**Editor’s Note: This article has been lightly reviewed for clarity and presentation. The core information reflects the medical knowledge and standards at the time of original publication and is preserved here for historical reference. It should not be considered current medical guidance.
Over the years, everything changes, including sexual desire. Sexual urge decreases over time due to hormonal changes. In women, menopause can sometimes cause a decrease in sexual desire, especially because ovulation-related desire spikes no longer occur.
Aging Woman
That said, in other women, desire increases. Simply because testosterone can be more active, hence some hair grows on the chin, a bad side of this advantage!
Sexual desire depends a lot on the state of health
As you get older, the risk of having health problems increases. However, if you suffer from a serious infection or a chronic disease, the desire tends to decrease, sometimes because of the treatments, pains, technical discomfort, rheumatism, and respiratory difficulties. All these diseases and conditions come with old age. However, these drops of desire are not related to age, since if you suffer from the same diseases while being very young, you also observe a decrease in libido.
Around the age of 50, most women are subjected to the fear of aging. It tickles some women and leads them to consider their bodies as no longer quite desirable. This fear sometimes translates into a loss of desire and a sublimation of the libido, then experienced symbolically in the development of social relationships – activities of all kinds, engagement in associations, or development of creativity. This form of renunciation of sexuality can take place in the long term.
Sexual desire decreases in cases of psychic problems
A person suffering from anxiety, depression, fatigue, or pain may notice a drop in their sexual desire. Because our brain is the seat of emotional competition, the strongest emotion wins out: anxiety, sadness, fatigue, or intense pain prevents the desire and sexual arousal from waking up.
A 73-year-old woman said to me, “I know I’m not 20 years old, but when I apply scented and satiny milk on my skin, I can make love feel desirable. My skin is soft and smells good, even if it is not firm like that of a young girl.”
Pain during penetration
8% of women suffer from dyspareunia or vaginal pain felt at the time of penetration. There are many causes: infectious, allergic, dermatological, scarring after childbirth or surgery, hormonal after menopause, related to endometriosis, the presence of cysts or fibroids, or more rarely, vulvovaginal malformations. At old age, prolonged periods of pain may lead to a drop in sexual desire or even lead to total abstinence.
Vaginal dryness
The vaginal mucosa is naturally moist. Sexual arousal increases its lubrication, the many blood vessels that irrigate the vagina swell and leak a liquid that covers the vaginal walls to allow back and forth movement without irritation. But many factors can disrupt lubrication, including hormonal imbalance that comes with old age and menopause. Although most people seek alternative lubricating techniques like the use of lubricated condoms and gels, the feeling of one lacking these secretions may lead to a loss of sexual desire.
Sexual desire can also increase with age!
If, over the years, you leave your fears, your complexes aside, if you are in a relationship and you have confidence, your desire can flourish. On the other hand, after menopause, you no longer have the weight of contraception or the fear of starting an unwanted pregnancy. This situation can free many couples. And then, once the children have left, the retirement age arrives, where you have a lot of free time – it can be the best time for sexual fulfillment.
References
Maciel, M., & Laganà, L. (2014). Older women’s sexual desire problems: Biopsychosocial factors impacting them and barriers to their clinical assessment. BioMed Research International, 2014, 107217. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/107217
Mayo Clinic Staff. (n.d.). Low sex drive in women: Symptoms and causes. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/low-sex-drive-in-women/symptoms-causes/syc-20374554
