Those mundane yeast and bacterial infections, and the
inserted products themselves, can damage vaginal tissue and raise a woman's
susceptibility to sexually transmitted diseases, such as herpes, chlamydia and
HIV, researchers said.
"Women should be aware that there is mounting evidence
that some products that are inserted vaginally can cause damage to vaginal
tissues, and can increase the risk of bacterial vaginosis and sexually
transmitted infections," lead author Joelle Brown of the University of
California, Los Angeles, told Reuters Health."
Docs warn of women
harming themselves
Women are clearly doing harm to themselves, by using the
vast majority of what's out there on the shelves and following the advice of
mothers and friends," said Dr Michael Zinaman, chair of obstetrics and
gynecology at St Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston, who was not involved in
the study.
Brown's team recruited 141 women in Los Angeles who agreed
to answer questionnaires about their product use and undergo lab tests for
vaginal infections at the study's outset and one year later. The researchers
found that 66 percent of women reported washing, douching or inserting
commercial lubricants or other over the counter products - other than tampons -
in the previous month.
Among the women who used products intravaginally, 45% used
washes including commercial versions or vinegar-and-water mixtures, for
example. The most commonly employed products were sexual lubricants: 70% of the
product-using group used commercial lubricants, while 17% reported using
petroleum jelly and 13% used oils.
Women had yeast and
bacterial infections
Based on lab tests, the women who used products not intended
for vaginal insertion, such as oils and Vaseline, were more likely to have
yeast and bacterial infections according to the findings published in the
journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
For instance, 40% of
the women who used petroleum jelly as a vaginal lubricant had bacterial
vaginosis - an infection that can be caused by a number of common bacterial
species - compared to 18 percent of women who did not insert petroleum jelly.
And 44 percent of women who reported using intravaginal oils
tested positive for Candida, the fungus that causes yeast infections, compared
to 5% of women who did not use oils. Researchers suggested the increased risk
for these common infections might result from the products upsetting internal
pH and beneficial microbe communities, allowing harmful organisms to
proliferate.
Normally, the vagina is home to a finely tuned system of
good and bad bacteria, which produce acids that protect against infections and
viruses. Bacterial vaginosis is usually caused by an imbalance in the normal
bacteria populations, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. Most women report no symptoms, but some have abnormal discharge or
odor.
Natural balance of
bacteria
Doctors do not recommend that women use douches or vaginal
washes because they can alter the balance of bacteria and don't seem to offer
any benefit. The natural balance of bacteria in the vagina is an
"Evolutionary protection that is just washed away," with soaps,
perfumes or douches, according to Zinaman.
A representative for Vaseline manufacturer Unilever told
Reuters Health by email, "Vaseline Petroleum Jelly is for external use
only, and we state this on our packaging for consumers. We do not recommend
Vaseline Petroleum Jelly be used as a vaginal lubricant and have not performed
any testing to support this use. Vaseline petroleum jelly should also not be
used as a sexual lubricant in combination with latex barrier protection, as it
can degrade the latex."
Doctors have always advised against using petroleum jelly
intravaginally, according to David Katz, a professor of biomedical engineering
and of obstetrics and gynecology at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. The
study did not determine why petroleum jelly might promote bacterial vaginosis.
Petroleum-based products suck water out of the surfaces they
contact, and could make the sensitive skin of the vagina more prone to
infection, said Katz, who was not involved in the new study.It is also
possible, Brown's team cautions in their report, that at least some of the
women using petroleum jelly internally were trying to ease symptoms of
vaginosis.
How the study was
done
The study was not designed to identify the causes of the
infections, so it cannot prove the products were to blame. Commercial sexual
lubricants, which are designed for internal use, were not associated with an
increased risk of infection in the study, but they still require further
evaluation, according to Brown.
Many personal lubricants, like K-Y jelly, contain glycerin
which breaks down to sugars and promotes yeast infections and possibly also
bacterial vaginosis, noted Dr. Mary Marnach, a specialist in obstetrics and
gynecology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota."For this reason I
recommend lubricants without glycerin such as Astroglide Free and those that are
silicone based (K-Y Intrigue) over the counter," Marnach said.
Women must navigate an increasing number of products hitting
the market every day, Brown noted. "I have always been fascinated by the
vast array of commercially-available over the counter products marketed to
women to modify their vaginal environment," she told Reuters Health by
email. "In most pharmacies you can find entire aisles dedicated to vaginal
douches, suppositories, and gels that are meant to make your vagina smell like a
tropical splash or a cookie."
The Food and Drug Administration "strongly urges"
cosmetic manufacturers to test their products for safety, but does not require
it, Brown said.
Reuters