and relational support. Desire, arousal, and orgasm are usually reduced, while vaginal dryness and sexual pain disorders tend to increase, unless HRT is feasible and accepted. Systemic inflammation associated with menopause and the aging process may further contribute to a complex impairment of women’s sexuality. PM may affect the relationship and the partner’s sexuality through its impact on women’s body image and body feelings, desire and arousability, pheromone levels, and fertility. An effective and satisfactory treatment of PM should include women’s and couple’s sexuality.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center of Gynecology and Medical Sexology, H. San Raffaele Resnati, Via Enrico Panzacchi 6, 20123, Milan, Italy

    Alessandra Graziottin M.D.

  2. Graziottin Foundation for the cure and care of pain in women, Milan, Italy

    Alessandra Graziottin M.D.

  3. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Medical Center of Postgraduate Education, Bielanski Hospital, Warsaw, Poland

    Monika Ewa Lukasiewicz M.D.

Authors
  1. Alessandra Graziottin M.D.
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  2. Monika Ewa Lukasiewicz M.D.
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Correspondence to Alessandra Graziottin M.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Chief, Division of Male Reproductive Medicine and Surgery; Scott Department of Urology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA

    Larry I. Lipshultz

  2. Assistant Professor; Division of Male Reproductive Medicine and Surgery; Center for Reproductive Medicine; Scott Department of Urology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA

    Alexander W. Pastuszak

  3. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology; George Washington University; School of Medicine and Health Sciences, The Center for Vulvovaginal Disorders, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Andrew T. Goldstein

  4. Psychiatric Center Copenhagen; Institute of Clinical Medicine; University of Copenhagen, Sexological Clinic, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Annamaria Giraldi

  5. Weill Medical College Cornell University; Co-Director, Human Sexuality Program; The New York Presbyterian Hospital; Founder, MAP Education and Research Fund, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Reproductive Medicine and Urology, NEW YORK, New York, USA

    Michael A. Perelman

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Graziottin, A., Lukasiewicz, M.E. (2016). Female Sexual Dysfunction and Premature Menopause with Focus on Women’s Wording. In: Lipshultz, L., Pastuszak, A., Goldstein, A., Giraldi, A., Perelman, M. (eds) Management of Sexual Dysfunction in Men and Women. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3100-2_28

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3100-2_28

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