Over Half of Women Silently Endure This Pain — Don't Tough It Out! The Earlier You Intervene, the Better

Dryness, painful intercourse, recurrent UTIs — many women over 40 face these issues in silence. This is Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause (GSM), a real medical condition with effective treatments.

In the gynecology clinic, I always encounter scenes like these:

"Doctor, I've been very dry down there recently, and it always hurts during intercourse."

"Doctor, I've had urinary tract infections four times in the past six months. Each time I finish antibiotics it gets better, but a month later it comes back again. Am I not washing properly?"

Dryness, painful intercourse, recurrent urinary tract infections — many women encounter these problems after age 40, but they can never bring themselves to speak up, believing it's their own fault and that they just need to tough it out.

If you have similar concerns, I want to tell you directly: this is not your fault, it's not just "getting old," and it's certainly not because you're not washing properly enough.

This is a medical condition with an official name, a clear cause, and well-established treatment options — Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause (GSM).

1. What Is Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause?

In 2014, the International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health and the North American Menopause Society jointly proposed a new term — Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause (GSM) — to describe the range of vulvar, vaginal, bladder, and urethral symptoms that perimenopausal and postmenopausal women experience due to declining estrogen levels. If you have any of the following manifestations, you should take them seriously: