Breast cancer is not the end of your sex life

February 16, 2021

Written and updated by Renée, co-founder, 34 years in the beauty industry — August 2026

I've had this conversation more times than I can count — usually in a hushed voice, usually starting the same way: "Sex has been so painful since treatment, and I can't use anything with estrogen in it."

The pain part is real. The "can't use anything" part is only half true, and I wish more women knew that before they just... stopped. Stopped intimacy, stopped their partner's touch, sometimes stopped feeling like themselves.

Here's what's actually happening, in plain terms (per the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' clinical guidance on this exact topic): breast cancer treatment can lower or remove the estrogen your body used to make, and the tissue down there depends on estrogen to stay thick, flexible, and lubricated. Without it, the vaginal walls thin out — doctors used to call it atrophic vaginitis; the current term is genitourinary syndrome of menopause, or GSM. Whatever you call it, sex without enough lubrication in that state can be genuinely painful and can leave the tissue irritated or sore afterward, which makes the next time feel harder to face, which makes you dread the time after that. It's a spiral, and it's not your fault, and it's not permanent.

I'm not a doctor, and I'm not going to pretend to be one here — that's not what you need from me anyway. What I can tell you is that this is a real, documented, actively-researched area of women's health, not something you have to just white-knuckle through. ACOG has published that guidance specifically for women with a history of estrogen-dependent breast cancer, and it's worth bringing to your oncologist or gynecologist directly — ask what's appropriate for your specific history, because that's a conversation only they can have with you.

What I can talk about, because it's genuinely my lane, is what you reach for every day that doesn't require a prescription or a conversation with anyone but yourself: a good lubricant and a regular moisturizing routine down there, the same way you'd moisturize skin that's gone dry anywhere else on your body. This is where GLISSANT started, honestly — I wanted something I'd actually want to use, with ingredients I could read and understand, that felt good rather than clinical. If estrogen is off the table for you, I'd point you toward our water-based or oil-based lubricants specifically, not the CBD/CBG line — those are a different product for a different reason, and you don't need to add "figure out CBD" to everything else you're already managing. I'm not going to tell you our lubricant treats atrophy or fixes what treatment changed — that's not a claim I can make. What I can tell you is that a good daily moisturizer is one of the simplest, lowest-risk things you can try yourself, and it's genuinely what I keep by my own bed.

If you want to go further than daily lubrication, there are non-hormonal and hormonal prescription options too — I'm not going to name specific drugs or procedures here, because what's right depends entirely on your cancer type, your treatment history, and your doctor's read on your case. That's not me dodging the question; it's me respecting that your oncologist knows your chart and I don't.

What I want you to walk away with is this: breast cancer is hard enough without also carrying the quiet belief that your sex life is just over. It isn't. It takes a different kind of attention now, and maybe a harder conversation with your doctor than you're used to having, but you are not broken, and you are allowed to want this back.