It's #DryJanuary, so let's take a moment to talk about vaginal dryness.

The term "vaginal dryness" can be a little misleading when recognising it. It makes it sound as if the symptom is always, well, a dry vag. But there's other symptoms too, and sometimes your vagina might not *feel* dry - you might notice unusual discharge.

The main symptoms of vaginal dryness are pain during sex involving your vagina and/or vulva; soreness and itchiness; unusual discharge; spotting; needing to pee more often; and repeat UTIs.

If you experience any of the above symptoms, do please speak to a medical professional. These symptoms can also be symptoms of other conditions as well as vaginal dryness. Also, none of these symptoms are things you just have to suck up and deal with, so get checked out!

Vaginal dryness is typically associated with menopause (it's especially common around menopause) but it can affect anyone. Sometimes vaginal dryness is linked to oestrogen levels. This means if you're pregnant, breastfeeding, taking testosterone HRT for gender care, or taking the hormonal contraceptives you might experience it.

Vaginal dryness is also linked to other medications which don't affect hormones. Some antidepressants and antihistamines can cause it, as well as many cancer treatments. Oh, and some health conditions are linked to vaginal dryness too - diabetes and Sjögren's syndrome are linked. And there's a genetic component, too - sometimes vaginal dryness is simply in your genes.

And finally, sometimes vaginal dryness is linked to external circumstances. You might be insufficiently aroused during sex. Washing your vagina with products such as scented soaps or douches can also cause vaginal dryness.

So vaginal dryness is incredibly common, because there's a lot of causes which include common life events, commonly-prescribed medications, and common underlying health conditions.

But great news! It's often very easy to treat!

Sometimes vaginal dryness related to sex can be treated as simply as by using lube (or getting a better boyfriend), or putting down the douchebag and letting your vagina work its self-cleaning magic.

Vaginal moisturisers are an effective treatment for many cases of vaginal dryness. These are available in most pharmacies. Please don't be putting face or body moisturiser up there, that stuff is completely different and will probably make things worse.

Oestrogen-based HRT can effectively treat many cases of vaginal dryness. HRT that affects your whole body can be prescribed for menopause or after treatments which induce menopause, such as surgeries which remove the ovaries.

Alternatively, vaginal oestrogen is available over the counter in the UK. This works a little differently to standard HRT as very little oestrogen enters the rest of the body. If you're on testosterone or worried about health effects of an HRT regimen, vaginal oestrogen could be right for you.

So. Vaginal dryness is very common, AND very treatable. So why is visibility so low? It all comes back to shame and stigma. We've said a lot in this thread about how vaginal dryness is common, but can't actually put a number on prevalence, because measuring requires honest reporting in surveys or speaking to a medical professional.