Douching: What You Should Know скачать в хорошем качестве

Douching: What You Should Know

So the word "douche" comes from the French which means to wash or soak. The act of douching is actually washing the vagina with fluid that usually comes in a pre-filled bottle. The fluid can have iodine, baking soda and even vinegar. Women douche because of the misconception that they are unclean or their vagina needs to be cleaned out. This is perhaps because they have other symptoms of an abnormal discharge or odor. But douching is the worst thing that they can do. In fact, the vagina is self-cleansing and we eliminate bad bacteria and dead cells and old blood and mucus in the form of discharge. The act of douching is taking this fluid and putting it up in the vagina. ACOG has released a statement that women should not douche. Unfortunately 40% of women in the United States still do. Why should they not douche? Because douching can alter the ever-so-important vaginal ecosystem. It is very delicate. And also change the vaginal pH. And these two very important physiologies of the vagina can just exacerbate a problem that a woman has. If women think they have an infection and there's some abnormal or extra bacteria in the vagina, the act of squirting this fluid up in the vagina, through the nozzle of the douche, can push the bacteria up into the cervix, through the uterus and into the pelvic organs. And in doing so create what now is a pelvic infection, which can be very serious. If women have symptoms with some form of change in their vaginal discharge, change in their odor, change in their consistency or itching, these are red flags that something else could be going on and it's recommended not to douche but to get consultation from your gyn provider to rule out a more serious problem.