How to use and when “intimate” drugs such as vaginal pessaries and douches.
Who among us has never taken vaginal suppositories at least once in their life? Both menopausal women and very young girls can use them to treat infections, vaginitis, dryness or to rejuvenate the tissues as if they were an “internal cosmetic”.
A very useful product for the female gender, but it must be remembered that it is a therapy with a real drug, there is no need to invent do-it-yourself treatments!
The ovum is in the form of a small (more or less, depending on the individual products on the market) ovoid suppository. Instead of being ingested in the form of a tablet to swallow or chew, the drug is inserted into the vagina to be directly absorbed.
How does an egg fit into the vagina?
It is generally recommended to administer lying down, but you can try other positions (on the bed with your legs up, on your side …). Push it in with a finger and the egg will position itself to act. The perfect time is just before going to sleep in the evening, so that it is absorbed in an optimal way and not faint (in this case there would be the exit of the whole egg or a dense leak) due to the force of gravity, perhaps walking around.
Pessaries and vaginal douches: are they more needed than oral medications?
There are several pharmacological preparations that can be administered vaginally rather than orally. When we talk about eggs we are not talking about a single substance, but about different active ingredients that have only the shape (and the method of insertion) in common. Surely, the best known and most used therapies in the form of eggs are those for genital infections.
These are eggs based on real antibiotics, or antifungals (it means anti-fungal) and are recommended to a woman in the presence of a vaginal infection that is bacterial or fungal (such as candida). As a rule, they are to be inserted in the evening (one per day) and generally for a maximum duration of one week.
And what is vaginal douching for?
The evening egg can be combined with a medicated lavender, to be done in the morning instead. This indication is useful both to remove the residues of the ovum and make the woman feel “cleaner”, as well as to have more effective results in the overall and combined treatment of ovum + lavender.
Local (vaginal) rather than oral treatment typically allows for faster resolution of symptoms and fewer unwanted side effects. A drug ingested by mouth can in fact give side effects especially at the gastric level, causing nausea or intestinal alterations (diarrhea or constipation), mood or sleep alterations and others.
The advantage of eggs and douching is that the local treatment is easily absorbed by the vaginal mucosa (inner lining of the vagina) and only minimally circulates. In the meantime, by coming in contact immediately where needed, lower doses of the drug can generally be used to fight the infection (and it is always better to take the least amount of drugs possible to treat a problem). Acting at a local vaginal level, the drug hardly goes to act in other organs, thus decreasing the possibility of “doing harm”.
How do eggs and douches work in the vagina?
The vagina represents together with the vulva (complex of the external genitalia) the last part of the female genital apparatus, a sort of virtual cavity that connects the inside with the external environment.
Among its functions, the vagina also has that of protecting the woman from “aggression” by external pathogens which, without this natural protective barrier, could penetrate inside the organism, and perhaps with serious consequences.
We women are born in one way, then over time we change: and so does the vagina. Perfectly sterile at birth, over the years it is colonized by microorganisms that constitute the so-called endogenous microflora. When this real vaginal ecosystem is compromised in some way, we witness the transition from physiology to pathology, as happens for example during the onset of vaginitis, very common.
But what’s in this micloflora? The spectrum of microorganisms present in the vagina is really wide, but acidophilic lactobacilli prevail, which are characteristic of the vaginal flora during the fertile age , accounting for about 95% of the total. What are they for? Their function is to create an environment hostile to the colonization of external pathogens and at the same time to limit the uncontrolled growth of other potentially harmful organisms, albeit normally present in the vagina in minimal quantities.
The peculiar and best known characteristic of lactobacilli is that of producing lactic acid, thus maintaining an acidic environment at the vaginal level. In addition, some strains produce hydrogen peroxide, a substance that is toxic to a large number of bacterial species, fungi and even viruses. Finally, they are able to interfere with the pathogen’s adhesion to the vaginal walls, making it less easy to engraft.
Eggs and douches: in which cases are they really needed?
This premise was fundamental to understand how many therapies, even non-medicinal ones, can be administered vaginally.
Increasing vaginal lactobacilli is certainly helpful in restoring local defenses and an optimal pH. For this reason there are eggs containing substances that protect the vaginal function that allow to prevent further recurrence of infections . Among these substances there are precisely the lactobacilli, to be inserted in cycles even for long periods of time, useful for maintaining a healthier intimate environment.
The vaginal wall is formed by a lining (epithelium) whose modification and ability to secrete liquid (vaginal fluid) essentially depends on the hormonal state, which is undoubtedly the most important factor in modulating the characteristics of the vaginal environment. This justifies the vaginal variations in relation to the phases of the cycle and especially to the age of the woman.
The term vaginitis refers to an inflammatory process affecting the vagina, with frequent involvement also of the vulva (the external and visible part), so much so that generally speaking of vulvovaginitis is preferred .
The vulvovaginitis represent an inflammatory process that affects more women in childbearing age and therefore the use of the above egg is usually reserved for the most of them.
The pessaries as vaginal cosmetics
In menopausal women, vaginal dryness often causes problems and gives annoying symptoms such as continuous itching of the genitals and making sexual intercourse painful .
In these women it may be useful to administer non-medicated eggs, but containing moisturizing and regenerating preparations such as hyaluronic acid. In this case they can be considered in some way a cosmetic – internal – for women, only instead of being applied to the face in the daily beauty routine, it is taken vaginally!
The administration of these preparations is most of the time daily – if not in rare cases it is suggested to take less or more than one a day – for a duration of 7-21 days. There is also a therapy that we can define as constant and which consists in taking eggs only twice a week: this promotes vaginal elasticity. What is the use of having an elastic vagina? Especially to have sex without pain.
If the “cosmetic” therapy is not sufficient, it is also possible to resort to eggs containing hormonal preparations.
What are eggs used for: marked dryness and atrophy
It is a hormone therapy based on local estrogens with more immediate and long-lasting effects, to be reserved for those women with more severe atrophy (marked vaginal dryness), who still have sexual activity or who suffer from recurrent cystitis and vaginitis.
Hormone-containing eggs are also used outside menopause . Very common is for example the use of another hormone, progesterone, taken vaginally during pregnancy in the threat of abortion. The same vaginal progesterone is administered to induce menstruation in women who are in amenorrhea (no period for more than 6 months). In these cases it is administered for 10 consecutive days a month to ensure that the woman has regular cycles. The vaginal use of the drug allows to reduce the side effects produced by the same oral therapy.
We have therefore seen the various indications of a therapy with vaginal ovules. We reserve one last curiosity: even virgin women can insert vaginal ovules, without creating lacerations of the hymen.
And always take care of yourself, even internally!
