Dry Down There and Sex Hurts? An OB/GYN Ranks the Top 5 Supplements That Bring Your Moisture Back Daily, From the Inside

Most women assume it is just age, and that dry and sore is simply how it goes from here.

It is not your fault, and it can change. The dryness starts in the lining inside your vagina, a place no cream or lube ever reaches.

Before menopause that lining is thick and plump, and it makes its own moisture all day long. As estrogen falls, it thins out and stops feeding itself.

That is why the relief never lasts. Lube and creams sit on top of the tissue for an hour or two, then the dryness comes right back.

And a thin, starved lining throws the rest out of balance. The good bacteria down there (your flora) lose ground, so odor and itch start showing up next to the dryness.

To fix it for good, three things must happen.

1. The thinning lining gets fed from the inside, every single day.

2. It thickens up again and starts making its own moisture once more.

3. The flora comes back into balance, so odor and itch settle down.

Until that happens, you live with it. You keep lube in the nightstand and brace every time he reaches for you. Some nights you just say you're tired.

One patient told me it felt like her insides were thinner and full of little tears during sex.

Another said her husband took it personally, no matter how hard she tried to explain. This is a lining problem, and it can be fixed from inside.

For years women have been told dryness is just part of getting older, and to buy more lube.

Lube has its place. But it is rented relief. You pay for it every night, and the lining underneath gets no better.

Creams, gels and inserts all work the same way. They coat the surface, and the starved tissue below keeps thinning.

The real fix is something you swallow, once a day.

That is where omega-7 comes in. It is the oil from sea buckthorn berries, and a starving lining feeds on it.

So I ranked the five most popular dryness supplements, from weakest to best.

These are easy to take and taste like candy. Probiotics can help the flora, which is a real part of the picture.

Plenty of women start here, and I understand why. They are everywhere.

The trouble is they do nothing for the lining itself. The tissue stays thin and makes no moisture of its own, so sex still hurts. Most are mainly candy with a few strains added.

Verdict: A fine start for odor, but the dryness and the pain stay right where they were.

Black cohosh is the classic menopause herb. Women mostly take it for hot flashes and night sweats, and some find it takes the edge off the heat within a few weeks.

It only ranks fourth because it was built for the heat. Nothing in it feeds the tissue down there or brings any moisture back.

If hot flashes are your only problem, it may help. If sex hurts, this will not change it.

Verdict: Wrong target. It cools the heat and leaves the dryness and the pain untouched.

Hyaluronic acid holds water like a sponge, and it has a strong name in skin care. I liked seeing it aimed at dryness.

Some women say their skin and lips feel softer on it, which is a nice plus.

What it is missing is omega-7. A sponge can only hold the water it is given. A thin lining still cannot make moisture of its own, so the dryness inside barely moves.

Verdict: Good for skin. Too little for a lining that has stopped making its own moisture.

This one gets the most important thing right. Sea buckthorn oil is the natural source of omega-7, the oil that feeds the lining.

It is the right oil, and it goes to the right place. I was glad to see it on the list.

Where it falls short is the flora. It feeds the lining and leaves the balance down there alone, so odor and itch can hang on. It does nothing for heat, sleep, mood or the belly.

Verdict: Right oil, missing the flora. A strong second place, and only half of what a lining after menopause needs.

Prima Inner Moisture is the only one on my list that does both jobs. One daily softgel feeds the thinning lining with omega-7 and backs the flora down there, with no hormones.

First, it leads with omega-7 from sea buckthorn oil. In a 2014 study in Maturitas, 116 women after menopause took sea buckthorn oil or a placebo daily for 3 months. The lining improved more on the oil than on the placebo.

Second, it backs the flora, which #2 skips. When the lining is fed and the flora is back in balance, the odor and itch that come with dryness settle as well. Moisture and freshness, one softgel.

Third, the same softgel goes after the rest of menopause too: fewer hot flashes, full nights of sleep, a steadier mood and a flatter menopause belly.

Verdict: The only supplement here that feeds the lining from inside and backs the flora too, hormone free, for as little as $0.82 a day.

Dryness after menopause starts when the lining inside thins and stops making its own moisture. Anything that only coats the surface buys you an hour.

Prima Inner Moisture feeds that lining from inside, so you stop bracing when he reaches for you.

Whatever you choose, make sure it passes these four checks before you spend another dollar on dryness.

Prima Inner Moisture passes all four. On the 4-pack it comes to just $0.82 a day, and every order gets 60 days, one-click money back.

And if your doctor keeps telling you it is just age, or hands you one more tube of lube, it is not your fault. Most of us were trained to treat the surface. Now you know what the lining needs.