Editing Pessary (section)

== History ==
[[File:Pessaries.JPG|thumb|right|An assortment of pessaries]] Early use of pessaries dates back to the ancient Egyptians, as they described using pessaries to treat pelvic organ prolapse.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|title=Contemporary Use of the Pessary {{!}} GLOWM|url=https://www.glowm.com/section_view/heading/contemporary-use-of-the-pessary/item/25|access-date=2020-07-31|website=www.glowm.com|language=en}}</ref> The term 'pessary' itself is derived from the Ancient Greek word {{lang|grc-Latn|pessós}}, meaning round stone used for games.<ref>{{cite dictionary|title=pessary |url=http://www.dictionary.com/browse/pessary|access-date=9 April 2018|dictionary=Dictionary.com}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Oliver|first1=Reeba|last2=Thakar|first2=Ranee|last3=Sultan|first3=Abdul H.|date=June 2011|title=The history and usage of the vaginal pessary: a review|journal=European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology|volume=156|issue=2|pages=125–130|doi=10.1016/j.ejogrb.2010.12.039|pmid=21255901|issn=0301-2115}}</ref> Pessaries are even mentioned in the oldest surviving copy of the Greek medical text, the [[Hippocratic Oath#Earliest surviving copy|Hippocratic Oath]], as something that physicians should never administer for the purposes of an abortion: "Similarly I will not give to a woman a pessary to cause abortion."<ref>Hippocrates of Cos (1923). ''The Oath''. Loeb Classical Library. 147: 298–299. {{doi|10.4159/DLCL.hippocrates_cos-oath.1923}}. Retrieved 18 September 2018.</ref> The earliest documented pessaries were natural products. For example, Greek physicians [[Hippocrates]] and [[Soranus of Ephesus|Soranus]] described inserting half of a pomegranate into the vagina to treat prolapse.<ref name=":6"/> It was not until the 16th century that the first purpose-made pessaries were made.<ref name=":2" /> For instance, in the late 1500s, [[Ambroise Paré]] was described as making oval pessaries from hammered brass and waxed cork. Nowadays, pessaries are generally made from silicone and are well tolerated and effective among patients who need them.<ref name=":6"/>