The uterus is an important organ that constitutes the pelvic structure of women, and hysterectomy may have the effect of causing ovarian decline, dysregulation of sex hormone secretion, leading to amenorrhea, abnormal lipid metabolism, and systemic immune disorders. At the same time, the emergence of female orgasm often requires the participation of rhythmic contractions of the uterus. Therefore, the loss of the uterus will obviously affect the quality of sexual life. In addition, some patients have the feeling of being “hollowed out” and “incomplete”, which will also have a longer psychological impact.
Human aging is a very complex process involving several organs. The uterus is only one of the organs of the reproductive tract, and its supervisor is the ovaries. When the ovaries decline in function, women enter menopause and menstruation stops. Therefore, in women with normal ovarian function, the onset of menopause is usually not accelerated if the ovaries are not removed when the uterus is removed (either one or both ovaries are retained). After the operation, except for the absence of menstruation, the ovaries will produce hormones and act on the vulva, vagina, breasts and other organs as before the operation, so there will be no symptoms such as breast atrophy, vaginal dryness, hot flashes, sweating and irritability. However, if the ovaries are not allowed to be preserved when the uterus is removed, menopausal symptoms do appear soon. In this case, hormone supplementation can be given under the guidance of a gynecologic endocrinologist to relieve symptoms and prevent osteoporosis.
Some women who have had a total hysterectomy complain that their vagina is shorter and this affects their sexual pleasure. In fact, according to statistics, the length of the vagina after total hysterectomy is basically the same as before surgery, except for malignant tumors that require the removal of a long vagina. The previous belief that the cervix plays a role in lubricating the vagina during intercourse has also been disproved after intensive research. If the ovaries are retained, estrogen will still be produced. If the ovaries are also removed together, due to the lack of estrogen, breast atrophy, vaginal dryness and decreased libido will occur, which will have some effect on sexual life. The symptoms can be effectively improved by supplementing with exogenous estrogen.