Spring Break
Focusing on women, sexual health
Kathy Greaves
Issue date: 5/14/08 Section: Forum
Dear Readers,
In honor of our recent holiday celebrating mothers, I thought I would focus on questions related specifically to women and their sexual health.
Dear Dr. Sex,
Is douching bad? Do you suggest it? Will it help with odor?
Signed, Not So Fresh
Dear Not So Fresh,
Douching is completely and totally unnecessary. In fact, douching can even have negative results.
For those unfamiliar with douching, it is a process by which a woman squirts fluid up into her vagina to clean it. In theory (product marketing theory that is) douching cleans the vagina and leaves a woman feeling "fresh all over."
In reality though, the vagina is a self-cleaning structure, secreting fluids designed to ensure a proper pH balance and help the body fight infection. By forcing artificial substances into the vagina, the pH level is forced into a state of imbalance. The vagina is then forced to work overtime, increasing the secretion levels in an effort to regain a balanced pH.
Douching repeatedly causes the vagina to repeatedly increase secretion production. Having to repeatedly overproduce secretions can actually cause a vaginal infection. Douching also washes away the normal vaginal secretions and may even push unwanted bacteria further up into the reproductive system. Finally douching does not - I repeat does not - work as a means of birth control.
Sperm move fast after ejaculation and some will reach your uterus before you reach the bathroom. Additionally, douching may even force sperm further up into the uterus.
So basically, douching serves no purpose at all and can even be harmful.
In terms of vaginal odor, I cannot imagine why the smell of vinegar (a common ingredient in over-the-counter douches) would be preferred to the natural odor of the vagina.
Nonetheless, if you want to feel fresh, I have a few simple suggestions as well as one somewhat unconventional idea.
First, bathe daily with mild soap and water on the outside of the vagina only. Do not get soap in the vagina as it will alter the pH level just as the douche would.
In honor of our recent holiday celebrating mothers, I thought I would focus on questions related specifically to women and their sexual health.
Dear Dr. Sex,
Is douching bad? Do you suggest it? Will it help with odor?
Signed, Not So Fresh
Dear Not So Fresh,
Douching is completely and totally unnecessary. In fact, douching can even have negative results.
For those unfamiliar with douching, it is a process by which a woman squirts fluid up into her vagina to clean it. In theory (product marketing theory that is) douching cleans the vagina and leaves a woman feeling "fresh all over."
In reality though, the vagina is a self-cleaning structure, secreting fluids designed to ensure a proper pH balance and help the body fight infection. By forcing artificial substances into the vagina, the pH level is forced into a state of imbalance. The vagina is then forced to work overtime, increasing the secretion levels in an effort to regain a balanced pH.
Douching repeatedly causes the vagina to repeatedly increase secretion production. Having to repeatedly overproduce secretions can actually cause a vaginal infection. Douching also washes away the normal vaginal secretions and may even push unwanted bacteria further up into the reproductive system. Finally douching does not - I repeat does not - work as a means of birth control.
Sperm move fast after ejaculation and some will reach your uterus before you reach the bathroom. Additionally, douching may even force sperm further up into the uterus.
So basically, douching serves no purpose at all and can even be harmful.
In terms of vaginal odor, I cannot imagine why the smell of vinegar (a common ingredient in over-the-counter douches) would be preferred to the natural odor of the vagina.
Nonetheless, if you want to feel fresh, I have a few simple suggestions as well as one somewhat unconventional idea.
First, bathe daily with mild soap and water on the outside of the vagina only. Do not get soap in the vagina as it will alter the pH level just as the douche would.
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