A retired Chief Research Fellow at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Yaba, Lagos, Dr. Dan Onwujekwe, has said women who are used to wiping from back to front after using the toilet expose themselves to the risk of bacteria and urinary tract infections.
According to him, women must learn to wipe properly after using the toilet.
Onwujekwe, who disclosed this during an interview with PUNCH HealthWise, said that though some urinary tract infections, such as gonorrhea and syphilis, are sexually transmitted, many of them are also acquired among women through improper hygiene.
The researcher said, “Many women, after using the toilet, use a method of cleaning up that can predispose them to urinary tract infection. They must learn to wipe properly.
“Many of them, after emptying their bowels, wipe from the back towards the front, and in the process, they may introduce bacteria from the anus into the vagina. From there, the bacteria get into the lower urinary tract and will ascend from there to the kidney, causing a urinary tract infection.
“The proper way to wipe is from the front towards the back so that bacteria don’t get introduced into the urinary tract through the vagina.”
Onwujekwe noted that a urinary tract infection does not mean that it must be sexually transmitted. “Those of them that are transmitted through sex, such as gonorrhea and syphilis, can be prevented by appropriate and regular use of condoms.
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