Hot flashes! Memory issues. Lower sex drive. Get your menopause answers
Dr. JoAnn Pinkerton is a menopause specialist. In fact, she's ranked nationally as top in her field.
We are so lucky to have her participate in our podcast and I'm certain you will want to listen to this one several times to get all of the nuggets from peri-menopause symptoms to hot flashes to sex.
The audio in one section of the interview was difficult to hear and we had to cut it out. That segment is important and I don't want you to miss it, so I've included a transcript of the conversation.
When describing painful sex, Dr. Pinkerton discussed something that many women don't know about, levator muscle spasms. "In the vagina, the inside cells narrow and it gets painful. But you also have muscles called the levator muscles. Those are muscles that when you’ve had painful sex [in the past], they spasm. A lot of times women will say, 'It feels like he’s hitting a wall and it feels like he just can’t get past it.' We can actually teach you to relax that muscle and therefore, it opens up the vagina more. We get some estrogen, more connective tissue and we can stretch it. Sometimes we’ll use dilators to help you learn to relax those muscles."
So, if you have pain with sex, you should talk to your doctor about the levator muscle, especially if you've had painful sex in the past.
Want to be a part of cutting edge treatment? Dr. Pinkerton is leading a clinical trial for a new treatment of menopause symptoms. You can sign up to participate here. www.oasisstudies.com
Listen to this insightful interview.
Here are some of her credentials.
Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Division Director Midlife Health, UVA Health
Executive Director Emeritus of the North America Menopause Society (NAMS)
NAMS Certified Menopause Practitioner
Long-time fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (NCMP)
Past President of the South Atlantic Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Past President of NAMS (2008-2009)
UVA Master Clinician Award 2019
Castle Connolly Exceptional Women in Medicine (2018-2021)
2013 Sharon Hostler Women in Leadership Award
Best Doctors and Top Doctors in America every year since 2010
2022 SAAOG Lifetime Achievement Award
Ranked as top 1% by America's Most Honored Professional 2020 to present
More than 140 peer-reviewed publications
30 invited papers
11 invited chapters
Principal Investigator for more than 30 clinical trials