Gynecological health education

90% of daily gynecological problems do not require excessive anxiety. Ordinary women can avoid most risks of gynecological diseases as long as they do these three things: "don't mess with their private parts, do regular screenings, and don't follow folk remedies."

I went to the outpatient clinic last Wednesday. When I was about to get off work, a 22-year-old girl rushed in. She was wearing a mask tightly. She sat down for a long time and said, "Doctor, do I have an STD?" After asking for a long time, she said that she saw a recommendation from an Internet celebrity blogger that the private parts should be "deeply cleansed". She saved up her pocket money for more than half a month and bought more than 300 bottles of imported private parts shower gel. She even rinsed the vagina. After a week of washing, she was so itchy that she couldn't even go to work. The leucorrhea was still green. I checked the leucorrhea and found that the bacterial flora was imbalanced. I prescribed two boxes of vaginal probiotic suppositories, which cost more than 100 yuan. After a week of use, I came back for a review and said everything was fine.

Regarding whether care products can be used on private parts, different doctors in our department do have different opinions. Teacher Li, who is about to retire, has been practicing gynecology for thirty years. He always tells everyone he meets to just wash the vulva with warm water and not to use any kind of care solution. ； Dr. Zhang, who is engaged in gynecological microecological research in our department, said that if you usually have a lot of secretions before and after menstruation, during ovulation, or if you feel tired after exercise, it is perfectly fine to wash your vulva with a weakly acidic care solution with a pH value between 3.8-4.4, no soap base, and no fragrance and preservatives. There is no need to be absolute. But there is one thing everyone agrees on: don’t flush the inside of your vagina! The flora in the vagina is like a balanced forest. When you flush, you are like uprooting all the trees and grass. Pathogenic bacteria will take advantage of the gap and get rid of any problems.

Oh, by the way, don’t wear jeans that are too tight, especially in the summer. They are so stuffy that they create a breeding ground for pathogenic bacteria. Underwear should be changed every day, wiped clean with soap and dried in a ventilated and sunny place. Don't pile them up and throw them in the washing machine with socks. Many people really can't do this little thing.

Many people think that there is no need to have a gynecological examination if there is no discomfort. This is the most misleading misunderstanding. Last month, a 38-year-old corporate executive came for a physical examination. He undergoes gynecological B-ultrasound every year, but refuses to do HPV and TCT. He says that he has a clean private life and no discomfort, so there is no need to spend more money. This time I couldn't resist but I did it, and it turned out to be CIN level 2. Fortunately, it was a precancerous lesion. A small conization would make it fine. If it took another two years to develop cervical cancer, it would be too late to cry. There are also different opinions on the standards of screening: the previous guidelines said that cervical cancer screening should only be started after having sexual intercourse. The latest WHO guidelines last year also mentioned that even if they have not had sexual intercourse, women over 25 years old are recommended to undergo regular cervical cytology screening. Many people also ask if having the HPV vaccine eliminates the need for screening? It is clearly stated here that the vaccine only covers the most common high-risk subtypes and is not 100% protective, so screening is still necessary. This is now a common consensus in the industry, so there is no need to take chances.

Speaking of messing around without any problems, a 45-year-old aunt I met last month was even more outrageous. I heard the health class teacher in my community say that "the ovaries are one year older and women are ten years older." I spent more than 3,000 yuan to buy a set of "ovarian maintenance essence" and stuffed it into my vagina every day. After half a month of stuffing, I suddenly started to bleed. I thought it was menstruation. When I checked, it turned out that the endometrium was stimulated by hormones of unknown composition to cause abnormal hyperplasia. Fortunately, it was benign. If I used it for another two months, there might be something wrong. The opinions on gynecological conditioning are very mixed now. Doctors from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Department of our hospital also said that there are indeed treatments for moxibustion and traditional Chinese medicine to regulate uterine cold and irregular menstruation, but they are all based on syndrome differentiation. The acupuncture points are also acupuncture points on the stomach and waist. You are never allowed to smoke your private parts directly or insert Chinese medicine of unknown ingredients. 99% of the personal care products sold under the banner of "TCM health care" are IQ tax.

There are also many little girls who cry when they are diagnosed with "cervical erosion" and feel that they have an incurable disease and are about to become cancerous. I have to spend a long time explaining every time: cervical erosion is not a disease at all, but cervical columnar epithelial ectopia, which is a normal physiological phenomenon. If there is no contact bleeding, abnormal leucorrhea and other discomforts, there is no need to treat it at all. Don't be deceived by unscrupulous hospitals into doing lap knife surgery, which will hurt the body in vain.

In fact, as a gynecologist for so many years, I have seen two types of people the most. One is scared to death at the slightest problem, buying medicines and messing around, only to cause problems.； The other type is careless and waits for half a year before checking for bleeding. Once checked, it is found to be in the late stage, which is a pity. You really don’t need to think about gynecological health too complicated. Don’t make mistakes, get screened on time, and go to a regular hospital if you feel uncomfortable. It will be more effective than asking ten netizens by posting ten short videos.