Olive Oil as a Vaginal Moisturizer!

Olive oil is not only appropriate to use in salad dressing, it also works great as a vaginal moisturizer!  Yes, you read that correctly.  Recently, my friend’s 75 year old mother was scheduled for a hysterectomy.  She was hoping to have the procedure done vaginally, because it makes recovery a lot faster and easier. However, her surgeon thought that her vaginal canal was too narrow and dry after years of no activity, if you get my meaning.  That is where I was able to be helpful.  I suggested the use of olive oil every evening for about 5 – 10 minutes, along with utilizing one or two fingers inserted into the vagina.  The amount of olive oil you need is just enough to moisturize the outside area, known as the vulva, along with the inside area, the vagina.  After two weeks of nightly olive oil and stretching, this 75 year old woman underwent a successful vaginal procedure.  According to my friend, when the surgeon emerged from the operating room, he said, “Well it looks like Dr. Allmen’s olive oil regimen did the trick!”  So here is the take home message for all of you.  Do not forget about how important vaginal health is, and pay some attention to your own vaginas.  For those of you who are not regularly sexually active, a daily vaginal moisturizer will do wonders to keep the vaginal tissue healthy.  While there are over the counter vaginal moisturizers available, olive oil is an easy solution to a potentially devastating problem.  And you do not need to buy the expensive kind!

Tara Allmen, MD Credentials:
– Board Certified Gynecologist and Nationally Certified Menopause Practitioner
– New York City’s Leading Expert In Menopause
– President, North American Menopause Society Foundation
– Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology
– New York City’s Top Gynecologist, 2015
– Five Star Rating From Doctor’s Choice Awards
– Five Star Rating From HealthGrades