Tips for gynecological health and wellness

Use less daily private parts lotion, don’t wear panty liners during non-menstrual periods, and do regular gynecological screening every year. If you do these three things, you can avoid more than 80% of common minor gynecological problems.

I met a 22-year-old girl in the clinic before. She saved two months’ salary to buy an Internet celebrity’s private parts whitening lotion. She washed it twice a day. After half a month of washing, she was so itchy that she couldn’t sit still. When she came to check, she had a third degree of vaginal flora imbalance. When it comes to this, some people will definitely refute, "I use lotion and it feels very clean, and there is no problem." Let's be objective here: If inflammation has already occurred, it is okay to use the medicinal lotion prescribed by the doctor according to the course of treatment, but if you are healthy, there is really no need to bother. The self-purification function of the vagina itself is like its own micro-cleaning team. The weakly acidic environment can just suppress harmful bacteria. If you rush in with extra alkaline lotion, it is equivalent to chasing away your own security guards and letting bad guys in, which will easily lead to problems.

There are also many people who are accustomed to wearing panty liners during non-menstrual periods. They say that they are afraid of dirtying their underwear due to excessive secretions and do not need to wash them every day. My best friend used to do this to save trouble and wear pads every day. She suffered from fungal vaginitis over and over again for half a year. Later, she stopped listening to the advice and changed to loose cotton underwear. During ovulation, she changed the pads twice a day when there was a lot of secretion, and she didn't have it again for half a year. Think about it, the airtight plastic film on the bottom layer of the pad is equivalent to covering the private parts with a layer of airtight plastic sheeting. The hot and sweaty environment is the favorite breeding ground of mold. If you feel dirty, changing your underwear twice more is better than anything else.

Let’s talk about the gynecological screening that many people are resistant to. Many people think that “I don’t need to be screened if I don’t have a sexual life” and “it’s useless if I don’t feel uncomfortable.” Different situations must be taken into account here: women who have sex, even if they don’t feel any discomfort, should do a combination of TCT+HPV+leucorrhea routine screening every year. Check, many cervical lesions have no symptoms at all in the early stage. By the time you feel a lump or contact bleeding, it has often been delayed for a long time. Girls who have never had sex do not need to undergo internal examination. An annual abdominal B-ultrasound + vulvar inspection can troubleshoot most problems. There is really no need to be embarrassed to skip it. Last year, there was a 30-year-old patient who skipped gynecological examinations every year. She said that she usually pays attention to hygiene and there must be no problem. Last year, her husband urged her to undergo a gynecological screening and she was found to be positive for HPV16. Fortunately, it was discovered early and the test turned negative after half a year of intervention. If it had been delayed for another two or three years, the consequences would be hard to predict.

As for the questions that people often ask about whether the brown sugar ginger water pipe does not work and whether the palace cold needs to be treated, there is no unified answer to this. From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, girls with weak and cold constitutions usually have cold hands and feet, menstrual pain, cold sweats, and black menstrual blood with blood clots. Drinking it two or three days before menstruation can indeed relieve discomfort; but if you have a hot and humid constitution, you are prone to acne, heavy breath, and heavy menstrual blood, but drinking it will aggravate bleeding and aphthous sores. There is really no need to follow the trend of drinking. Moreover, there is no such term as "uterine cold" in Western medicine. If you have dysmenorrhea so painful that you vomit and nothing you eat helps, don't force yourself to drink hot water. Taking ibuprofen is perfectly fine and won't lead to addiction. The side effects are much less than if you are in pain all day long and can't eat.

If you sit for a long time at work, remember to stand up and take two steps every hour, and don't sit in the chair all the time. You should wash your underwear separately, don't throw it into the washing machine with your socks and jackets. It's best to bask in the sun after washing. Mold can easily grow in underwear that has been dried in the shade. These are small things you can do easily.

In fact, gynecological health care really does not have so many fancy gimmicks. Many people spend thousands to buy personal care gel and do private care, but it is better to do these inconspicuous little things. The body is stronger than you think, and more delicate than you think. Don't mess with it, and it will seldom cause trouble for you.