Why Use Silicones in Personal Lubricants?

Silicones are artificially produced chemical compounds which do not occur in nature. So why use them in personal lubricants, which are medical products which come into contact with some of the most intimate and sensitive areas of the body? The reason is simple: personal lubricants must possess special properties to deal with the environment inside a vagina. The lubricant properties necessary for keeping the vaginal mucosa moisturized are described by chemist Dr. rer.nat. Herbert Widulle from Germany: The vaginal mucosa is an organ of the female body which is growing continually, and the only orifice, which is influenced by a woman’s hormonal status. Thus the conditions of the vagina changes dramatically with age as well as during the monthly hormonal cycle. The stability of mature vagina mucosa depends on the monthly hormone cycle. After the end of the hormone cycle discharge from the inside of the body through the vagina is not sufficient any more to stabilize the mucosa. A slight flow of water discharged from the inside of a woman’s body, through the vaginal mucous membrane and through from the vagina washes away toxic metabolic products, micro-organisms such as the yeast Candida albicans and dead mucous membrane cells from the body. When a woman is sexually aroused, this flow increases and becomes noticeable. However, even if the flow is low at other times, the woman’s body needs it for well-being and health: the discharge moisturizes the vaginal mucous membrane and decreases friction between the various parts of the vagina, when walking, for example. When the discharge flow stops after menopause or after a cancer treatment, there is uncomfortable pain.

The situation after menopause

To keep up the healthy structure of the mucosa, discharge from the inside of the mucosa to the outside is necessary. If the discharge is reduced after menopause, the forces maintaining the structure decrease or even vanish. The mucosa may be looked upon as a barrier. Only if the differential pressure of the water through the barrier (the mucous membrane) is great enough, small differences in the structure of the barrier are equalized. The discharge from the inside to the outside of the mucosa are no longer balanced throughout the entire mucosa, but in some small areas the discharge will be smaller and in some greater than the average, due to minor differences in the structure. This will generate tearing and the tearing makes the mucosa permeable. Naturally, the transport of toxins through skin out of the body is then reduced. Personal lubricants can minimize the friction and reduce tearing and thus reduce pain.

Properties of silicone-based lubricants

Silicones have some astonishing properties, which make them a perfect raw material for medical substances for treating vaginal dryness: The most important aspect is that its ingredients cyclopentasiloxane and dimethicones and dimethiconols cannot penetrate mucous membranes. This was proven in different tests with pjur med Premium Glide  on behalf of the FDA. Silicones can only migrate through the human body by convection. That means that they can be transported by blood circulation, but they cannot migrate without a transport medium. In addition, silicone particles are larger than the pores of human skin, so they cannot be absorbed by the mucous membranes. These properties are unique. Silicone rebuilds the gradient of water pressure across the mucosa, which is necessary for a stable and healthy mucosa, without blocking the water flow. This means, that silicone is not harmful for the body at all. Apart from that, its excellent gliding properties makes a silicone-based lubricant one of the best solutions to treat vaginal dryness. pjur med Premium Glide can be found at Boots and Lloyds Pharmacy in the UK. By the way, there’s a brilliant raffle from pjur as the company is celebrating 20 years of premium quality Made in Germany. Take part in the raffle here: www.pjurGold.com.