For many people who go through menopause, the ‘changes’ can wallop a big gut-punch to libidos.
One study by Kantar and Over The Bloody Moon’s “Redefining the Menopause” survey found that 51% of women report that menopause symptoms have impacted on their sex lives.
While everyone has their own unique experience of perimenopause and menopause, the classic symptoms and the common physical side-effects of low estrogen and testosterone normally include hot flushes, low libido, vaginal dryness and dyspareunia (pain during sex).
So what can be done to ease this? Well, the research also found that 34% of women found vaginal health products to make a positive difference during the menopause, ahead of other products or remedies.
With this in mind, one sexual wellness company has developed a range of dedicated products for those going through the different stages of menopause (starting from peri-menopause), called ‘Embrace and Thrive’.
Enter So Divine.
So Divine’s range of pelvic trainers, toys and lubricants for people experiencing menopause can help to encourage blood flow and lubrication for intimate areas to support and improve tissue health.
The use of sex toys promotes vaginal elasticity and may promote improved sexual function in menopausal people experiencing declining vaginal elasticity.
The saying ‘use it or lose it’ applies to all the muscles in your body – including the pelvic floor. Kegel balls are a vital part of rebuilding strength in the pelvic floor, and there are three sizes for progressive training.
This also applies to the five-piece dilator set that allows you to build up at a pace that suits you, and encourages the gentle relaxation of vaginal tightness, helping to encourage blood flow to the area and promoting vaginal health.
Meanwhile, the classic vibrator has been ergonomically designed and tapered to target the clitoris and other erogenous zones, and is perfectly sized for those new to sex toys.
And to help things go smoothly (pun fully intended), the intimate moisturiser is muco-adhesive and can help relieve vaginal atrophy and dryness for up to three days.
The best bit? You can actually now pick up a kit at your local supermarket. The ‘Embrace and Thrive’ range is not only available to purchase on the So Divine website but nationally in the UK with supermarket chains Tesco and Sainsbury’s (hooray to normalising pleasure!).
So Divine’s sexpert, Jess Wilde, comments on the range: ″The Embrace and Thrive range from So Divine is a breath of fresh air for people experiencing menopause and the sex toy industry as a whole.
“Seeing pleasure and sexual wellness being integrated into general health and wellbeing and being considered a form of treatment is groundbreaking in itself but, beyond the therapeutic benefits of the collection to directly help alleviate physical menopausal symptoms, this range does something perhaps even more important: it includes menopausal people in the conversation of sexual pleasure.”