Doctors remind women to be careful about the way they wipe their buttocks to avoid vaginitis!

Author: Liao Qinping, Chief Physician of Beijing Tsinghua Chang Gung Hospital affiliated to Tsinghua University

Reviewer: Yang Huixia, Chief Physician, Peking University First Hospital

Former Chairman of the Perinatal Medicine Branch of the Chinese Medical Association

For women, there are some etiquettes for wiping the butt. You may not agree with this, so let’s take a look at the picture below.

As shown in the picture, above the female vaginal opening is the urethra opening, and not far below is the anus.

Figure 1 Original copyright image, no permission to reprint

If you wipe your butt from the anus to the vagina, that is, from the back to the front, it is possible that feces or perianal secretions will be rubbed onto the vagina, and the bacteria in the feces or perianal secretions will enter the vagina and even cause vaginitis. In addition, different parts of women have different abilities to resist germs, urethra < vagina < anus.

So the correct way to wipe your butt is to wipe from front to back.

Having said that, some friends’ doubts that have lasted for years may be resolved. They have been wondering why they still get vaginitis even though they don’t have sex and change their underwear frequently every day?

It turns out that the mistake was in the detail of wiping the butt. I must remember it this time.

In addition to the wrong way of wiping your butt, there are many bad habits that can also cause vaginitis.

1. What bad habits can cause vaginitis?

First, not paying attention to hygiene.

Not washing the vulva. Urine and feces can cause contamination, so the vulva should be washed every day, especially during menstruation, because blood is the best culture medium for bacteria. Both men and women should wash themselves before sex, especially men, who should pull up their foreskin and wash the inside to better maintain women's health. It should be noted that ordinary warm water can be used to wash the vulva, and no special washing liquid is needed.

Women of childbearing age should try to change their underwear every day, because there will be a large number of bacteria and some vaginal secretions remaining on the underwear, so they should be changed and washed every day.

Do not wipe the vulva after urinating. Urine can irritate the vulva and vagina, so after urinating, it is recommended to wipe the vulva with a clean toilet paper towel.

Second, over-hygiene.

Flushing the vagina every day. There are many lactobacilli in the vagina that are beneficial to humans, which play the role of biological barrier and immune protection. Healthy women do not need to flush the vagina. Frequent flushing of the vagina will wash away the good lactobacilli in the vagina, making it easier to be infected with pathogenic bacteria, or cause abnormal proliferation of conditional pathogens in the vagina and infection.

Vaginitis is not exclusive to married women. Even if they do not have sex, young girls and virgins can also get vaginitis if they develop bad living habits. In addition, there are several other causes of vaginitis in young girls and virgins.

2. What other causes may cause vaginitis in young girls or virgins?

Children put things into their vaginas, and foreign objects enter the vagina and cause vaginal infections;

The mother has gonorrhea or Trichomonas vaginitis and has close contact with the child or shares a washing basin, etc., which may infect the child;

Extensive use of antibiotics leads to vaginal flora disorders.

Pathogens are always around women. If they are not careful, they may get sick. While mothers should avoid infection themselves, they should also be vigilant about their daughters getting infected.

3. What symptoms may indicate vaginitis?

The most obvious symptoms are excessive vaginal discharge, itching and pain, uncomfortable urination, and irritation at the vaginal opening. The type of vaginitis can be easily distinguished based on the nature and color of the vaginal discharge.

If you have a lot of vaginal discharge that is chylous and has a fishy smell, you may have bacterial vaginosis.

If there is a lot of purulent leucorrhea with bubbles and a foul odor, it may be caused by Trichomonas vaginitis;

The appearance of tofu-like leucorrhea may indicate vaginal candidiasis;

Elderly women who have thin, purulent discharge may be suffering from senile vaginitis.

Vaginitis is not easy for ordinary people to identify. Once abnormal symptoms appear, you should go to the hospital in time. The doctor will make a clear diagnosis through internal examination, secretion examination, etc., and timely treatment should be given after the diagnosis.

If not treated in time, it may cause urinary tract infection or systemic fungal infection. The most terrible thing is that the pathogens go up to the cervix, causing cervicitis, and then go up to the uterus, pelvic cavity, and fallopian tubes, causing pelvic inflammatory disease and chronic inflammation. Salpingitis causes the fallopian tubes to become thinner and thinner, and finally blocked, causing infertility, or obstruction, causing ectopic pregnancy. In addition, vaginitis during pregnancy can also cause miscarriage, and in the late pregnancy it can also cause premature rupture of membranes and premature birth.

4. How to treat vaginitis?

For bacterial vaginosis, the first-line treatment is to use metronidazole drugs, which are taken orally for 7 consecutive days. Most patients can be cured. Topical medications are also acceptable, such as metronidazole suppositories. For patients with recurrent vaginosis, they may not be sensitive to metronidazole. Clindamycin cream may be effective if used vaginally for 5-7 days.

For the treatment of Trichomonas vaginitis, try to use systemic medication, take 2 grams orally at a time, which is 10 tablets of metronidazole at a time. The sexual partner must also be treated at the same time. If they are not treated at the same time, the disease is likely to relapse if they have sex again.

Vulvovaginal candidiasis is both an infectious disease and an allergic disease. Before treatment, it should be classified to determine whether it is simple or complicated.

Simple cases are very easy to treat. They can be taken orally or topically. Oral medications include fluconazole and itraconazole, and topical medications include clotrimazole, miconazole nitrate, nystatin, amphotericin B, etc. Simple cases can usually be cured in one course of treatment.

Complex, moderate to severe cases require at least 2 courses of treatment. After 2 courses of treatment, a follow-up check should be conducted to check if the fungus is gone, which means the disease is cured. If the fungus is still there, consolidation treatment should continue.

For recurrent cases with more than 4 attacks a year, intensive treatment should be required first. After the hyphae and blastospores have completely disappeared, consolidation treatment should be performed for another half a year.

Senile vaginitis has no symptoms, so you can ignore it. Once there are symptoms, such as dryness, pain, or discomfort, use different antibacterial drugs according to different inflammations. Kill the bacteria first, and then increase the protection mechanism. You can use some ointment containing estriol hormone topically, which is beneficial to the repair of the vaginal epithelium.

In short, vaginitis is not that scary. It can be prevented and treated. Prevention is the key. For example, wash your vulva with clean water every day, change your underwear frequently, wipe your buttocks correctly, and enhance your resistance. Vaginitis will stay away from you. At the same time, mothers should also care more about their children. It is important to teach children how to wipe their buttocks from an early age.