Popular science content on women’s health

Don't be coerced into "over-maintenance" by marketing, and don't bear the discomfort because of shyness. For all decisions, give priority to the guidelines of formal medical institutions, rather than the sharing of Internet celebrities, elders' experiences, or e-commerce details. 90% of the "must-do maintenance for women" you have heard are either useless or harmful to the body.

Last week, I met a 26-year-old Internet operator girl at the clinic. She had saved more than three months’ bonus to go to the "Private Anti-Aging Package" recommended by Internet celebrities, which included ovarian maintenance essential oil massage and private bleaching. As a result, her vulva was itchy for almost half a month after she went back, and her menstruation was delayed by 10 days. When she came to the doctor, her pants were still stained with pink residue of unknown ingredients. She cried and said that the blogger said "Anti-aging items must be done by women over 25, but they will get old if they are late." Can you believe it? I come across two or three similar cases every week, ranging from a moxibustion and palace-warming package worth several thousand yuan to a "breast gland massage" worth tens of thousands of yuan. The girls who fall into the trap range from 18 to 50 years old.

Take the HPV vaccine that everyone is clamoring for. There has been a debate on the Internet for almost ten years about whether the nine-price vaccine is necessary. Currently, there are actually two voices in clinical practice: one group believes that if you are already sexually active or have even been infected with certain types of HPV, the four-price vaccine can already cover more than 80% of high-risk cervical cancer types. It is more cost-effective and there is no need to wait for the nine-price vaccine until you are over age.； Another group of epidemiological experts believe that the nine-price test covers more subtypes. As long as the age is suitable and an appointment can be made, the protective effect of the nine-price test is indeed better. In fact, there is no standard answer at all. Just choose according to your own financial situation and vaccination conditions. You don’t have to wait for the nine-price offer until you are 26 years old and you can’t get vaccinated.

Having said this, I remember that the first words many girls come to consult are "I drank iced milk tea this month, and my menstruation was delayed by 3 days. Is it because of uterine cold?" ”I turned around and placed an order for palace warming instruments and moxibustion kits worth several thousand yuan. In fact, clinically there is no unified conclusion on "whether you can touch ice during menstruation": Traditional Chinese medicine schools generally believe that Qi and blood are deficient during menstruation, and exposure to cold and cold can easily lead to Qi and blood stasis, inducing dysmenorrhea and menstrual disorders. ； Western medicine generally believes that as long as you don't feel uncomfortable after drinking ice, you don't have to endure it at all. Individual tolerance is the core criterion. But one thing is certain: if your menstrual cycle fluctuates within 7 days, and the amount of bleeding does not suddenly become so large that it soaks the entire tablet for 2 hours, or it is so small that you can handle it with just a pad, there is really no need to mess around. After observing two cycles, it is much more reliable than taking supplements randomly.

Oh, by the way, friends who are so frightened that they can't even sleep when breast nodules are detected during physical examinations. Don't believe in the "massage to remove knots" and "remove residual breasts" from beauty salons. There is currently no evidence-based medical evidence to prove that massage can eliminate benign breast nodules. On the contrary, violent massage may break the nodules and even stimulate the abnormal growth of the originally stable nodules. My best friend who works as a nurse in the gynecology department said that more than half of the female doctors in their department detect breast nodules during their annual physical examinations. Everyone reviews the breast nodules every six months. When they should drink coffee and eat hot pot, no one does any breast massage. On the contrary, the nodules are much more stable than those of patients who check Baidu at home every day and are too anxious to eat. Don't laugh, last month I met a 32-year-old mother who spent more than 20,000 yuan in a beauty salon to have her residual breasts removed. In the end, she developed acute mastitis and her fever reached 39 degrees. She was hospitalized and had to be infused with fluids for a week before she recovered.

We also have to mention the pitfalls of private parts care. Many girls believe that "private parts must be washed clean to be healthy." They buy a bunch of lotions that claim to be anti-itching and pink to wash them every day, and some even have to pour them into them to wash them. The vaginal flora is like a self-sufficient small ecology. If you pour sterilizing lotion into it when you have nothing to do, the good probiotics will be washed away by you, and the harmful bacteria will naturally start to cause trouble, which may easily induce vaginitis. Of course, some brands say that weakly acidic lotions are more suitable for the private environment and healthier, but clinical guidelines clearly state that when there is no inflammation, rinsing the vulva with water is the best way to care for it. If you really feel uncomfortable and want to try lotions, ask your gynecologist for evaluation first, and don’t buy blindly.

After all, women’s health really doesn’t have that many bells and whistles. Don’t be fooled by marketing PUAs like “you are a woman, so you need special care”, and don’t feel shameful about gynecological problems and avoid going to the hospital. Annual gynecological examinations and breast ultrasounds are really not worth the trouble. Even if you are not sexually active, you can still do abdominal B-ultrasound and breast examinations. Early detection of problems and early intervention are much more effective than buying tens of thousands of skin care products. If you are really not sure whether a certain project can be done, you might want to ask: Do the gynecology departments in regular hospitals carry out this project? If there are no hospitals and only beauty salons and Internet celebrity stores are promoting it, then 99% of it is a trap, so just don’t touch it.