371 – Women’s sexual health: desire, arousal, and orgasms, navigating perimenopause, and more

Sally Greenwald is an OB-GYN who specializes in women’s sexual health from a hormonal and physiologic perspective, with expertise spanning desire, arousal, pelvic floor function, contraception, and menopause care. In this episode, she explains why sexual health is a vital component of overall well-being, exploring topics such as the drivers of desire, the anatomy of sexual function, myths and realities around orgasm, and the role of hormones in perimenopause and menopause. She also covers vaginal and pelvic health, pain with sex, evidence-based therapies for low desire and arousal, how contraception and medications can affect sexual function, and practical strategies for enhancing sexual satisfaction and maintaining intimacy across life stages. This episode offers a comprehensive, evidence-based discussion with immediate real-world relevance for women as well as for men who want to better understand their partners.

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We discuss:
0:00:00 - Intro
0:00:11 - How sexual health influences physical health, emotional well-being, and relationships
0:10:21 - Understanding the physiology of the female orgasm, sexual comfort and satisfaction, and the disparity between men and women
0:16:57 - Foreplay, the science of desire, and methods to help women cultivate arousal and connection
0:22:10 - The physiology and sources of female lubrication, the role of clitoral nerve anatomy in pleasure, and the use of lubricants and vibrators to enhance comfort and sexual health
0:30:19 - Understanding female anatomy and what is needed for orgasm
0:41:40 - Understanding sexual desire, how to cultivate it, the role of hormones, and testosterone therapy in women
0:50:48 - Personalizing perimenopause care: how desire for ovulation guides the choice between contraception and menopausal hormone therapy
1:02:13 - Considerations for choosing contraceptives and hormonal therapies during perimenopause
1:15:11 - Factors negatively affecting desire, and why female libido persists with age and fluctuates across the menstrual cycle
1:19:48 - How sexual trauma and physical pain can affect sexual health, and evidence-based strategies for recovery
1:24:29 - Vaginal care routine: lubricants, moisturizers, topical hormones, and other approaches for vaginal health
1:32:05 - Tips for sexually satisfying your female partner
1:37:15 - The pharmacology of arousal: various treatments for low sexual desire in women
1:45:31 - Sex during and after pregnancy: impact on arousal, safety of sex, and how to manage postpartum recovery and pain
1:50:24 - How Sally would redesign sex education
1:58:22 - Sally’s optimism about a new era in women’s sexual health

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About:

The Peter Attia Drive is a deep-dive podcast focusing on maximizing longevity, and all that goes into that from physical to cognitive to emotional health. With over 90 million episodes downloaded, it features topics including exercise, nutritional biochemistry, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, mental health, and much more.

Peter Attia is the founder of Early Medical, a medical practice that applies the principles of Medicine 3.0 to patients with the goal of lengthening their lifespan and simultaneously improving their healthspan.

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