Sexual Health

Public·1 member

March 15, 2024

Water-based Personal Lubricants for Vaginal Dryness: Pros and Cons

When choosing a personal lubricant for vaginal dryness at perimenopause and menopause, it is a good practice to read the labels on the package. The terms you should be looking for are - water-based, silicon-based, or oil-based.

Water-based lubricants are:

Widely available
Less expensive.
Rinse off easily from the skin and clothes - so they don’t stain.

BUT,

They run off easily which means multiple applications during intercourse.
To make water-based lubricants a certain consistency, manufacturers have to add chemicals like glycols which makes them "hyperosmolar" AND research has revealed that women who use lubricants with high osmolality have higher rates of both - vaginal infections and transmission of sexually transmitted infections or STIs. That's why the WHO (World Health Organization) has set an upper limit for osmolality for water-based lubricants at 1,200 mOsm/kg.

But despite that some of the most popular lubricants have osmolalities much higher than that, AND you won't find that written on the package.

So, how can you find a safe water-based lubricant -

A. Search for the lubricant and the term 'osmolality' on Google and make sure it is less than 1200 mOsm/kg (the lower, the better)

B. You can check the ingredients on the package and avoid those with the terms glycerol/ glycerine or glycol.