Treating Postmenopausal Dyspareunia Where it Hurts

Estrogen cream is FDA-approved for vaginal use for the treatment of sexual pain, but its use in a new location is experimental. Pain with sex is a common problem experienced by women after menopause and the relationship of pain to sexual difficulties is well established. The cause has been assumed to be atrophy and the location has been assumed to be the vagina. Recent focused studies have shown that the location of pain is the vulvar vestibule and usually not the vagina. This study will look at pain before and after therapy with estrogen when only the vulvar entryway area is treated. This will be a study focused on sexual dysfunction in postmenopausal women.