Women’s Sexual Wellness: Understanding Non-Surgical Treatment Options
Changes in sexual health can occur at many stages of a woman’s life.
Some women experience vaginal dryness, discomfort during sexual activity, changes in arousal or sensation, changes in orgasm, or other concerns during perimenopause, menopause, after childbirth, or at other times.
These concerns are common, but they are also highly individual.
Women may encounter a growing number of treatments marketed as “sexual rejuvenation,” “vaginal rejuvenation,” or non-surgical sexual-wellness therapies. Before choosing one of these options, it is important to understand what may be contributing to your symptoms and what evidence exists for the treatment being considered.
At OTR Health & Wellness, the first step should be an individualized clinical evaluation—not an assumption that one procedure is appropriate for every woman.
Sexual-Wellness Concerns Can Have Many Causes
Female sexual function involves physical, hormonal, psychological, interpersonal, and medical factors.
Changes may be associated with factors such as:
Perimenopause or menopause
Vaginal dryness or discomfort
Certain medications
Medical conditions
Pelvic-floor concerns
Pregnancy or childbirth
Stress
Sleep
Mental health
Relationship factors
Changes in sexual desire or arousal
Other individual circumstances
More than one factor may be involved.
That is why symptoms should not automatically be attributed to aging, hormones, “poor blood flow,” or a need for tissue rejuvenation.
Start With the Concern, Not the Procedure
Women seeking sexual-wellness care sometimes arrive after hearing about a particular procedure online or through advertising.
A better starting point is to identify the specific concern.
For example:
Is sexual activity uncomfortable?
Has desire changed?
Is vaginal dryness the primary concern?
Has orgasm become more difficult?
Did symptoms begin around menopause, after childbirth, or after starting a medication?
Are urinary or pelvic-floor symptoms present?
Different concerns may have different causes and treatment options.
A treatment that may be reasonable for one patient may have little relevance to another.
What Treatment Options May Be Considered?
Treatment depends on the patient and the nature of the concern.
Depending on the circumstances, a healthcare professional may discuss options such as:
Lubricants or vaginal moisturizers
Evaluation of medications that may affect sexual function
Pelvic-floor evaluation or therapy
Treatment of an underlying medical condition
Menopausal hormone therapy when clinically appropriate
Certain local vaginal therapies
Mental-health or relationship support when appropriate
Other prescription or nonprescription approaches
Procedures with more limited evidence, after appropriate informed discussion
Not every option is appropriate for every patient.
What Is the O-Shot®?
The O-Shot® is a term used to market a procedure involving platelet-rich plasma, or PRP.
PRP is prepared from a patient’s own blood. Blood is collected and processed to concentrate platelets, and the resulting preparation is injected into selected areas.
PRP has been investigated and used in a variety of medical contexts.
However, that does not mean every proposed use of PRP has been established as safe or effective.
For women’s sexual-wellness concerns, patients should understand that PRP injections marketed as the O-Shot® are not FDA-approved to treat female sexual dysfunction, improve orgasm, increase sexual sensitivity, treat urinary incontinence, or provide vaginal rejuvenation.
Clinical evidence for these uses remains limited.
What Can the O-Shot® Be Expected to Do?
No particular result should be promised.
Marketing claims sometimes suggest that PRP injections can:
Regenerate vaginal or clitoral tissue
Create new blood vessels
Increase sensitivity
Produce stronger orgasms
Increase lubrication
Restore youthful sexual function
Treat urinary incontinence
Permanently improve sexual satisfaction
Patients should not interpret those claims as established or guaranteed outcomes.
If PRP treatment is being considered, the healthcare professional should discuss the proposed use, available evidence, uncertainty of benefit, potential risks, alternatives, and cost.
Individual experiences can vary and do not establish that a treatment is effective for other patients.
What Is Acoustic Sound Wave Therapy?
Acoustic pressure-wave therapy is another non-surgical treatment sometimes marketed for sexual wellness.
Different technologies may be described using similar terminology, so it is important to know what device and energy-delivery method are actually being used.
OTR Health & Wellness uses radial acoustic pressure-wave technology.
Radial acoustic pressure waves are not the same as focused low-intensity extracorporeal shockwave therapy.
Research involving focused shockwave technology should not automatically be interpreted as evidence that radial acoustic pressure-wave therapy will produce the same effects or clinical outcomes.
What Can Radial Acoustic Pressure-Wave Therapy Be Expected to Do?
Evidence for radial acoustic pressure-wave therapy for female sexual-wellness concerns is limited.
Accordingly, patients should not be promised that treatment will:
Regenerate tissue
Create new blood vessels
Restore vaginal tissue
Increase lubrication
Increase clitoral sensitivity
Improve orgasm
Reverse sexual dysfunction
Treat urinary incontinence
Produce permanent sexual rejuvenation
If this treatment is being considered, patients should understand the technology being used and discuss the available evidence, limitations, potential risks, alternatives, and cost.
What About Combining the O-Shot® With Acoustic Therapy?
Offering two treatments together does not establish that the combination is more effective.
Claims of a “synergistic” effect should be supported by appropriate clinical evidence for the particular treatments, technologies, and condition being treated.
Patients considering combined PRP and radial acoustic pressure-wave treatment should understand that evidence for the combined approach is limited and that a particular outcome cannot be guaranteed.
What Role Can Hormones Play?
Hormonal changes associated with menopause can contribute to certain genitourinary and sexual-health concerns.
For appropriately selected patients, hormone therapy or local hormonal treatment may be considered depending on the symptoms being addressed, medical history, potential risks and benefits, and other clinical factors.
However, hormone therapy is not a universal treatment for low libido, difficulty reaching orgasm, relationship concerns, or every sexual-health complaint.
Likewise, a sexual-health concern does not by itself establish that a woman has a “hormone imbalance.”
Treatment should follow an appropriate evaluation.
Sexual Desire Is More Complicated Than a Hormone Level
Changes in desire can be influenced by many factors, including:
Physical health
Medications
Hormonal changes
Stress
Mental health
Sleep
Pain or discomfort
Relationship factors
Life circumstances
For that reason, low desire should not automatically be treated as evidence that a woman needs hormone therapy or a sexual-wellness procedure.
Persistent or distressing changes in sexual desire deserve an individualized conversation with an appropriate healthcare professional.
What About Urinary Symptoms?
Urinary leakage and other urinary symptoms can also have multiple causes.
Women experiencing urinary incontinence, urinary urgency, recurrent symptoms, pelvic-floor concerns, or other urinary changes should receive appropriate evaluation.
PRP injections or radial acoustic pressure-wave therapy should not be represented as established replacements for appropriate evaluation or evidence-based treatment of urinary conditions.
Depending on the patient, referral to a gynecologist, urogynecologist, pelvic-floor therapist, urologist, or another healthcare professional may be appropriate.
Questions to Ask Before a Sexual-Wellness Procedure
Before choosing a procedure, consider asking:
What exactly are we trying to treat?
What could be causing my symptoms?
What technology or procedure are you recommending?
Is this treatment FDA-approved for this use?
What clinical evidence supports it?
What evidence specifically supports the device being used?
What are the potential risks or side effects?
What results are realistic?
How long might any benefit last?
What alternatives are available?
What happens if the treatment does not help?
What will the treatment cost?
You should feel comfortable asking these questions.
There Is No One-Size-Fits-All Solution
Women’s sexual wellness is personal.
A procedure that one patient believes helped her may not produce the same experience for another patient.
Testimonials, before-and-after stories, and individual patient experiences should not be interpreted as guarantees of treatment effectiveness.
The appropriate approach begins with understanding the patient’s concern and considering the available options.
An Individualized Approach at OTR Health & Wellness
At OTR Health & Wellness, women can discuss sexual-health concerns in a confidential clinical setting.
Depending on the concern, evaluation may include discussion of symptoms, health history, medications, hormonal changes, previous treatments, sexual-health history, and other relevant factors.
When treatment is considered, your healthcare professional can discuss available options along with their potential benefits, risks, limitations, alternatives, and evidence.
Scheduling a consultation does not guarantee that a particular treatment or procedure will be recommended.
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Important Medical Information
This article is provided for general educational purposes and is not a substitute for individualized medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Female sexual-health concerns can have multiple potential causes and may require evaluation by an appropriate healthcare professional.
PRP procedures marketed as the O-Shot® are not FDA-approved treatments for female sexual dysfunction, orgasmic disorders, urinary incontinence, or vaginal rejuvenation. Evidence for these uses remains limited.
OTR Health & Wellness uses radial acoustic pressure-wave technology. Radial acoustic pressure-wave therapy is not equivalent to focused low-intensity extracorporeal shockwave therapy, and evidence involving one technology should not automatically be applied to another.
Individual results vary. No improvement in orgasm, sexual sensitivity, lubrication, desire, urinary symptoms, tissue regeneration, blood flow, sexual satisfaction, or other outcome is guaranteed.
Hormone therapy and prescription treatments are provided only when determined to be medically appropriate following an appropriate clinical evaluation.
If you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 911 or seek immediate emergency medical attention.
