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What happens to a woman’s sex life after hysterectomy? Hysterectomy, the removal of a woman’s uterus, is the second most common surgery among women in the United States. Approximately 600,000 are performed each year. During a hysterectomy, a surgeon takes out the whole uterus or just part of it. The fallopian tubes and ovaries may also be removed.
Deciding whether to have a hysterectomy can be a difficult and emotional process. What happens to a woman’s sex life after hysterectomy? Concerns about sexual activity following surgery are common.
First there is mandatory recovery time. Patients need to wait about six weeks before resuming sexual activity. This gives the top of the vagina time to safely heal.
Many women do not notice any change in sexual activity following a hysterectomy. In fact, gynecologists typically suggest hysterectomy will improve sexual response. That is because hysterectomy is often performed to relieve chronic pain or excessive bleeding. Once the pain is gone, sexual interest is renewed and some even experience an increase in sexual pleasure. Plus not worrying about pregnancy can have a positive effect.
When it comes to achieving and experiencing orgasm, there may be some changes. The uterus elevates during sexual excitement and contracts with orgasm. Women who had a hysterectomy may notice a difference in these sensations. Some gain sexual pleasure and orgasm from direct stimulation to the cervix. Without their cervix, they may have trouble reaching orgasm or find their orgasms are less intense. Cervix removal can also affect vaginal lubrication.
Pre-menopausal women who have their ovaries removed during a hysterectomy may experience vaginal dryness which can make intercourse uncomfortable. Using a water-based lubricant, a vaginal oestrogen cream or traditional Hormone Replacement Therapy, can alleviate the problem.
Psychological factors may also come into play. Changes in the way a woman feels about herself can directly impact sexual desire and satisfaction. The uterus is strongly associated with femininity and some women who have recently had a hysterectomy feel less womanly.
Pre-menopausal women who undergo the surgery to treat gynecological cancer may experience grief and possibly depression over the loss of fertility. For others, their menstrual cycle may have added to their sense of youthfulness. Women may also fear their partners will view them differently following a hysterectomy.
For those who experience sexual problems following a hysterectomy, visiting a psychologist, counselor or sex therapist may be helpful.
Stacy Lloyd is a writer and video producer in Phoenix, Arizona. A former television news journalist, she covered stories around the world. Currently, she produces corporate and non-profit videos and broadcast programming.
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Add a Comment14 Comments
There are ways to cope with some of the common problems women experience after hysterectomy, but there is no broad brush to paint all symptoms and problems women experience. Let's take them one at a time. If you could have improvement in three of the most bothersome symptoms you experience, what would those three things be, in the order of their importance?
September 15, 2010 - 9:01pmThis Comment
All of this is somewhat confusing and upseting to me. What I have learned is that I am 7x likely to have heart disease and if I take biohormone replacement therapy I am likely to have a stroke.
I was just trying to get over my depression however after reading all of this I am depressed again.
September 15, 2010 - 8:39pmI had a complete hysterectomy along with ovary removal, I now feel hopeless. (I am tired so my spelling my be off)
This Comment
Dr. Dach,
The topic is "Sex After Hysterectomy", not "To remove or not to remove the ovaries?" not whether to remove the ovaries.
The uterus is a hormone responsive sex organ that supports the bladder and the bowel. Women who experience uterine orgasm will not experience it without a uterus. During a total hysterectomy (removal of the uterus and cervix) the vagina is shortened, made into a closed pocket, and sutured shut at the top of the vagina.
When the uterus is removed women have a 3X greater incidence of heart disease, and when the ovaries are removed it's 7X greater. Taking exogenous estrogen, that which is not produced by the ovaries but it taken as a pill, patch, implant or injection, may reduce the risk to some degree, but it puts women at risk for blood clots that can cause a stroke.
Your link is to a bioidentical hormones website. Women are at increased risk for endometrial cancer, breast cancer and stroke from any type of hormones, whether they are bioidentical or manufactured by a large drug company.
The Hysterectomy Educational Resources and Services (HERS) Foundation has counseled over 900,000 women. Many women contact HERS who have endometrial cancer or who have had a blood clot that caused a stroke after taking bioidenticals, as women who take other estrogens, such as Premarin, Climara and Ogen.
Focusing on whether to remove the ovaries implies that hysterectomy is inconsequential, as long as your ovaries are not removed. Women and girls are not taught about the functions of their female organs. Watch the short video "Female Anatomy: the Functions of the Female Organs" at www.hersfoundation.org/anatomy and discover that the uterus and ovaries have critically important functions all of a woman's life. There is no age or time in a woman's life that she doesn't need her uterus and ovaries.
June 23, 2010 - 3:39pmThis Comment
I can't believe I live in such an enlightened age, that my Dr, against my consent and with full knowledge of the detrimental effects of hysterectomy/castration did exactly this to me.
April 24, 2010 - 7:18pmWhen will Dr's and society as a whole understand that a womans sex organs are just as valuable as a mans? When will they realize that destroying womens health and sexuality is criminal?
Hysterectomy/castration is the same as Female Genital Mutilation and needs to be outlawed!
This Comment
Dr. Dach, thank you for telling the truth about the damage that castrating women does to their overall health.
April 11, 2010 - 8:14amThis Comment
To Remove or Not to Remove the Ovaries? That is the Question
William Parker MD and Cathleen Rivera MD reported that removing the ovaries is detrimental to overall health and results in increased mortality. Dr. Parker followed 30,000 women for 24 years after their hysterectomy. Half had ovaries removed and half had ovaries preserved. The group with the ovaries removed had a higher all cause mortality rate, and therefore Dr. Parker recommended against removal.
Dr Parker also found that postoperative hormone replacement is very beneficial at reducing heart disease risk.
In a second study, Dr Cathleen Rivera followed 1,000 Pre-Menopausal women after hysterectomy, and found that removal of the ovaries resulted in a disturbing 84% increase in death from heart disease. However, if these women were given estrogen replacement after ovarian removal, they were protected with a 35% decrease in mortality from heart disease.
For references and More: http://www.drdach.com/Bioidenticals_Hysterectomy.html
Bioidentical Hormones After Hysterectomy
Jeffrey Dach MD
April 11, 2010 - 4:37amThis Comment
The loss of physical sexual sensation, and the loss of uterine orgasm, are not psychological or emotional. The uterus is a hormone responsive reproductive sex organ that supports the bladder and the bowel. The vagina is shortened, made into a closed pocket, and sutured shut at the top. Women are as psychologically and emotionally affected by having their sex organs removed as a man would be after his penis is amputated and his testicles are removed. It is more than patronizing and condescending to portray the losses women experience after removal of the female sex organs as anything but physical. A woman who is so traumatized by the fear of pregnancy that she needs a permanent solution has several forms of contraception available and if that is unacceptable, her partner can have a vasectomy or she can have her Fallopian tubes tied, she does not need her female organs removed any more than her partner needs his male organs removed in order to avoid pregnancy.
To understand female anatomy and the adverse effects of hysterectomy and female castration watch the short video "Female Anatomy: the Functions of the Female Organs" at http://www.hersfoundation.org/anatomy. It's every woman's right to know.
April 10, 2010 - 6:57amThis Comment
How cruel! some of us have no choice, except simply wanting to live and raise our children. Thank you for painting such a horrible picture!
June 22, 2010 - 9:17pmThis Comment
The truth is often cruel. And the truth needs to be told to stop this inhumane, cruel practice. I would sell my soul for my former life back, my former good health, my former sex life. I can't be the mother I used to be, or the wife or the friend I was before. My husband, children & friends now bear the burden of what some Dr did to me.
June 23, 2010 - 11:51amThis Comment
So are you saying you would rather not be a mother, wife etc at all??? Because that is where we would be. DEAD. Nice thing to wish on someone with little children and a husband. Some of us are just thankful to be alive.. But you're right.. sorry your sex life is not good and life is not the same for you. That is too bad. Make sure you make all the women feel like they are nothing without these parts. Let them know they may as well be dead. You should have something real in your life to worry about and maybe you would be thankful to be alive and not filled with cancer!
June 23, 2010 - 1:30pmThis Comment