This article is for educational and general wellness purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. If you are experiencing symptoms, please consult a knowledgeable healthcare provider.

Whether you're in the periods, pregnancy, or menopausal stage, your vagina, and your hormonal health has more to do with how you feel than about whether it works for anyone else. Vaginal health plays a role in our overall health, from comfort or discomfort, to self-esteem, to intimacy (alone or with others).

But, can you use estriol safely at different stages? Let's find out!

For younger women, there can be the harmful stigma that your vajayjay should be some sort of Shangri-La of perfection, with nary a trouble, except periods which are totally gross... Oh, or if you've had babies, then your vagina is obviously ruined… Oh, and, if you're post-menopausal, then there're actual tumbleweeds and a closed sign down there… (can you hear our eyeballs detaching as we side eye the people we've heard say these things?!)

Well, excuse us, but Hell No...

What is Good Vaginal Health?

Keeping the flow down below starts with good vaginal health. Good habits and staying informed are your first line of defense. Your body is not in a fixed state, and sometimes, issues do arise with our vaginas that can cause us distress such as itching, tearing, and pain. It might not be something you read about, but these experiences are common — and estriol is one topic worth understanding. A naturally occurring estrogen, it may support vaginal comfort across different life stages, which is why many women and their healthcare providers find it worth exploring.

Estriol After Childbirth

After the vaginal delivery of a baby, this experience — though joyful and incredibly productive (y'know, cause you made a whole human) — can create rips in vaginal, perineal, and often anal tissue. Sometimes an episiotomy has created some nice clear edges which can then be resewn, but often the skin rips leaving tears which, when resewn, result in lots of scar tissue. The body will work hard to heal the damaged skin. Estriol may help support the appearance and feel of the tissue as the body heals, providing consistent topical comfort to the area.

Estriol After Surgical or Natural Menopause

Estriol can also be worth exploring in cases of both early surgical menopause and natural menopause. For many reasons, women have hysterectomies before the natural age of menopause. The ovaries are the main supply of estrogen and are often left in place — but when the uterus is removed, the body's hormonal balance naturally shifts. This can lead to changes similar to those experienced in natural menopause, including declining levels of progesterone and estrogen produced by the ovaries. The experience is individual, but the hormonal shift is real and worth understanding.

Living with Less Estrogen: What to Know

Many women experience well-known changes like hot flashes, night sweats, and mental cloudiness, while vaginal dryness is often a less-discussed concern. Some women experience ongoing intimate dryness and discomfort for years without knowing there are options that may help them feel more comfortable. Understanding the connection — between hormonal changes and how our vaginal skin responds — is often the missing piece.

Driven largely by the media, menopause is often thought of in a negative (and wrinkly) light, as are postpartum bodies. This is often because it isn't openly talked about — and when women do face these changes, they may not realize how connected they all are. That's exactly why we built what we call The Girlfriend Network: a community of women sharing information, experiences, and real talk so no one has to figure this out alone.

We're all in this together. If any of this resonated with your own experience — share it with a woman who needs to hear it.