Surgical removal of the uterus and cervix, usually because of disease of the uterus or abnormal bleeding which cannot be controlled by other treatment. The operation requires eight to fourteen days in hospital and a further two to three weeks of convalescence. after a hysterectomy, it takes about four weeks for the inner end of the vagina to heal. There is usually some blood-stained discharge until healing is complete. When the discharge ceases, sexual intercourse may be resumed. After hysterectomy there is no more menstruation and pregnancy is no longer possible. The ovaries are not removed (unless they are also diseased) so that normal hormone production continues until the end of ovarian function at about age fifty. Although hysterectomy means the end of fertility, it is not castration, and should not have any effect on feminity or sexuality.