Estrogen is a hormone that’s essential to keeping vaginal tissues healthy. This hormone helps to maintain the vagina’s normal lubrication, acidity levels, and elasticity. Therefore, when estrogen levels decline, the lining of the vagina becomes thinner and less elastic, and the vagina produces less lubrication. Estrogen levels can drop during and after menopause, during childbirth, and during periods of breastfeeding. You may also experience a loss of estrogen if you smoke cigarettes, have had your ovaries removed, have been treated for cancer, or have certain immune disorders. In most cases, vaginal dryness is the result of a decrease in estrogen levels. As you age, a fall in estrogen levels can reduce the amount of moisture lining your vaginal walls. Age-related hormonal changes can also alter the consistency of this moisture. Breastfeeding mothers have lower levels of estrogen, which often leads to vaginal dryness. During pregnancy, circulating levels of the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone rise to prepare your body for lactation. After you give birth, however, levels of these hormones drop as your body increases production of prolactin. As levels of this lactation-inducing hormone increase with decreasing estrogen levels, high estrogen levels after you give birth may make it difficult for you to breastfeed your baby. #balancehormones #libido #vaginadryness #menopause #menopauserelief #estrogen #breastfeeding https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw_Iv04lEeo/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=25mtrh45yr4o