7 Things You Shouldn't Do to Your Vagina
The vagina is an organ that is very sensitive to environmental changes. The pH of this organ is also prone to becoming disrupted.
You surely know some of the factors that can harm your vaginal health, such as a lack of hygiene, wearing tight clothing, or having unprotected sex, among other factors.
However, many women worry too much about the appearance of their genitals and hence make mistakes when it comes to taking care of it. For this reason, we decided to share some of the things you shouldn’t do to your vagina.
Wear panty liners every day
These products were created to absorb the vaginal discharge that we experience at the beginning and end of every period we have. Using this sanitary product every day can harm your intimate health because it makes the groin area more hot and humid.
As a result, your nether region transforms into the perfect area for cultivating bacteria. This causes vaginal infections and increases the amount of vaginal discharge.
If you use these products regularly, we recommend to change them more frequently. Ideally, you should change them every 4 hours.
Try to get rid of your vagina’s natural odor
The vagina has a distinctive smell and this is completely normal. Maybe the smell makes you uncomfortable because you think it’s an unpleasant odor.
The vagina is a hot and humid internal organ. This means it sweats or perspires, which creates an odor that is completely healthy.
You should only worry when:
- The odor is stronger than usual.
- You also experience itching with this odor.
- You start to experience abnormal vaginal discharge.
Never disparage your vagina’s natural odor or try to hide it.
Use petroleum jelly as a lubricant
Petroleum jelly can cause vaginal infections if used as a lubricant. You should use high-quality professional oil with a neutral pH.
Discover: Try These 5 Home Remedies to Help Lubricate your Intimate Zone
It won’t do you any good to use any product at hand such as butters or cooking oils because they could burn you or change your vagina’s pH.
Moreover, never insert foreign objects, foods, or any other device that isn’t designed to go inside the vagina.
Use douches
We understand that you want to keep your whole body clean and smelling good. However, you must keep in mind that excessively cleaning your vagina is not good for its health.
Some women like to use vaginal douches to clean their intimate area, but this is completely unnecessary.
In fact, this habit could be quite dangerous because it can horribly disrupt the balance of healthy bacteria inside the vagina. Some gynecologists consider douching the cause of pelvic inflammatory disease and bacterial vaginosis.
The best thing you can do for your vagina is to wash it with water and a pH-neutral soap when you take a bath or shower. Furthermore, clean your intimate area with a clean towel, but don’t rub too hard.
Expose your vagina to steam
“Cooking” or steaming your vagina in a spa seems to be quite popular nowadays. And yes, “cooking” perfectly describes this action.
This is because steaming the vagina involves sitting on special seats that have steam that come out of them without any underwear on. This steam goes straight to your vagina.
With any type of heat treatment, the best strategy is blood circulation in that area. On the other hand, steam treatments have resulted in burns and irritation in the intimate area. Besides, there’s no scientific proof of the efficiency of this procedure.
Use food during sex: One of the things you shouldn’t do to your vagina
Suggesting that you should use condoms for your vagina’s sake and for the sake of your sexual health when engaging in sexual activity without a stable partner is nothing new.
Moreover, some people like to engage in creative games when they have sex. However, we don’t recommend using chocolate syrup, whipped cream or similar products internally during these games.
This is because anything that contains sugar can change the bacteria and yeast proportions in the vagina. Furthermore, sugary products can cause infections and also irritate the vulva.
If you want to incorporate games in your sexual relations in which you use different flavors, look for products catered to this.
Wipe yourself incorrectly after using the bathroom
It’s vital for feminine intimate hygiene that you dry yourself properly after peeing. Incorrectly doing this causes the most common infections.
Because the anus is very close to the vagina, it can transport bacteria from one place to the other. This bacteria can then become mixed in with vaginal mucosa, which is highly susceptible to infections.
The correct way to clean yourself after peeing or pooping is to start from the vagina and move toward the anus. In other words, from front to back.
Remember: Care for the health of your vagina
The skin on the vulva is the thinnest and most sensitive skin on the body, and things that we thought were harmless can burn, irritate, or infect it.
Read more here: Four Homemade Remedies to Balance Your Vaginal pH
There are habits that we’ve learned since we were children which we continue to do. However, there are some of the things you shouldn’t do to your vagina if you want to avoid uncomfortable situations.
By putting the advice mentioned above into practice, you’ll avoid disrupting your vaginal ecosystem. This will help you keep it healthy.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Alemán Mondeja, Linet Diana, Caridad Almanza Martínez, and Octavio Fernández Limia. “Diagnóstico y prevalencia de infecciones vaginales.” Revista Cubana de Obstetricia y Ginecología 36.2 (2010): 62-103.
- Chávez, Natividad, et al. “Duchas vaginales y otros riesgos de vaginosis bacteriana.” Revista peruana de medicina experimental y salud pública 26.3 (2009): 299-306.
- González, Carolina, et al. “Flora vaginal en pacientes que asisten a consulta ginecológica.” Revista de la Sociedad Venezolana de Microbiología 26.1 (2006): 19-26.
