Daily Notes on Reproductive Health

Do not artificially destroy the balance of your own flora, do not blindly use products with unknown ingredients, and conduct targeted screenings regularly. The rest of the precautions are all personalized adjustments that vary from person to person. There is no "iron rule that everyone must abide by."

I have been in the gynecology clinic for 6 years, and every month I meet seven or eight patients who come here because of the "detox gel" and "private protection pills" of Internet celebrities. The mild cases are burning and bleeding of the vaginal mucosa, and the severe ones directly destroy the normal flora and cause repeated infections. When asked, they all said that they bought them after watching the anchor's demonstration that "it can expel dirt" - there is no poison. What is discharged is the vaginal epithelial tissue corroded by the drugs, which damages their own bodies.

There is a lot of quarrel on the Internet about cleaning private parts. One group says you can only use warm water, while the other group says you can use lotion. In fact, both sides are right. If you don’t have a lot of secretions and don’t feel uncomfortable, it’s enough to rinse your vulva with warm water every day. You don’t need to irrigate the inside of your vagina at all. Your vagina has its own self-cleaning function. If you wash it in, it will wash away the beneficial bacteria. If you are a person who sweats frequently during exercise or has uncomfortable secretions before and after menstruation, it is perfectly fine to use a weakly acidic beauty care solution with simple ingredients once in a while. As long as you don't use those products with "antibacterial" or "sterilizing" effects - those that kill harmful bacteria along with good bacteria will cause problems after being used for a long time.

Oh, by the way, many people never realize that wearing the wrong pants can be more harmful than using the wrong care solution. The tight-fitting shark pants and tight-fitting low-waisted lace underwear in summer are worn for 8 or 9 hours when sitting in the office. The private parts are airtight, and it is common for the temperature to be two or three degrees higher than the body surface. Mold likes this kind of warm and hot environment best. Many people suffer from vaginitis repeatedly in summer, and the reason why is often found is wearing the wrong pants. There are also different opinions on the material of underwear. Most gynecologists recommend wearing pure cotton, which is sweat-absorbent and breathable. However, some dermatologists also pointed out that as long as it is a qualified quick-drying fabric with sufficient hygroscopicity and if it is changed frequently, it is more suitable for people who love fitness and are prone to sweating than pure cotton that cannot be dried for half a day after being wet with sweat. There is no need to insist on the obsession with "pure cotton is healthy". What suits you is the best.

There is another point that everyone is ashamed to mention, which is cleaning before and after sex. It doesn’t mean that you have to wash thoroughly inside and out, especially men. Many people think that they don’t need to pay attention if they don’t have symptoms. In fact, the bacteria and viruses contained in smegma are the triggers for many women to be repeatedly infected with cervicitis and vaginitis. Previously, a patient had fungal vaginitis for half a year, and it didn’t get better after taking a lot of medicine. Finally, she took her husband to check it out, and found out that the man’s foreskin was too long and he didn’t clean it before each sexual intercourse. After the two of them treated it together, they never had it again. There is also controversy about whether to urinate immediately after having sex. Most urologists recommend that women urinate as soon as possible after having sex, which can reduce the risk of urinary tract infection. However, some doctors have mentioned that if you do not have a history of urinary tract infection, you do not have to get up and go to the toilet immediately after finishing. You can urinate within half an hour. There is no need to be anxious about this, which will affect the experience.

Don’t think that reproductive health is only a woman’s business. There are many things that men should pay attention to. The most common thing is that many people like to work with their laptops on their laps, and go to hot springs and saunas for an hour whenever they have free time on weekends. You must know that the optimal temperature of testicles is about 2 degrees lower than body temperature. If you are in a high temperature environment for a long time, sperm motility will directly decrease. There was a young man who was preparing for in vitro fertilization and his sperm motility was found to be particularly poor. After asking for a long time, I found out that he was soaking in hot springs every day to relieve stress during that period. After stopping for three months, he checked again and found that his vitality had increased by 30%, which saved a lot of trouble.

Finally, I would like to mention the screening that is most easily ignored. Many people think, “If I don’t feel uncomfortable, I don’t need to check.” In fact, problems such as HPV infection, cervical lesions, and male asthenozoospermia have no symptoms at all in the early stages. By the time you feel uncomfortable, it has often become more serious. There is no uniform standard for screening frequency. Domestic guidelines generally recommend that TCT+HPV combined screening be done once a year after having sex. If it is negative for two consecutive years, the screening can be relaxed to once every three years. If your sexual partner is not fixed, or you have contact bleeding, it is best to check every year. Just adjust according to your own situation. Don't take it seriously without over-screening.

In fact, to put it bluntly, the core of reproductive health is "don't mess around." Your body has a very sophisticated balance system. The more you use products blindly and believe in folk remedies, the easier it is to mess up this system. If you really feel uncomfortable, don't scare yourself by searching Baidu. Go to a regular hospital and get a gynecology or men's number. It costs more than ten yuan, which is much more reliable than buying hundreds or even thousands of personal care products.