Two-thirds of women in a new U.S. study reported that they regularly use cleansers, lubricants, oils or petroleum jelly intravaginally, according to Reuters Health.
The problem with this? Some of the products were linked to a higher chance of common vaginal infections.
Based on lab tests, women who used products not intended for vaginal insertion, such as oils and petroleum jelly, were more likely to have yeast and bacterial infections. These findings were published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, said Reuters Health.
Little research has been conducted on the possible effects of over-the-counter products that some women use vaginally, said Joelle Brown. Brown is a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, who led the study wrote HealthDay.com.
Brown and her colleagues found of 141 Los Angeles women that they studied, half reported they'd used some type of over-the-counter product vaginally in the past month, including sexual lubricants, petroleum jelly and baby oil, said WebMD.
The researcher found that women who use petroleum jelly intravaginally are more than twice as likely to develop a bacterial vaginal infection (bacterial vaginosis) than women who do not, wrote Examiner.com.
Reuters Health added that 44 percent of women who reported using intravaginal oils tested positive for candida, the fungus that causes yeast infections, compared to 5 percent of women who did not use oils.
Bacterial vaginosis symptoms include discharge, pain, itching or burning, said WebMD. Most women have no symptoms, and the infection usually causes no long-term problems. It occurs when the normal balance of bacteria in the vagina is disrupted.
However the new findings do not prove that petroleum jelly directly increased women's risk of bacterial vaginosis, wrote WebMD.
Petroleum jelly might promote the growth of bad bacteria because of its "alkaline properties," wrote HealthDay.com. An acidic vaginal environment is what protects women from colonization from abnormal organisms.
Reuters Health continued that normally, the vagina is home to a finely tuned system of good and bad bacteria, which produce acids that protect against infections and viruses. HealthDay.com stressed that experts say this natural environment "cleans" the vagina and women do not need special products to do it.
"Those mundane yeast and bacterial infections, and the inserted products themselves, can damage vaginal tissue," wrote Reuters Health.
When that happens, wrote HealthDay.com, it can make women more vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. It also sometimes leads to pelvic inflammatory disease, which can cause infertility.
The conclusion: Researchers say larger studies are needed to confirm these findings, and to understand how various products when used vaginally can affect women's health, reported WebMD.
Sources:
Doyle, Kathryn. "Vaginal products popular, some linked to infections| Reuters." Breaking News, Business News, Financial and Investing News & More | Reuters.co.uk. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/03/20/us-vaginal-products-idUKBRE92J14F20130320
Norton, Amy. "Petroleum Jelly Tied to Vaginal Infection Risk in Study." Current Health News | Latest | Consumer. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.
http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=674222
Norton, Amy. "Petroleum Jelly Tied to Vaginal Infection Risk in Study – WebMD." Women's Health Center: Information on Women's Wellness, Nutrition, Fitness, Intimate Questions, and Weight Loss. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.
http://women.webmd.com/news/20130308/petroleum-jelly-tied-to-vaginal-infection-risk-in-study
"Wolters Kluwer Health." LWW Journals - Beginning with A. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.
http://journals.lww.com/greenjournal/Abstract/publishahead/Intravaginal_Practices_and_Risk_of_Bacterial.99870.aspx
Wulffson, M.D., Robin. "Intimate vaginal products pose infection risk reports new study - Los Angeles Women's Health | Examiner.com." Welcome to Examiner.com | Examiner.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.
http://www.examiner.com/article/intimate-vaginal-products-pose-infection-risk-reports-new-study
Reviewed March 21, 2013
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith