1. Is vaginal inflammation common?
Vaginal inflammation is as common as the flu and is the most common disease seen in gynecological clinics, and can develop at all ages. The vagina is adjacent to the urethra in the front and the anus in the back, which is warm and moist and easily contaminated; women of childbearing age have more frequent sex and the vagina is a necessary route for childbirth and some gynecological operations, making it susceptible to damage and infection by outside pathogens; postmenopausal women and infants have low estrogen levels and their local resistance is reduced, making them susceptible to infection. Therefore, women of all ages can be affected by vaginal inflammation. Any inflammation occurs as a result of the interaction between one’s own resistance and external invading microorganisms.
2. What kind of vaginal discharge is considered normal?
The vaginal discharge is mainly composed of vaginal mucous membrane exudate, cervical canal, endometrium and fallopian tube gland secretion, other secretions include sweat gland of labia majora, sebaceous gland of labia majora and labia minora, vestibular gland and paraurethral gland, which are physiological reproductive tract discharge or normal leucorrhea. Normal leucorrhea is egg-white or white paste, without fishy odor, and in small amounts. The formation of leucorrhea is related to the action of estrogen: it generally increases during ovulation and pregnancy; it is less during puberty and after menopause. In case of vaginitis, cervicitis or cancer of the reproductive tract, the amount of leucorrhea will increase significantly, and the nature of the leucorrhea will change or it will have an odor.
3.Does vaginal discharge change periodically?
The main component of vaginal discharge is cervical mucus, which is controlled by the hormones secreted by the ovaries, so it changes periodically according to the changes in hormone levels: before ovulation, the estrogen level rises and transparent mucus-like vaginal discharge is visible. At this time the woman’s vulva is the most humid and has a slippery feeling. This cervical mucus secretion can last for about 2-3 days during ovulation, which is when women feel moist. After ovulation, the ovaries secrete luteinizing hormone, which prevents the secretion of large amounts of cervical mucus, the leucorrhea decreases, the vulva dries, and about 10 days afterwards, menstruation comes. In the 1-2 days before menstruation, the leucorrhoea increases slightly again, but not as translucent and viscous as during ovulation. The change of dry and wet dryness of women’s vulva produced by women’s leucorrhea less, more and less accompanying is the cyclical change of leucorrhea.
4.What are the vaginal inflammatory diseases?
Whenever the vaginal ecology changes and the immune function of the vagina is imbalanced, the normal vaginal flora becomes unbalanced or infected with pathogenic pathogens, the vagina becomes susceptible to a variety of vaginal inflammatory diseases. There are many types of vaginitis, which can be subdivided into: (1) trichomoniasis; (2) candidiasis or mycosis; (3) senile vaginitis; (4) bacterial vaginosis; (5) infantile vaginitis; (6) viral vaginitis; (7) gonococcal vaginitis; and (8) allergic vaginitis. All vaginitis have symptoms and signs such as abnormal leucorrhea, vulvar and vaginal discomfort, itching, pain, even affecting sexual life or bleeding, so physicians should take a detailed medical history, carefully examine the vagina, identify the causes and treat them separately in order to be effective. Vaginitis, especially in women of childbearing age, has a very close relationship with gynecological diseases and surgeries, perinatal outcomes, maternal and infant effects, and family planning.
5. What are the criteria for curing vaginitis?
The criteria for cure of vaginitis are: (1) disappearance of symptoms; (2) return to normal signs; (3) disappearance of pathogens; (4) return to normal vaginal cleanliness; and (5) return to normal vaginal pH range. However, in clinical practice, vaginitis is prone to recurrence because of the lack of vaginal micro-ecological balance and vaginal cleanliness and vaginal pH are not normal at the time of treatment. If this is taken as the standard in clinical treatment or scientific research, it will be beneficial to improve the effectiveness of vaginitis treatment and reduce recurrence. In conclusion, vaginitis is a common and frequent disease in women of all ages. In the treatment, we should pay attention to the research of vaginal physiology, microecology, immunology and other related disciplines, and in addition to using drugs that are sensitive and efficient to the pathogens, we should also pay attention to the microecological balance and use probiotic products to supplement the treatment from the microecological aspect, which will be more beneficial than using antibacterial drugs alone.
6. How should vaginitis be prevented in general?
In order to reduce the occurrence of vaginitis, women should pay attention to the following points:
(1) Try to choose breathable cotton underwear and change them regularly, and be careful not to wear pantyhose or tight jeans continuously.
(2) Keep the vulva clean, do not abuse detergents; the best way to wash the pubic area with water, rather than a variety of lotions; and pay attention to avoid using high temperature water to scald the vulva.
(3) Keep the vulva dry and do not use sanitary pads for a long time.
(4) The direction of wiping after stool should be from front to back to avoid bringing Candida from the anus to the vagina.
(5) Pay attention to the cleanliness of toiletries and sanitary ware, and separate the towel and basin for washing vulva. The underwear should be placed in the sun after washing, not in the bathroom; public swimming pools and bathrooms should not be used casually, and public toilets are no exception.
(6) Don’t abuse antibiotics and hormones, if you have diabetes, you should actively treat diabetes, which can lead to dysbiosis of the normal vaginal flora.
(7) Try to maintain a cheerful mood, because psychological reasons can also lower the body’s immunity, allowing bacteria to take advantage of the situation.
(8) Avoid unclean sexual intercourse.
(9) Men should flip their foreskin over and wash the prepuce inside the foreskin capsule when bathing normally, which is the easiest and effective way to prevent inflammation in women.
7. Can I have sex during the treatment of vaginitis?
It is important to avoid sexual intercourse during the treatment of vaginitis. Some vaginitis, such as trichomoniasis, can be transmitted through sexual intercourse and should be treated by both men and women.
8. Can unmarried women who are not having sex get vaginitis?
In fact, women who are not sexually active can also suffer from vaginitis for the following reasons.
(1) The vagina is attached to the perineum and frequent use of alkaline soap or disinfectant to clean the vulva can cause dysbiosis in the vagina.
(2) It can be caused by wearing tight crotch, hip-wrapping panties and high-elasticity tight-fitting bodybuilding pants. These pants are made of chemical fiber fabric and are impermeable to air. Vaginal secretions and sweat are not easily distributed, which is suitable for anaerobic bacteria to multiply and cause the disease.
(3) During menstruation, bacteria can enter the vagina retrogradely. During menstruation, the body’s resistance decreases, and the vulva is contaminated by unclean toilet paper and menstrual cotton plugs due to lack of attention to menstrual hygiene and abuse of unclean toilet paper, which causes germs to breed.
(4) Excessive cleaning of the vagina, vaginal flora imbalance and suffer from this disease.
9. How to wash the perineum? Is it better to wash it as often as possible?
The mucous membranes of the pubic area are stored in stool and need to be cleaned frequently. However, the more often you wash, the better. Excessive cleaning will destroy the protective film on the surface of the mucous membrane, making it dry and uncomfortable, and even itchy. In fact, the frequency of cleaning should be once a day. Also, do not douche the vagina in general, as douching may break the acid-base balance inside the vagina, thus increasing the incidence of gynecological inflammation.
Washing method: It is better to take a shower and douche with warm water, if you don’t have a shower, you can use a basin instead, but you should use a special basin for this purpose. You should wash your hands first, then wash the vulva from front to back, then the labia majora and labia minora, and finally around the anus and anus. Do not wash inside the vagina under normal circumstances. If there is itching in the vagina, burning pain when urinating, abnormal vaginal discharge, lumps in the vagina and odor, you must go to the hospital for examination.
10. Why is vaginitis prone to recurrence?
(1) Irregular medication and incomplete treatment. Some vaginitis patients stop taking medication after treatment because the itchy symptoms are relieved or eliminated, which results in the suppression of germs, but the disease is not completely cured.
(2) The causative factors are not removed. For example, trichomoniasis is often transmitted through sexual intercourse, and if there is a history of unclean sex or if the partner continues to carry the pathogen, then the patient is prone to repeated infections. In some cases, both husband and wife are not treated at the same time and the woman passes the pathogen to her husband through sexual intercourse, making him a carrier, but men have no obvious symptoms because their physiology is different from that of women.
(3) The human body itself is a carrier of certain fungi. If you don’t pay attention to hygiene habits, such as always rubbing from the anus to the urethra when wiping after a bowel movement, you may bring some germs into the vagina, causing a relapse.
(4) If you don’t pay attention to hygiene, such as washing underwear and socks at the same time, using sanitary napkins or toilet paper with substandard hygiene, sharing bath tubs with others, etc., you may cross-infect the germs and cause recurrence.
(5) Taking high doses of antibiotics or having diabetes can disrupt the relationship between the vaginal flora and lead to the growth of fungi, thus increasing the chance of vaginal candidiasis, and if antibiotics are used constantly or if blood sugar is not well controlled, it can also cause recurrence.
Therefore, once you have vaginitis, in order to prevent recurrence, you should follow the doctor’s instructions, use the medication according to the prescribed course, and remove the causative factors, develop good hygiene habits, and avoid unclean sex.
(3) The human body itself is a carrier of certain fungi. If you do not pay attention to hygiene, such as always rubbing from the anus to the urethra when wiping after a bowel movement, you may bring certain germs into the vagina and cause a relapse.
(4) If you don’t pay attention to hygiene, such as washing underwear with other clothes such as socks, using sanitary napkins or toilet paper with substandard hygiene, sharing bath tubs with others, etc., it may cause cross-infection of germs and lead to recurrence.
(5) Taking high doses of antibiotics or having diabetes can disrupt the relationship between the vaginal flora and lead to the growth of fungi, thus increasing the chance of vaginal candidiasis, and if antibiotics are used constantly or if blood sugar is not well controlled, it can also cause recurrence.
Therefore, in order to prevent recurrence of vaginitis, it is important to follow the doctor’s instructions, take the prescribed medication, remove the causative factors, develop good hygiene habits and avoid unclean sex.