Non prescription Vaginal Lubricants and Moisturizers

Vaginal lubricants may be needed after menopause to prevent vaginal dryness or discomfort with sexual intercourse. This is especially true for women who are not on estrogen replacement therapy, but even when taking estrogens, postmenopausal women may need additional lubrication.

Premenopausal women may also need vaginal moisturizers if they are low on estrogens because of anovulation, or if they do not lubricate well during vaginal intercourse. Some of the following considerations about the use of vaginal lubricants should considered:

You may want to look at some of our articles about painful intercourse:

• Painful Intercourse Due to Vulvar Vestibulitis
• Irritant Vulvitis Often Misdiagnosed as Yeast
• Painful Sex and Vulvar Skin Disease

Literature findings:

• Fertility
  • K-Y Jelly® Astroglide®, Replens®, and Touch® may decrease sperm motility if you are trying to conceive
  • Canola (vegetable) oil and baby oil do not alter sperm motility
• Contraception
  • All lubricants may increase condom slippage for about 2% to 4% 
  • Oil-based lubricants, as opposed to water-based lubricants, may slightly increase the incidence of latex condom breakage
• Vaginal Dryness
  • Clearance from the vagina occurs quickly in some women and slowly in others
  • For vaginal dryness, most moisturizer preparations are effective in about 60-65% of women
• Painful intercourse
  • For painful intercourse, the bioadhesive preparations are slightly more effective (60% vs 40% success)
  • Bioadhesive vaginal preparations, e.g., Replens® are AS effective as estrogen hormonal vaginal creams in helping dryness and painful intercourse