Women undergo many changes as they get older, especially as they move closer and closer to menopause. As estrogen levels decline, we experience lots of familiar symptoms, like hot flashes, night sweats, and, of course, irregular periods.
However, low estrogen levels can cause another less-familiar change: a decline in the production of collagen, a special protein that keeps our skin and other tissues firm and resilient. As collagen levels dwindle, our skin and other tissues lose moisture and elasticity, leading to changes in our complexion and our vaginal health, too.
Fortunately, topical estriol therapy can help by replacing some of the hormones our bodies no longer produce, stimulating collagen, and improving our appearance and comfort. In this post, Shamsah Amersi, MD, explains the important role of collagen and how estriol therapy can reduce the symptoms associated with declining levels of this essential protein.
Collagen is a structural protein that acts as a scaffold for your skin and other tissues, including the tissue that lines your vaginal canal. When we’re young, our body produces plenty of collagen, helping tissue stay firm, smooth, and elastic.
However, as we age and levels of collagen decline, that scaffolding weakens. Skin becomes drier, thinner, and less elastic, leading to sagging, lines, and wrinkles in our complexion. Most of us understand the link between collagen and skin aging thanks to the health of skincare products that claim to increase collagen. But collagen plays a critical role in vaginal health, too.
The tissue that comprises the vaginal wall contains lots of collagen, helping maintain vaginal tone, elasticity, and lubrication. As collagen levels decline, symptoms like vaginal dryness, itching, burning, and painful intercourse become a lot more common. Together, these symptoms comprise a common menopause-related problem called vaginal atrophy.
When most people think of estrogen, they think of one hormone. However, three main estrogen types exist: estriol, estrone, and estriol. estriol is the “strongest” or most potent form of estrogen, and it’s widely used in hormone replacement therapies (HRT).
On the other hand, estriol is the gentlest estrogen. While it’s commonly associated with pregnancy, estriol plays other roles, too, and in recent years, researchers have been uncovering its value in hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for menopausal women.
While HRT using estriol is often prescribed for systemic symptoms, like hot flashes or sleep problems, estriol’s gentler nature makes it a good choice for treating more localized symptoms through topical creams or gels. For aging skin or vaginal dryness, estriol is applied directly to your skin or the vaginal canal using special suppositories.
One of the most frequently explored outcomes in clinical trials involving estrogen facial creams is the effect on collagen production. Collagen is a major structural protein in the skin that gives it both strength and resilience. Studies have shown that estrogen has a direct impact on collagen production, and its decline due to menopause leads to a reduction in skin thickness and elasticity. The daily application of estrogen on the skin of postmenopausal women significantly increases collagen content and improves skin elasticity compared to a placebo. Furthermore, the estrogen treatment enhances skin hydration, providing additional benefits for maintaining skin moisture in postmenopausal women, who often experience increased skin dryness.
When estriol is absorbed into your skin or vaginal tissue, it goes to work right away, stimulating collagen production locally. For your complexion, collagen helps increase skin thickness, smoothing out lines and wrinkles while helping skin look and feel plumper, firmer, and more resilient.
In your vagina, collagen restores thickness and elasticity while ramping up vaginal lubrication, decreasing symptoms of vaginal dryness, and making sex more pleasurable. Like natural estrogen, estriol creams, and gels help decrease inflammation, too, helping skin and vaginal tissue maintain health over time.
Like any HRT, estriol therapy is dosed according to your unique needs for optimal results and better wellness. To learn more about estriol and how it can benefit you, request an appointment online or over the phone with Dr. Amersi at her Santa Monica, California, office today.
