Key points of gynecological health self-examination

The status of discharge, abnormal body surface lumps, and abnormal non-menstrual pain can be done at home without complicated operations. 80% of common gynecological problems can be detected in advance through these three items.

Let’s talk about the discharge that is easiest for everyone to observe first. I have met too many girls in the clinic who treat the transparent stringy leucorrhea during ovulation as a disease and get nervous. There are also some people who treat the tofu-like fungal infection secretion as ordinary secretion and wait for half a month. One thing to mention here is that there have been subtle differences in the definition of "normal leucorrhea" in the academic community: Traditional obstetrics and gynecology believe that normal leucorrhea is milky white or transparent with no obvious fishy smell. However, clinical research in recent years has also pointed out that as long as it is not accompanied by itching, Pain and burning sensations, even if they are occasionally yellowish or heavy, are normal fluctuations as long as they recover on their own in 2-3 days. After all, eating spicy food, staying up late, and having sex may affect the condition of leucorrhea. There is no need to randomly stuff medicine or buy private parts lotion to rinse when something goes wrong.

It is easier to scare yourself than observing secretions, but many people will ignore the step of touching the lump. I met a 24-year-old girl a while ago. She felt a hard pimple on her vulva when she was taking a shower. She thought it was an acne breakout. The pain lasted for three weeks until she couldn't walk. It was found out that the Bartholin's gland cyst had suppurated. In the end, she had to incision and drainage. She suffered a lot. When doing a self-examination, you can actually touch it while taking a shower. You can touch it from the skin of the vulva to the lower abdomen. If you feel a raised hard bump, a lump that hurts when you press it, or if you feel an obvious raised mass in your lower abdomen when you are lying down, don't force yourself to do it. Go to the hospital for a B-ultrasound examination first. Oh, by the way, I also want to mention a controversial point here: many popular science contents will recommend that everyone self-examine the cervix, but our front-line clinical doctors basically do not recommend ordinary people to feel the cervix by themselves. First of all, if you have no relevant experience and don’t know what a normal cervix feels like, it is easy to misjudge it. ； Secondly, if your hands are not properly disinfected, it is easy to bring in pathogenic bacteria, which is simply unnecessary.

Another point that is most easily dismissed as "dysmenorrhea" or "cold" is the abnormal pain. Many people's first reaction to a stomachache is "Am I having sex?" or "Did I get stimulated by drinking ice?" In fact, different pain states correspond to different situations: for example, unilateral abdominal cramping during ovulation, which resolves on its own within half a day to a day, that is, normal ovulation pain does not require special treatment. ； But if the pain is obvious after intercourse, persists during non-menstrual periods, or even hurts so much that the lumbosacral region becomes sore, don’t even think about drinking hot water to deal with it. It is most likely a sign of pelvic inflammatory disease or adnexitis. By the way, abnormal non-menstrual bleeding is also something you need to be wary of. Whether it is blood streaks after intercourse or bleeding for more than 3 days during ovulation, don’t just pass it off as “my aunt is messed up”.

To be honest, I have been a gynecologist for almost 10 years, and I have seen too many extremes: either a small problem will scare me and buy a bunch of celebrity personal care products, wash and stuff them, or the pain will be so painful that I can't straighten my waist and feel that "gynecological diseases are embarrassing". Here is a warning for everyone: Self-examination is only a preliminary screening and cannot replace the professional examination in the hospital. If you find any abnormality, don’t search Baidu to make a diagnosis yourself. Directly contact the gynecology account of a regular hospital. A regular account only costs more than ten yuan, which is 10,000 times better than guessing and taking medication.

Oh, by the way, there is another question about private parts cleaning that everyone often asks. I just want to mention it by the way: Regarding whether to use lotion every day, there are actually different suggestions in the industry: in a healthy state, it is enough to rinse the vulva with warm water. Using ordinary lotion every day will destroy the balance of vaginal flora and make it easier to get inflammation.； But if inflammation has been diagnosed, the medicinal lotion prescribed by the doctor can be used according to the doctor's instructions. Don't just buy Internet celebrity lotion and use it blindly.