Caring For ‘Something Private’

I often happen to read a lot of articles concerning, the health of the babies, health of mommies etc. There are articles on skin care, hair care, overall care for your body. Then there are plenty of videos and articles on how to improve your health, detox recipes, various health routines etc.

This made me wonder if there were enough articles available around the sexual health and hygiene in a woman. Being a blogger, I have decided to be a part of various online groups where there are very few questions asked around sexual health and hygiene and even if questions are asked, women ask them anonymously.

I wonder, when everyone, practically everyone, knows how a baby arrives into this world, everyone is aware of what needs to be done to produce a child; then why shun someone who inquires’ about hygiene around their reproductive parts?

I happened to visit my gynecologist pretty frequently for a vaginal infection that seemed to find its way back every 10 to 15 days and that’s when my doctor asked me to run a few hormonal tests. That is when she also told me about certain do’s and don’ts to follow.

Here is what she had to say to maintain hygiene.

• Wash your vagina gently after you use the restroom.
• Don’t over wash as over washing disrupts the good bacteria that is meant to keep the area clean and infection free.
• Use a vaginal wash to wash the vagina as they have balanced PH level meant for washing private parts. Your bathing soaps, in fact even baby washes shouldn’t be used on your sexual parts.
• Wash and clean well after intercourse.
• Wear comfortable undergarments and if possible, wear cotton undies mostly.
• If you experience any kind of itching, go underwear-free in the house and wear loose cotton clothing.
• Increase the intake of food that is probiotic in nature such as curd, buttermilk etc. Barley water helps in treating UTIs (urinary tract infections)
• Change your undergarments at least 2-3 times a day, the same should be done with your pads.
• Sundry your undergarments as much as possible as excess moisture on the clothes leads to the formation of bacteria.
• Always wash and use new lingerie. You must always wash lingerie with a mild disinfectant added to your wash 
• In case one partner suffers from an infection, the other partner should take the medicinal course too. This is because the other partner also becomes the carrier of the infection.
• Increase the content of water in your diet. Have foods that have high water content such as cucumber, watermelon and minimum 8 glasses of water is what you must have!!

These instructions sure seemed a lot to follow initially, but as I gradually started following them, it became a healthy routine. I firmly believe that there has to be more information available to everyone as careless can lead to diseases. There are various missions across the country, one mission should involve around women too!