Podcasts · unPAUSED with Dr. Mary Claire Haver
Painful Sex, Dryness and Menopause with the Vagina Whisperer
· 43 min
Episode Painful Sex, Dryness and Menopause with the Vagina Whisperer
In this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver continues her conversation with board certified pelvic floor physical therapist Dr. Sara Reardon, known on social media as The Vagina Whisperer — and this time it’s the toolkit: what you can actually do, starting today, to protect and rebuild your pelvic floor. They begin with pessaries, the internal support devices so few women are offered, why getting one fitted properly is harder than it should be, and the over-the-counter silicone supports that let women run, lift, and travel leak-free while they strengthen. From there they get into the everyday habits that quietly weaken the pelvic floor: pushing when you pee, straining on the toilet, scrolling past the five-minute mark, and holding your breath while lifting — plus hemorrhoids, what healthy stool should look like, and why a simple toilet stool changes everything.
They then take a deeper dive into genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM), why nearly three quarters of women with symptoms never mention them to a clinician, and why hormones alone aren’t enough — you lose urinary sphincter strength every year after age 35, so the muscle training has to happen too. Dr. Reardon covers keeping vaginal tissue healthy with or without a partner, what vaginismus is and why “just relax” fails, the woman who endured ten years of searing pain — and surgery to remove her labia — when the real culprit was a compressed pudendal nerve, the $5 billion vaginal rejuvenation industry, her five free daily pelvic floor habits, and the message she wants every woman to hear: it’s never too late, with patients in their 80s and 90s still getting better.
Guest links: Dr. Sara Reardon (Instagram) https://www.instagram.com/the.vagina.whisperer/ Dr. Sara Reardon / The Vagina Whisperer (Website) https://thevagwhisperer.com/ NOLA Pelvic Health (Website) https://www.nolapelvichealth.com/ The V-Hive App (The Vagina Whisperer) https://thevagwhisperer.com/membership/
Books: “Floored: A Woman’s Guide to Pelvic Floor Health at Every Age and Stage,” by Dr. Sara Reardon https://thevagwhisperer.com/floored/ “The New Perimenopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver https://thepauselife.com/pages/the-new-perimenopause-book “The New Menopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CKBZ4K1Z
Never miss an episode—sign up for The ‘Pause Life Newsletter: https://thepauselife.com/pages/newsletter
Medical Disclaimer: The information, including opinions and recommendations, on this platform is meant for informational and educational purposes only. Mary Claire Media, LLC, the unPAUSED podcast, and The ‘Pause Life are not medical organizations. Medical advice or medical diagnosis cannot be provided to you through the platform, any associated website, or customer portals. Using this platform does not establish a patient-physician relationship.
Links in the notes 8
- https://www.instagram.com/the.vagina.whisperer/
- https://thevagwhisperer.com/
- https://www.nolapelvichealth.com/
- https://thevagwhisperer.com/membership/
- https://thevagwhisperer.com/floored/
- https://thepauselife.com/pages/the-new-perimenopause-book
- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CKBZ4K1Z
- https://thepauselife.com/pages/newsletter
Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them. Explicit shows are for adult profiles only, and children’s profiles hear only children’s shows. More about this list.