How To Improve Sexual Wellness In Women

What is sexual wellness in women, and why does it matter?  In this article, we look at what sexual wellness in women is, the research that shows that sexual wellness is important and how sexual wellness in women can be improved.

What Is “Wellness”?

Let’s start with the concept of wellness. The Global Wellness Institute defines wellness as “both preventive and holistic” and that “as wellness-focused and holistic modalities have evolved, proliferated, and gone mainstream, they have informed the healthy-living, self-help, self-care, fitness, nutrition, diet and spiritual practices that have become a flourishing wellness movement in the 21st century.”

The Springer Nature journal says wellness “is experienced when we are in mental, social, and physical good health. It is not only the absence of illness and disability but also when we perceive ourselves to be thriving and well.”

Although the idea of wellness has been around for thousands of years, it’s only over the last decade that wellness has become an increasingly important principle in our lives. From a move away from just treating ill health to a move towards prevention through lifestyle choices, including nutrition and exercise, to an emphasis on workplace health and wellbeing, physical and mental wellness has become a top priority, which has taken huge steps forward in its evolution.

What Is Sexual Wellness and Is Sexual Wellness the Same As Sexual Health?

Just as wellness in many areas of our lives has evolved, so too has sexual wellness and that includes its definition.

In defining what sexual wellness is, it’s important to note that the terms sexual health and sexual wellness are more often than not used interchangeably. They are related and show a strong correlation; however, many organisations, institutions and public health journals, including The Lancet believe that sexual wellness and sexual health are different terms with different meanings. The Lancet et al have defined them as follows:

Sexual health focuses on reproductive health, managing dysfunction and preventing infection. Sexual wellness is defined as the overall physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing of an individual and how at ease they are with their sexuality. It encompasses satisfaction and pleasure, with a focus on the quality and overall fulfilment of a person’s sexual life, including the way they think and feel about their body and the quality of their sexual relationships.

A Shift Towards Sexual Wellness

Traditionally, public health initiatives have targeted sexual and reproductive health, which have primarily focused on biomedical outcomes and reducing risk behaviours.

Recent methodology has increasingly started to shift towards sexual wellness as being as important for public health outcomes as it provides a more holistic approach and recognises that for women to thrive, they need more than just what a sexual health approach offers. They need safe, fulfilling, positive, pleasurable sexual experiences.

There is a sexual wellness movement happening worldwide, which “has been gaining momentum in the direction of promoting a holistic and positive approach to sexuality and sexual health. This movement embraces the idea that sexuality is a fundamental part of human life and should be addressed comprehensively, taking into account physical, emotional, psychological, and social aspects related to the development and experience of sexuality, and “recognising [that] sexual pleasure as a vital component of human well-being is essential to address sexual health issues in a comprehensive and holistic manner.”

Why Are Public Health Outcomes More Effective When Sexual Wellness Is Considered?

The change in direction towards sexual wellness as a measure of public health has been driven by research which has shown that a sexual wellness, pleasure-inclusive approach is more effective at promoting safer sex practices than those based purely on pregnancy and disease prevention.

A Taylor and Francis Online article on “Sexual health, sexual rights and sexual pleasure” identified pleasure as an important component of sexual health and wellness and found that “To improve sexual health, even in this charged political moment, necessitates going beyond biomedical approaches, and requires meaningfully addressing sexual rights and sexual pleasure.”

The Pleasure Project, together with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and supported by The Case for Her, carried out a meta-analysis of literature from 2005-2020 looking at the effects of incorporating pleasure in sexual health interventions. The findings were published in a PLoS ONE 17(2): e0261034 by Zaneva M, Philpott A, Singh A, Larsson G, Gonsalves L (2022) research article “What is the added value of incorporating pleasure in sexual health interventions? A systematic review and meta-analysis” which states “Qualitatively, we find evidence that pleasure can have positive effects across different informational and knowledge-based attitudes as well.” They go on to say that “Taking all the available evidence into account, we recommend that agencies responsible for sexual and reproductive health consider incorporating sexual pleasure considerations within their programming.” They state that results show that incorporating pleasure within sexual and reproductive health programs can positively impact safer sex behaviour.

Open Access Government concurs with the conclusions of PLoS ONE by saying that “Programs adopting a sex-positive and pleasure-inclusive approach is one such innovation that should be urgently considered.”

Why Does Individual Sexual Wellness Matter In Women?

The move towards making sexual wellness a public health measure is important because sexual wellness is vital to a woman’s overall physical, mental, and emotional health and wellbeing, related to their sexuality. With sexual wellness comes a host of benefits, some of which are listed below.

Better Mental Health

Sexual wellness in women is seen as an important factor in higher overall quality of life and life satisfaction, leading to better mental health.

Research from a Springer Nature article has shown that sexual satisfaction has been linked to better physical and mental health and higher relationship satisfaction. The article, which reviewed current literature on how positive sexuality impacts wellbeing states that “The results indicate that sexual health, physical health, mental health, and overall well-being are all positively associated with sexual satisfaction, sexual self-esteem, and sexual pleasure.”

Greater Self-Esteem

Greater sexual wellness leads to greater self-esteem. Research also indicates that this is a bi-directional relationship in that “better sex makes you feel better, feeling better makes you have better sex.”

A study of 11,000 adults by researchers from the Universities of Zurich (UZH) and Utrecht analysed data of people’s self-esteem and sexual experiences and found that people who have high self-esteem “tend not only to be sexually active more often, but also to be more satisfied with their sexual experiences.” They also found that changes in sexual satisfaction could lead to a change in a person’s self-esteem, and vice versa, showing that self-esteem and sexual satisfaction can impact each other.

Lower Stress Levels

Stress levels in women who have positive relationships are lower. Sexual activity and acts of intimacy lead to the release of oxytocin, dopamine and other endorphins which promote calmness, ease anxiety and stress, and enhance mood.

This is backed up by a ScienceDirect article on the “Effects of relationship functioning on the biological experience of stress and physical health” which found that “positive relationship perceptions and processes, such as responsiveness, support, and intimacy, are generally associated with reduced or buffered stress responses and improved health.”

Immune System Boost

Studies have suggested that regular sexual activity and sexual wellness in women can result in an increase in levels of Immunoglobulin A (IgA), an important antibody which acts as a primary defence mechanism to protect the immune system against infections, viruses, and bacteria.

Regular sex can also decrease cortisol levels in the body, which is known to be a key stress hormone, and which can weaken the immune system. Some research suggests that the release of oxytocin during sexual activity may have an anti-inflammatory effect.

Reduced Risk of Heart Disease

Regular sexual activity acts as a form of moderate exercise, which improves blood circulation and lowers blood pressure, which in turn enhances cardiovascular function and reduces the risk of heart disease.

A PubMed study found that patients with a low sexual frequency of less than 12 times per year had a higher proportion of cardiovascular disease. However, another study found that for women, the emotional and physical satisfaction, rather than simply how often women had sex, was the key factor in their cardiovascular health.

Improved Sleep

As well as acting as moderate exercise, which can induce fatigue, sex also causes the release of a cocktail of hormones, including oxytocin and prolactin, which promote sleep and lead to better sleep quality by reducing wakefulness after sleep onset and improving sleep efficiency.

Improving Sexual Wellness For Women

Improving sexual wellness for women involves taking a rounded approach that addresses physical, psychological, and relational factors, including lifestyle changes, stress management, mindfulness, improving intimacy and communication, physical care and tools for self-care and pleasure, which are listed below.

Lifestyle Changes

Maintaining a healthy diet can improve sexual wellness in women by helping to maintain vascular health, by improving blood flow and balancing hormones, increasing energy levels and reducing stress. Coupled with regular aerobic exercise such as strength training or yoga, lifestyle changes can increase stamina, boost the libido, and enhance body image.

Stress Management

Preliminary evidence suggests that both acute and chronic daily psychological stress significantly impairs sexual arousal in women.

Stress management techniques like meditation and yoga can play an important role in sexual wellness, as reducing stress can lower cortisol levels. When cortisol is lowered, libido and arousal increase.

Sexual Mindfulness

Sexual mindfulness can help to improve focus on the present moment and reduce distractions. It can decrease the fight or flight response and move a person into a calmer, more meditative state.

The Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy found that “more sexually mindful individuals tended to have better self-esteem, be more satisfied with their relationships and, particularly for women, be more satisfied with their sex lives.”

Intimacy and Communication

Taking openly and being intimate deepens emotional bonds, which in turn reduces stress and anxiety and helps women feel more confident and in control, which often leads to increased desire and more sexual satisfaction, which in turn improves sexual wellness.

Self-Care and Pleasure

Sex toys and sexual products are now widely considered to be essential tools for sexual wellness, including self-care and pleasure.

Sex toys can fulfil a variety of functions from reducing stress, providing a means of self-pleasure and self-discovery, to enhancing intimacy, increasing arousal, and improving sexual function. Sex toys can improve a woman’s sex life and her sexual relationships and aid in their fulfilment.

Sex Toys and Products For Sexual Wellness In Women

There are a range of sex toys and sexual products that we would recommend that are designed to enhance intimacy and pleasure, including lubricants, sex toys for couples, sex toys for women and products that offer self-care.

Lubricants: make a sexual experience more pleasurable. Try a water-based lubricant or flavoured lubricant.

Sex Toys for Couples are a great way to add fun and pleasure to your love life. Discover couples vibrators, sex swings, vibrating cock rings and sex furniture.

Sex Toys For Women: A clitoral stimulator, an intimate clitoral pump or Kegel balls are all perfect for self-pleasure.

Self-Care: We offer a range of self-care products, including scented massage oil made for her, an edible massage oil gift set box or a massage candle.

Adult Shop It

Adult Shop It provides the best branded range of sex toys for men, women and couples online, for great prices. You can rely on discreet delivery. Contact us by email or via our contact page.