How to enjoy an extra large package.

A friend, at the age of 55, was in a new relationship that was heading toward sex. Concerned because she hadn't had sex in three years, and knowing that it could be painful because of vaginal dryness, she asked me -- a sexually active woman in a 27-year marriage -- what I do to combat that discomfort.

Humans are tool-using primates. We don't think we're inadequate because we use a hammer to build a shelf. Why should we feel inadequate because we use tools to augment our sex play?

It is quite possible to overcome bedroom challenges, especially when each is approached as a couples issue and without blame.

Vaginal dryness affects as many as 75 percent of postmenopausal women. And between 17 and 45 percent of postmenopausal women say they find sex painful.