How to deal with menopause symptoms impacting intimacy

Dr Angela Wright is a GP, a menopause specialist and a clinical sexologist.

She has joined us on our 'Menopause and Cancer Roadshow' – a campaign to raise awareness of 'crash menopause', which can be a debilitating side effect of cancer treatment for many people.

Watch her video on managing 'crash' menopause symptoms that affect intimacy, or find out more below.

What is crash menopause?

A medically or surgically induced menopause can be triggered by a range of cancer treatments at any age.

The effects can come on so suddenly and feel so intense that it’s sometimes known as a ‘crash menopause’.

You can find out more about crash menopause here.

How to manage the impacts of crash menopause on intimacy

Dr Wright shares her top tips to help you deal with the symptoms of menopause caused by cancer treatment that have an impact on intimacy.

1) Look after your body

The body really changes with crash menopause. So to support better intimacy, we’ve got to look after our bodies.

There are things you can do every day to look after the tissues of the vagina and the vulva to keep them supple and healthy.

I advise using emollients to moisturise the tissues on the outside – the vulval tissues – on a daily basis, and massage those tissues to keep them healthy. Something really plain, like an Epaderm cream or E45.

You can speak to your GP for more guidance.

2) Look after how your mind feels

A great exercise to do to look after your mind and how you feel is called ‘Pleasure mapping’.

To do this exercise, write a list of all the things in your life that give you sensory pleasure in your body.

It isn’t just about sexual things – it could be eating, drinking, moving, feeling...

Once you have a list of all those things, it's about making time and prioritising the activities that give you pleasure.

3) Look after your relationship with yourself or your partner

It’s important to think about the relationship you have with yourself or with your sexual partner.

This might mean starting conversations, such as what you miss, what you used to enjoy, and what your aspirations might be about bringing those things back into your day-to-day life.

How Maggie's can help

We run 'Menopause and cancer' courses, either in our centres or online, to give support and practical advice on all aspects of the crash menopause.

Maggie’s menopause workshops or individual support are available through all 24 UK centres and have already helped countless people.

To find out more about Maggie’s free 'Menopause and cancer' workshops, you can:

• contact your nearest Maggie's centre
• email us at enquiries@maggies.org
• call us on 0300 123 1801

Our contact hours are 9–5, Monday to Friday.

You can also find more information about menopause and cancer here.

Last review: Jul 2024 | Next review: Jul 2027