Douching
Your vagina is like a self-cleaning oven. It doesn’t need any special help - Denise Willers
image by: The Art Of Eating
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The Toxins in Feminine-Hygiene Products
In a 2010 ad, feminine-hygiene purveyor Summer’s Eve seemed to suggest that using its products will lead to getting a raise. The next year, the company sparked an outcry when a series of its commercials featured stereotypically black and Latina voices—the latter actually cried, “Ay-yai-yai!”
Douche-makers might be running out of ways to make American women want to irrigate their nether regions. By now, the science is clear that shooting scented water into your ladyparts doesn’t prevent or treat infections. In fact, it only promotes yeast or bacterial overgrowth because it disturbs the normal vaginal ecosystem. The practice has also been linked to infertility and a greater risk of STDs.
Fortunately,…
Resources
Please, Stop Douching
I do not know how to ask this nicely, so I will just beg you to hear me. This is a PSA. This is a cry, a plea, a desperate attempt for your attention. My hope is that all of you will truly hear me. Please, stop douching.
The 1 Thing You Need To Stop Doing To Your Vagina
While the science is sketchy on the douching-ovarian cancer connection, there are plenty of other reasons not to douche that we have no doubts about.
The vagina is self-cleaning – so why does the 'feminine hygiene' industry exist?
From talcum powder to jade eggs and douches, an industry has grown up to sell products – some of which are harmful – that play on women’s fears about being dirty or smelly.
Why Douching Won't Die
The practice can cause lasting damage—but around the world, women continue to do it, encouraged by advertising, cultural norms, and sometimes even misguided doctors.
Why You Shouldn’t Steam Your Vagina, Douche or Remove Your Pubic Hair
Trendy vaginal treatments are marketed to women, but they are unnecessary. Douching and hair removal can be done without entirely– Both of these unnecessary vagina “treatments” can have adverse side effects, and can lead to more harm than if they were not done in the first place.
"My Favorite Douching Positions" and Other Highlights From 1941's Woman's Personal Hygiene
Or her belief that several times a month each cavity in a woman's lower half must be flushed clean, usually via the injection of soapy water and some rubbery device. Here's how, incidentally.
Don't Put Wasp Nests In Your Vagina
How do people keep coming up with things to put in your vagina? Who are the test subjects trying different things in their vaginas? (Oh, that thing didn't work. OK, that was terrible. That resulted in hospitalization...) The list of products being hawked is growing longer and longer, from yoni oils to tightening sticks to douches.
New Study Gives Another Reason to Stop Douching
Let’s just state this for the record: Douching is bad. You don’t need to blast any kind of cleanser up your vagina. Doing so will cause your good bacteria levels to change, and that leads to all kinds of yeasty problems and vaginosis.
SciAmChem: Don't douche, she declares acidly
Let your vagina clean itself. It is acidic for a reason, and no, it’s not supposed to smell like a flower. It’s supposed to smell like a vagina.
The Superhero in the Vagina
Douching of any kind disrupts the balance of good bacteria and is associated with increased risk of BV. Folklore about the need to clean out the vagina—especially after sex or a period—is often handed down from older relatives to younger women. But the vagina is remarkably adept at taking care of itself if left undisturbed.
Vaginal Douche While Pregnant? Don’t!
So what are you supposed to do if you want to clean your vagina? Wash the outside of it with warm water when you bathe, but as far as the inside, your best bet is to let your vagina clean itself by making mucus.
Vaginal pH Redux: Broader Perspectives on Douching, Race and Lime Juice
Douching of any kind, and lime juice douching in particular, does not provide contraception, does not reduce infection risk (it may even increase it), and causes significant vaginal irritation. Educating women about these issues is certainly important.
The Toxins in Feminine-Hygiene Products
How perfumed toiletries—particularly douches—lead to dangerously high levels of chemicals in the body.
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