Is sex after menopause healthy?

As people grow older, they long to have a satisfying sexual life. But regardless of the biological and physiological changes due to ageing that affect the quality of their sexual life, sex is not a
taboo in the elderly.

No one is too old for an enjoyable sex life and the desire for intimacy is timeless. Many researchers have confirmed that older people continue to enjoy sexual activity into their 80s and 90s. Regardless of this, women’s sexual health is quite important at any age. It is crucial and has many benefits, including improved self-image, nurtured partner relationships, and increased motivation to address health concerns.

It used to be common wisdom that women past the age of menopause were done with having sex because of diminishing hormones and age-related physical problems, which render sexual experiences not enjoyable and pleasant. Besides, many socio-cultural beliefs affect sexual activity in women past the age of menopause, which may result in their partners seeking for alternative sexual partners with the attendant problems of sexually transmitted infections.

For instance, “the belief that any woman that has reached menopause who indulges in sexual activity will have swollen abdomen or that the man or the husband who had sexual relationship with her will become impotent or go blind has been passed by words of mouth from one generation to another.

“In fact, a lot of women attribute the weakness, physical and medical problems experienced in old age to post-menopausal sexual activity. So in order not to get sick or develop swollen tummy because of the accumulation of semen, they believed that it was better to do away with sex, thereby pushing their husbands to seek alternative sexual partners. As a result, some of their husbands go to prostitutes or engage in extramarital affairs.

This was a cross-sectional study among 522 post-menopausal women aged between 40 and 65 years. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographic characteristics, attitude to socio-cultural beliefs regarding sexual activity and current sexual activity of respondents.

Overall, 45.7 per cent agreed with at least one of the stated socio-cultural beliefs. Among those who currently had partners, only 30.7 per cent reported engaging in sex despite reaching menopause.  Significantly higher proportions of those with no formal education (78.6 per cent), those aged above 50 years and had attained menopause, had stopped having sex.

Can sex in menopausal women lead to swollen tummy, cause impotence or ill health?  “There is no scientific basis for these beliefs. Take the myth on abdominal swelling due to accumulation of semen when menstruation stops. If you look at the physiology of the woman, the womb is faced down. If a man deposits semen into the woman, the semen will flow back due to the natural law of gravity. So there is nothing like accumulated semen, leading to abdominal swelling.

Dr Omobowale, while remarking that low sexual drive was possible in menopausal women because of the interplay of hormones, stated “at menopause, the production of hormones slows down or even comes to a complete stop. Due to this, a school of thought stated that because of excessive vaginal dryness, which leads to pain, some women might want to abstain from sex.

However, “another school of thought feels that you are only as old as you feel you are. A woman who feels she would have a low libido will end up having it low. There was a study done on this and they found that women in other parts of Nigeria do not believe in reduced libido with age.”

“In this study, for instance, an Ibo woman stated that as long as her husband is asking for sex, she would comply, even when they are about to enter their graves. This is unlike her Yoruba counterparts, which may with time abstain from sex after menopause. Menopause should not be a reason for menopausal women to stop having sex with their husbands as it goes a long way to ensure more closeness , and it is without the fear of an unwanted pregnancy. Fear of poor libido should not prevent women after menopause from having sexual relations with thir husbands.
Sex with a menopausal woman will not make a man to become impotent or catch any disease unless one of them had been indulging in extramarital affairs. Vaginal dryness should not be a barrier to sex in elderly women given that different creams are available in stores to ease dryness,  women should not be bothered about talks on poor libido. Frequency of sex varies from one couple to another. Since a couple had grown together, they will determine their own level of libido, not an outsider. If a woman feels the vagina is too loose because of the effect of child birth, then she can go for surgery to tighten it to make sex easier and more interesting for her husband.”
Menstruation has nothing to do with sex, after all women who have had their wombs removed for one reason or the other have sex even though they do not menstruate any longer. Indeed, menstruation, which is bleeding may actually disturb or abrupt sex. Due to withdrawal of hormones used in maintaining the feminine tissue in the woman, the lining of the vagina may easily become abased and as such more susceptible to infection. Other than this, there is nothing stopping any woman in menopause to have sex as much as the couple can tolerate it.

Of course, one should not expect women at this age to have the type of physical sex found in younger people. But as they can cope, nothing stops such a couple having sex if they practise safer sex. Sex is not only for procreation, but also for pleasure and enjoyment.”