At the end of another long day, your partner feels like having sex. However, you're not so into the idea, and blame your low libido on exhaustion. Many women are not as ready for sex as they would like to be, and it's a chronic issue that negatively affects the quality of their social life. Young women with low sex drive need to take the time to assess themselves, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally, to be able to understand what is behind a lukewarm libido.

Reasons for Low Sex Drive in Young Women

A woman's sexual desire can be affected by various things, such as physical health, emotional status, personal lifestyles, experiences, current relationships, etc. Any problem in these things can lead to a low sex drive.

1. Physical Causes

A wide range of physical changes, illnesses, and medications can cause a lukewarm libido, including:

• Sexual problems: If you have an inability to orgasm, or experience pain during sex, it can discourage your desire for sex.
• Fatigue: Exhaustion from caring for aging parents or young children can contribute to low sex drive in young women. Fatigue from surgery, or illness can also play a role in a lukewarm libido.
• Lifestyle habits: A romantic glass of wine at dinner may be amatory, but too much alcohol can spoil your libido. Women should drink no more than two to three units a day. The same could be said of street drugs, and smoking decreases blood flow, which may hamper arousal.

• Surgery: Any surgery related to your genital tract or your breast can affect your body image, desire for sex, and low sexual function.
• Medical diseases: Many non-sexual diseases can affect your desire for sex, including neurological diseases, high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, diabetes, arthritis, and cancer.
• Medications: Prescription medications, including anti-seizure, and some antidepressant medications, are notorious libido killers.

2. Hormonal Changes

Changes in your hormone levels may affect your desire for sex. This can happen during:

• Pregnancy: Hormones increase during pregnancy, and while many women feel an increased desire for sex during the early months of pregnancy, some women experience a significant drop in libido during the last two months.
• After pregnancy: Hormones decrease after pregnancy, especially testosterone, the hormone responsible for a woman's overall libido.
• Breast-feeding: While you're breast-feeding, your body produces higher levels of the hormone prolactin, which can put a damper on sexual desire.

3. Psychological Causes

Your problems don't have to be biological or physical to have an impact on your low sex drive. There are many psychological causes of a lack of libido, including:

• Poor body image especially after pregnancy
• Stress such as work stress or financial stress
• Mental health issues such as depression or anxiety
• Low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, incapable, or incompetent
• Physical or sexual abuse such as rape, or molestation
• Negative sexual experiences: Those that have been exploited or pressured into unwanted sexual activities.

4. Relationship Issues

For most women, an essential prelude to sexual intimacy is emotional closeness. Therefore, problems in your relationship may be a contributing factor in low sex drive in young women. Emotional issues impacting sexual intimacy might include:

• Lack of connection: The inability to connect with your partner emotionally.
• Unresolved conflicts or fights: When conflict and anger issues are not dealt with.
• Poor communication: A person may have a desire or preference for sex, but not be able to communicate that desire or preference to their partner.
• Infidelity: The loss of trust and ultimate libido killer.

5. Contraception

Some women experience a low sex drive when using some types of contraception, including:

• Combined contraception: Such as the contraception pill, contraceptive patch, or vaginal ring
• Contraceptive implant: Useful for women who can't use contraception that contains estrogen
• Progestogen only pill: Used by women who cannot or should not use combined oral contraceptives
• Depo-Provera injection: It's made of a hormone similar to progesterone

Fortunately, the side effects of these contraceptives tend to improve after a few months and they are generally well tolerated.

What to Do About Low Sex Drive in Young Women

Whether or not you think you might know what is causing your low sex drive, it's a good idea to talk with your health care provider about it. A young woman's libido can be an elusive and complicated issue, there is no easy solution. Your physician can help you identify the issues and suggest the best solution to get your sex life back on track. Even though it may seem awkward to discuss this issue with your doctor, it is no doubt a subject that they are familiar with, and they are there to help you with the healthy sexual life that you deserve. Meantime, consider these seven ways to help any young woman boost their libido:

• Communicate and connect: Communication is an open and honest way to help maintain and build on a stronger emotional connection with your partner that can lead to better sex. Letting you partner know your likes and dislikes will set the stage for greater sexual intimacy.
• Set aside time: Scheduling sex on your calendar may seem deliberate rather than arising naturally or spontaneously. However, making sexual intimacy a priority means setting aside some time for sex.
• Know your sexuality: Women are encouraged to spend some time alone to consider what is happening to them sexually, a good sex life starts with being comfortable with your own sexuality
• Mix it up: Try having sex at a different time of day, in a different location, or a different sexual position. Spend more time on foreplay, and if you and your partner are open to experimentation, play fantasy games or use some sex toys to spice things up.
• Kick bad habits: Illegal drugs, excess drinking, and smoking can inhibit any sexual desires. Kick the bad habits to improve both your sexual relationship and your overall health.
• Eat right and exercise: A healthy sex life begins with eating right and exercising. After all, a solid workout will make you feel more sexy than ever.
• Reduce stress: Life is busy and complicated, be sure to set aside some time alone to decompress and enjoy a warm bath or a good book.