Gynecological health and wellness advice

The core health logic of gynecological health has never been about eating sky-high-priced skin care products, doing private parts washing/whitening and other Internet celebrity projects, but "respecting circadian rhythms, reducing unnecessary human intervention, and taking regular screening as a priority over blind supplementation." I have been in the obstetrics and gynecology department for almost 9 years, and I have seen too many people make mistakes and turn small problems into real problems.

The vaginal flora is actually like a community full of beneficial bacteria. Everyone originally performs their own duties to guard the line of defense. If you fill it with scented lotion and gel of unknown ingredients every day, it is equivalent to spraying the community with strong disinfectant every day. All the good bacteria will be killed, and pathogenic bacteria will of course take the opportunity to occupy the territory. Last month, there was a 26-year-old girl. For the so-called "private parts maintenance", she washed her internal and external vaginas with Internet-famous fragrance lotion every day, and also put detoxifying gel regularly. Originally, she just had some transparent and stringy secretions during ovulation, which is a completely normal physiological phenomenon. In the end, it suddenly caused an imbalance in the flora. She was itchy for half a month before she came to register. Of course, this does not mean that all lotions cannot be used. If you have been diagnosed with fungal vaginosis or bacterial vaginosis, just use the medicinal lotion prescribed by the doctor. There is no need to insist on saying "Lotion must not be touched". This matter depends on the situation, and there is no absolute right or wrong.

When it comes to endocrine maintenance, many people's first reaction is to eat soy isoflavones and drink royal jelly to supplement estrogen. This matter is actually quite controversial in the industry. If you have been diagnosed with ovarian hypofunction, estrogen levels are significantly low, and your doctor has assessed that you do not have estrogen-dependent diseases such as breast nodules, endometrial hyperplasia, or uterine fibroids, appropriate supplementation can indeed alleviate the problems of hot flashes and menstrual disorders. ； But if you are a young girl in your early 20s, your hormone levels are completely normal, and you drink royal jelly and take ovarian maintenance capsules of unknown origin every day, it may stimulate abnormal hyperplasia of the breast and endometrium. I just received a 22-year-old girl last week. In order to "anti-aging and support her ovaries", she drank a cup of royal jelly every day for three months. In the end, her aunt postponed the treatment for 20 days and was diagnosed with grade three breast hyperplasia. She cried and said that she would not have taken supplements if she had known better.

In fact, daily clothing also affects gynecological health. Nowadays, little girls love to wear tight-fitting shark pants and velvet fake pantyhose. They wear them for more than ten hours. The private parts are airtight. In winter, there are really a lot of cases of vulvitis. I usually work for seven or eight hours at a time. I never dare to wear leggings that are too tight. I always choose pure cotton underwear. After washing, I hang them on the balcony to dry them. When the sun is not available during the rainy season in the south, I will boil them in boiling water for 5 minutes before drying them. It is better than any underwear sterilizer.

Many people think that they don’t need to undergo gynecological screening if they don’t feel uncomfortable. This is the biggest misunderstanding. For example, HPV infection and cervical precancerous lesions have no symptoms at all in the early stage. If you wait until you have contact bleeding or irregular bleeding to check, you may have missed the best opportunity for intervention. Women over the age of 21 who have had sex should undergo TCT every three years. Women over the age of 30 can undergo TCT+HPV combined screening once every five years. This is the globally recognized gold standard and is 10,000 times more effective than the ovarian maintenance program you spend tens of thousands of dollars on. For my annual physical examination, the first appointment I make is a gynecological screening. Even if I was so busy at that time that I forgot to put on a facial mask, I will never forget it.

As for the issue that everyone has been arguing about for many years, "whether hair can be washed or exercise can be done during menstruation", there is really no need to set unified standards. If you suffer from menstrual cramps so painful that you can’t straighten your back, then of course it’s most comfortable to lie down and rest, but it would be uncomfortable to exercise if you insist on doing so. ； But if you don’t feel any obvious discomfort during menstruation, it’s totally fine to wash your head with hot water, blow dry in time, take a walk or even do gentle yoga. I have a colleague from the north who has been suffering from heat since childhood, so eating a popsicle during her menstrual period in the winter is fine. But if it were my cousin from the south, a sip of iced milk tea in the summer would cause pain to the point of asking for leave. Individual differences are huge in the first place, so there is no need to force yourself to conform to other people’s health standards.

There is nothing mysterious about gynecological health. To put it bluntly, gynecological health is not to be treated as something that requires special worship. Don’t listen to the lies of Internet celebrities. If you are not feeling well, don’t prescribe random medicines on Baidu. Go directly to a regular hospital to register a gynecological number. It is more reliable than any folk remedies.