Your body isn't broken, my gynecologist said gently.
"What you're experiencing is called vaginal atrophy. And it happens to most women after menopause."
She leaned back in her chair and grabbed a pen from her desk.
"Let me show you what's actually happening."
She drew three simple circles.
"First, when estrogen drops, blood flow to your vaginal tissue slows down." Think of it like a garden that stops getting water. Everything starts to dry out.
"Second, less blood flow means your tissue loses elasticity." The walls become thinner. More fragile. More prone to discomfort.
"And third—this is the part most women miss—lubricant only masks the dryness. It doesn't restore the tissue."
"Wait," I interrupted. "So the lube was never going to fix it?"
"Exactly." She smiled. "Lube masks the symptom. Circulation fixes the cause."