Article contributed by Catie Blair, NP-C
 
Up to half of post-menopausal women experience symptoms of vaginal atrophy including dryness, discomfort, painful intercourse, and urinary incontinence.  Millions of women are coping with these symptoms every day, often unaware of their treatment options or just settling that these are symptoms they must endure following menopause.  What if they were aware of a safe treatment option that was hormone and relatively pain free?  Imagine the improvement to the quality of their lives and intimate relationships.  

MonaLisa Touch is a laser therapy introduced in 2004 for treatment of vaginal atrophy that requires no anesthesia and allows for return to sexual activity within a short period of time.  The laser works by stimulating blood flow and collagen to the vaginal mucosa, improving tissue quality and pH.  Over 90% of patients see improvement with little to no side effect, which may include swelling, redness, itching, and burning that self-resolve within a few days. Improvement can be seen within 3 treatments, often maintaining results for a year.

For those patients looking for treatment of genitourinary symptoms of menopause, especially those breast cancer survivors who are looking to avoid hormone therapy, MonaLisa Touch may be the right option for you.  Initially, vaginal lubricants or creams are often recommended for improvement of discomfort during intimacy.  When this is no longer helpful, estrogen therapy is often initiated. 

However, hormone therapy is not always an option for those breast cancer survivors with a history of estrogen receptor positive cancer.  What’s next for those patients? Many of whom underwent life saving measures with removal of their ovaries and mastectomies inducing an early menopause.  MonaLisa Touch can offer a safe and effective option for the relief of symptoms and renewal of intimacy.      
 
Irene S. is a patient of BioSymmetry Wilmington who underwent MonaLisa Touch and is a proponent of her results.  Irene shares, “I am in the Menopause stage and I refer to it as the Menopause Mafia.  It has corrupted the norms of my life with dryness, burning, UTIs, and even wearing pants hurts.  Let’s not forget putting a pause on my man AKA husband.  The MonaLisa is worth every cent because it literally allows you to life pain free without additional lubricants.  The staff is amazing and understand that Women deserve to be pain free and continue intimacy with their significant other.  I would tell any woman, DO it because it will literally make your life menopause Magical!!!”

If you are interested in learning more about MonaLisa Touch, please contact the staff at BioSymmetry Wilmington at 910-399-6661 or go to biosymmetrywilmington.com.

Catie is a family nurse practitioner with over 15 years of medical experience.  She has been with BioSymmetry Wilmington for 3 years and specializes in aesthetic procedures and hormone replacement therapy. Both Catie and Dr. Allen Holmes perform MonaLisa touch at BioSymmetry Wilmington.