Clitoral Atrophy: “Your clitoris can disappear when you have been off $3× for a long time?” – Doctor educates

According to Dr Theresa when we think about atrophy we usually think about the muscular kind, like when you’re not using enough of your muscles after a surgery so they shrink. But the same thing can happen to your clitoris. 

“So atrophy in general is where there’s a decrease in size or wasting away of tissue or a body part,” she said.

“So a loss of the blood supply, or loss of the nerve supply, a lack of use, especially in the muscular case, or aging. And this can happen to the clitoris as well.”

If you’re wondering ‘but how does that happen? The clitoris isn’t a muscle?‘ Dr Theresa says the clitoris is basically made up of erectile tissue. 

“Erectile tissue means that there’s lots of space for blood to travel and that’s what happens when there’s engorgement. So swelling of the clitoris with arousal. And so what happens when you stimulate the clitoris is that you increase blood flow to that area.”

“And it’s through the sensory nerves that we get that initial sensing up to our brain of the pleasure. And that starts us off on that sort of cascade of events that are essentially regulated by hormones and nerves to produce all of those effects.”

What happens when you don’t stimulate the clit? 

When you’re not getting that sweet lovin’ downstairs, Dr Theresa says “you’re essentially reducing the blood flow to that area.” 

“If you’re not stimulating and increasing blood supply [to your clitoris], then those vessels just become a bit smaller.”

“And then it will be harder to stimulate and have an arousal and pleasurable feeling.”

So when is it considered clitoral atrophy?

Like a lot of women’s and people with vulva’s reproductive and sexual health issues, there’s not a lot of research and it’s not so easy to diagnose. 

“It would be quite hard to specifically diagnose looking at it. Because if you don’t know what someone’s clitoris looked like before, it would be hard to know how it changed. But obviously, from a self report a person would know if it’s becoming smaller,” Dr Theresa says. 

“The main things that someone would notice is that it would become less engorged on stimulation and it might feel a bit smaller or feel a bit drier, and just be a little bit less responsive.”

FYI vaginal atrophy is a thing as well.

“That’s where there’s reduced secretions, there’s reduced stretch and sort of dispensability of the vagina that can lead to dryness and pain.”

Will it actually disappear? And could you ‘lose it forever’?

The viral TikTok by Ovira says we need to “use our clitoris before it disappears” and that “you could lose it forever.” But Dr Theresa noted that.

“It’s not going to disappear completely because what we see is only a small part of the clitoris. But what I think could happen is that it could become quite small and thin and even a bit more dried out.”

“So the fold over the clitoris that’s actually formed by the labia minora, which are the inner lips. And that’s not an erectile tissue. So that would still be there.”

Who is more likely to get clitoral atrophy?

Dr Theresa says it’s more likely for someone going through menopause to get clitoral atrophy. 

“Estrogen is a really important player in this and so this is something that can be fairly common in postmenopausal women because their estrogen is dropping.

So in younger people with a clitoris who have enough estrogen, I imagine that it would take a long time of no attention to the clitoris.”

“If we think about the changes that occur getting closer to menopause, and then after menopause, they take a decade or years and it’s very gradual.” 

What about if you’re asexual? Or don’t have sex or masturbate – should you be worried?

If you identify as asexual and you have no desire to have sex or masturbate, or you’re celibate, Dr Theresa says you’ve got nothing to worry about. And if you are worried, stimulating your clitoris doesn’t have to be sexual, exercise or massage can still make a difference. 

“Our blood and our vessels are pretty amazing. When they’re not needed to go to a certain area, they will reduce in size and number but they can come back.”

“It’s also about being healthy in general.”

“Even just general exercise and moving around, is still going to be having an effect on the blood flow that goes to the whole area of the clitoris in the vagina, obviously nowhere near as direct as stimulation, but it’s still definitely a positive of exercise and moving.”

What will prevent you from getting clitoral atrophy?

The moment you’ve been waiting for, the excuse to mazz away for days on end (PS you never need an excuse). If you get diagnosed with clitoral atrophy your doctor will tell you to go get hot and heavy. 

“They say sexual activity and stimulation of the clitoris and the vagina, are the main things.” 

And Dr Theresa says like stretching of your muscles and exercising, it’s important to keep at it so if you do happen to have a break from sex, you’ll still feel that pleasure the next time you get it on. 

“And maintaining that throughout life, but even including [that stimulation] later in life, can actually offset some of those changes that happen with menopause.”