Seems that post-menopausal women have kept tight-lipped about this one.
On social media this week, thousands of women have been shocked to learn that part of the vulva can actually disappear during “the change.”
“These labia minora — when you’re a baby you don’t have them, you grow them in puberty, and you lose them in menopause,” Dr. Rachel Rubin, a board-certified urologist and sexual medicine expert, recently said in a TikTok.
That was certainly news to the video’s 1.2 million viewers, most of whom were women who had no idea that’s what was in store for their own bodies.
“You LOSE them?! I’m sorry… what?! I’m 41… how much time do I have left with my lips?” one stunned woman commented.
“Science education has failed us bc WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE LOSE THEM???” demanded another horrified viewer.
Many had questions about the mechanics, with one asking, “Do they just fall off? Do we get money for them like baby teeth?”
Several, meanwhile asked their post-menopausal mothers to weigh in, though few seemed to get straight answers.
Science doesn’t have many answers, either: “There’s a lack of research on this part of the body,” Rubin said. “Literally all the research we have is from when people want to cut off their labia to look more like porn stars.”
The change you didn’t know about
Menopause — the stage when a woman’s menstrual periods stop permanently and pregnancy is no longer possible — typically begins between the ages of 45 and 55. Common symptoms include hot flashes, night sweats, sleep disturbances and pain during sex.
There are some changes many women don’t expect, including the shrinking of the labia minora, or the “inner lips” of the vulva. These sensitive folds play a vital role in protecting the vaginal and urethral openings from infection, irritation and dryness, while also contributing to sexual arousal and lubrication.
In youth, the labia minora are typically very small, developing during puberty due to hormonal changes. As women age, they typically decrease in size, and in some cases, can disappear entirely, according to Dr. Stephanie Finley, an OB/GYN based in Florida.
The labia minora aren’t the only part of the vulva that changes during menopause.
Finley points out that women can also experience loss of pubic hair, a shrinking of the mons pubis (the fatty mound above the pubic bones), and a reduction in the size of the labia majora — or the outer lips — along with the clitoris and its hood.
“We don’t exactly know all the reasons for this, but there is aging that occurs everywhere throughout our bodies, and the vulva is not any different, Finley said in a TikTok response to Rubin’s viral post.
Rubin is actively investigating the issue, aiming to uncover whether estrogen or testosterone are responsible for these changes, if every woman experiences them the same way, and whether the labia minora can ever grow back.
Why no one is talking about it
First time hearing that your labia minora could shrink later in life? You’re not alone. Rubin’s video sparked over 5,000 comments, many of them from shocked viewers who had no idea this happens to women as they age.
In an Instagram video, Rubin shared her theory on why so many are just now learning about vulvar changes in menopause: a lack of information among healthcare professionals.
“When I was in med school, we were allowed to do one pelvic exam on one person and we were told to stay away from the clitoris so as not to make the patient ‘uncomfortable’,” Rubin said.
So, while doctors are routinely trained how to use speculums, find the cervix, and perform pap smears, Rubin said they’re not taught how to properly examine vulvas.
“It’s a huge problem because they do change,” Rubin said. “If no one teaches your doctor this, then when you go to them for pain and dryness and painful sex, they actually won’t know how to help you.”
