Gynecological health knowledge lecture

90% of common gynecological discomforts in clinical practice are not serious diseases. Avoiding three common misunderstandings and doing two basic daily care can completely avoid more than 90% of over-treatment and unnecessary anxiety.

I was in the clinic last Wednesday, and a little girl with swollen eyes like peaches came in. She just graduated at the age of 22. She said that she had checked her symptoms on Baidu and found that her vaginal discharge was yellow and her private parts were a little itchy. She must have suffered from severe inflammation, which might affect future births. She spent more than 2,000 to buy a bunch of personal care gel and used it for half a month, but the itching became even worse. I did a routine check-up on her, and there was nothing wrong with her. It was just the discomfort caused by wearing tight jeans every day and sitting in the office for 10 hours without moving. I prescribed calamine lotion that cost a few yuan and applied it for two days. She was told to wear loose pants and to get up and walk two steps every hour. After a follow-up visit last week, she was completely healed.

In fact, I encounter about ten similar situations every week. There are really too many misunderstandings about gynecological health. The most typical one is that all abnormal leucorrhea is equal to illness. The current mainstream evidence-based obstetrics and gynecology view is that as long as there is no obvious itching, pain, or burning sensation, even if the leucorrhea is slightly yellow and there is a faint fishy smell before and after menstruation, it is a normal physiological fluctuation and does not require medication intervention. Of course, some TCM gynecologists believe that this situation may be a manifestation of dampness and heat in the body. Mild herbal ingredients can be used appropriately for sitz bath conditioning. Everyone can choose according to their own needs. There is no need to argue about right or wrong. Oh, by the way, someone also asked me if I can use panty liners every day. I really don’t recommend it. The bottom layer of panty liners is not breathable. Using it every day is equivalent to covering the private parts with a layer of plastic film. It will be stuffy and prone to problems. Unless it is used temporarily when the flow is low before and after menstruation, don’t use it if you can.

More common than leucorrhea anxiety is HPV panic. Last month, a 30-year-old mother was found to be HPV16 positive. She had insomnia all night long and even secretly wrote half of her will. I read her the clinical statistics: 80% of women of childbearing age will be infected with HPV at least once in their lives, and 90% of them can be cleared naturally by their own immunity within 1-2 years without developing lesions at all. There is still controversy about whether to use interferon as auxiliary treatment. Some clinicians believe that interferon can help regulate local immunity and speed up conversion. Others believe that the role of interferon is very limited and is not as effective as regular work and rest and exercise for more than 30 minutes three times a week. You can choose a plan that suits you after communicating with your attending doctor. You do not have to follow what is said on the Internet.

There is also the issue of "uterine cold" that many people struggle with, which is actually a cognitive difference between different medical systems. There is no diagnostic term for "uterine cold" in Western medicine. People often talk about cold hands and feet, dysmenorrhea, and dark menstrual flow. Western medicine generally judges that it is caused by excessive secretion of prostaglandins, poor blood circulation, or endocrine fluctuations. However, "uterine cold" in the traditional Chinese medicine system does correspond to this series of symptoms, and there are corresponding treatment plans. To be honest, there is no need to worry about whether this concept exists. If you drink brown sugar ginger tea and apply warm uterine patch to relieve menstrual cramps, then feel free to use it. If the pain is severe, it is absolutely okay to take ibuprofen. Your own feelings are the first priority.

To be honest, I have been practicing medicine for so many years, and I have seen too many people spend thousands of dollars on the so-called "HPV special medicine" and "firming personal care gel". It is better to do two small things solidly, which will be more effective than any health products. The first thing is to have regular gynecological examinations. Don’t think that you don’t need to check if you are not married or have no sex life. If you have dysmenorrhea so painful that you vomit or do not have menstruation for two or three months, you can have a transabdominal B-ultrasound to check for problems even if you have no sex life. Don’t be embarrassed. For women who are sexually active, it is enough to do TCT+HPV combined screening every 2-3 years. There is no need to do it every year unless there are special circumstances, but it may easily cause anxiety about over-examination.

The second thing is not to mess with your private parts. It has a complete flora balancing system. If you wash it with lotion and gel every day, it is equivalent to washing away all the beneficial bacteria that protect you, but leaving a loophole for harmful bacteria. Just rinse your vulva with warm water every day. Choose pure cotton underwear. After changing it every day, try to expose it to the sun for disinfection. Do not leave it in a humid bathroom. When you sit for a long time, remember to stand up and take two more steps to let it breathe. It is more effective than any personal care product worth hundreds of dollars.

These are the questions I am asked the most every day. In fact, there are really not so many mysterious ways to deal with gynecological health. Don’t scare yourself, and don’t believe in the folk remedies on the Internet. If you really feel uncomfortable, go to a regular hospital to register. The registration fee of more than ten yuan can solve the problem you have been thinking about for half a month. It is better than anything else.