Many of Dr. Debra Wickman's patients come to her because of pain.

Wickman is the director of female sexual medicine, vulva disorders and menopause health at Banner University Medical Center in Phoenix.  

That pain can be due to something like a tear from a vaginal delivery or menopausal symptoms, which can lead to vaginal dryness.

Patients will tolerate that for years before they actually seek help — and partly that's because they don't really know where to go. 

Besides addressing pain during sex, which affects between 17% and 45% of postmenopausal women, Wickman helps women embrace their intimate anatomy.

"I have started calling it the process of evulving — because it's really evolving, but through the vulva — so evulving," said Wickman.

Wickman also talks about empowering women and the pressures they face. 

Learn more about menopause on KJZZ's Period, The End podcast. Find it wherever you get your podcasts.