Sex After Cancer: What’s the Difference Between Lubricant and Moisturizer?

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Sometimes, women will experience sexual side effects during or after cancer treatment. Luckily, there are solutions. There are products like lubricants and moisturizers that can help women to feel comfortable being intimate again. Even though these two products may sound like they serve the same function, lubricants and moisturizers actually do two different things for women during sex.

“Lubricants are used for sexual activity. They’re usually water-based … you would use that both on yourself at the vaginal opening, and then on whatever is going in or near the vagina,” Dr. Jeanne Carter, a sexual psychologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, explained to SurvivorNet. Lubricants are used just for sexual activity, afterwards they can be washed off or they will break down naturally.

However, a moisturizer has several different uses. Moisturizers should be placed on the vulva, as well as inside the vagina, and be left there. These products are meant to absorb and improve tissue quality, hydration, and movement. “These products work very well on the vagina, but they also work really well on the vulva, which doesn’t usually get recommended” Dr. Carter said. “The reasons we pay attention to this is that the tissue outside of the vagina, which we call the vestibule and the folds of the female genital area, which we call the vulva, can have dryness and discomfort as well.”

Dr. Carter said she and her colleagues advocate for moisturizing both in the vagina and on the vulva at least 3 to 5 times per week for women experiencing dryness or discomfort due to cancer treatment.

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Dr. Jeanne Carter is a sexual psychologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Read More

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