Intimate health after menopause: what regenerative treatments can and cannot do
Dryness, discomfort and leaking after menopause are common and rarely discussed. Radiofrequency, PRP and hyaluronic acid can help some of it. An honest account of where they fit alongside hormone treatment.
The condition has a name
Genitourinary syndrome of menopause covers the changes that follow falling oestrogen: thinning and drying of vaginal tissue, discomfort with sex, urgency and recurrent urinary infections, and stress incontinence. It affects a large proportion of women after menopause, it tends to progress rather than settle, and most women never raise it with a doctor.
First-line treatment is still hormonal
Local vaginal oestrogen, used in very small doses, restores tissue in most women and is safe for the majority, including many who cannot take systemic HRT. Any clinic offering regenerative treatments should discuss this first and work with your gynaecologist or GP on it.
Where regenerative treatments fit
They are for women who cannot or prefer not to use hormones, who have not responded fully, or who have specific symptoms such as stress incontinence that hormones do not address.
- Radiofrequency (RF): controlled heating of vaginal and vulvar tissue to stimulate collagen and blood supply. A course of three sessions, in clinic, without anaesthetic. Used for laxity, dryness and mild stress incontinence.
- PRP: platelet-rich plasma from your own blood, injected to encourage tissue repair. Used for vulvar and vaginal rehabilitation, and in combination with RF for stress incontinence.
- Hyaluronic acid: for hydration of atrophic tissue and, in selected cases, labial volume.
What they cannot do
They do not replace a prolapse assessment, they are not treatments for significant incontinence that needs surgery, and they do not reverse menopause. Evidence is still developing for energy-based devices; we present it as such and avoid promises.
How a consultation runs
A gynaecological history, examination, exclusion of infection, and a discussion of all options including hormonal ones. Treatments are performed or supervised by a qualified specialist, and a written plan with prices follows.
Discretion
Appointments are private, and nothing is treated on a first visit unless you choose to. Many women arrive having waited years. There was no need to.
