hygiene questions

[RoadRaven]

I wonder at vaseline - it is petroleum based and as a petrol product has the potential to dry skin...

As with the other women here, I recommend a sports designed anti-chafe cream. I use something called "3B action cream" but only find I need to put it on if I am going to be more than an hour and a quarter on a bike...

I am not sure how well vaseline washes out of Chamois and other bike pads, but when I used it on my babies' bottoms it washed out fine in a med-hot wash.

If you are going to use vaseline, I suggest a zinc based cream used in conjunction... this you will find in baby sections at the supermarket or chemist. Look for Zinc and Castor Oil cream. When you get home from a ride, apply it as a salve to any sore, grazed or potentially infected or lumpy bits. The coolness feels great, the zinc has HUGE healing properties and it washes out well.

The other thing I recommend, particularly for anything that seems remotely infected or is def infected, is a dab of "tea tree oil". It is a great healthy/natural alternative with antiseptic/antibiotic properties for use on grazes, pimples, boils and other infections... It will sting slightly but will help with healing infection.

Good luck with the combination that suits you...

[carimail]

You can try Aquaphor, too. It's completely hypoallergenic and I've had to use it several times to protect several areas on my body and on my baby girl who is very sensitive to fragrances and dyes. It's made by the makers of Eucerin and stays on for a long time. My hubby uses it for cycling too (it's his Death Ride ointment of choice). It's always washed out of his shorts.

Good luck - if there's one area we need to have stay healthy - that's it!

[doc]

Makbike
I think all the above suggestions are good ones. Aquaphor is good, A&D is good, chamois buttr, bag balm etc. You can even use eucerin creme (not lotion, the creme). But I wonder about the douching. In general, all those products sold for douching are completely unnecessary and disturbing to the natural, fine, pH and microbiologic balance of the vagina. Eating yogurt with live active culture (bryers has one they call probiotic) will increase the number of good bacteria in the vagina. But douching every other day with anything sounds a little suspect to me. Once maybe. Maybe. Plus, you don't mention infection, you mention irritation. In which case, why is your doc suggesting you irritate the area more with a douche? I'd ask for lots of explanation. Lots.
Good luck on the healing. I'm sure you will. The body is amazing at taking care of itself given half the chance.

[nuthatch]

If you do end up using Vaseline, it will wash out of your shorts just fine. I've used it over last summer and, yes, it wears off as you ride, so you don't have much to clean off yourself at the end. But I also heard what RoadRaven said - petroleum molecules actually draw moisture out of the skin, so it's functioning more as a protective barrier and lubricant against what the chamois can do to you than sealing in whatever natural lubricant your skin has. You'll probably have to plan several "slather" stops on long rides! You poor girl - ouch!!

[makbike]

Thanks Doc your your views. My doctor has suggested I douche with straight buttermilk, nothing else, in an attempt to replace the "good" bacteria in my vaginal canal. when she did a cytology of the flora in my canal she found none as a result of my use of antibiotics over time for lung and sinus infections. I eat yogurt on a daily basis as well as take acidolophilus tablets every day. When I asked why these were not working my doctor told me they do great things for my digestive tract but the "good" bacteria never leaves my gut and makes it way to my vaginal canal. She feels that two things will hopefully come from this treatment, one the repleshiment of the good stuff as well as keeping the pH balanced thus warding off future yeast infections. I've not started this course of my treatment for I still have a coupld of days left to use the Vagifem tablets in an attempt to prompt the regrowth of healthier/thicker tissues within the canal.

I have an appointment to see her next week to see how things are progressing and to ask a lot of questions about using my birth control pills in conjunction with the estrogen tablets.