Don’t Douche: This Technique Proves Unsafe and Ineffective for Cleaning the Vagina

A woman wants to eliminate her foul vaginal odor but doesn’t know how. She’s heard of douching and wonders if this method might be helpful. What she doesn’t know are the numerous health implications associated with douche, rendering it unsafe and ineffective.

Case #: 1541

Concern：

What is a douche, and what can be the purpose of it? I have a vaginal odor that holds a very nasty smell, and I want to get rid of it. I figured you might be able to help. Anything would make a huge difference. Thank you.

Discussion：

Our society is in the habit of masking health issues without getting to their underlining causes. Douche is an example of this, in which vaginal odor is dismissed rather than investigated. To answer your question, douche is a product – either made at home or purchased commercially – used to eliminate unpleasant scents in the genitals. Roughly 15 percent of women in America routinely douche. However, it is neither the safest nor most effective way to improve your smell.

The Vagina

So many beauty products are available for women: cosmetics, hair dye, body sprays, perfumes, and cleansing wipes. The implication is that women need ornamental artifice to be attractive. Compounded to this situation is the belief that
vaginas are smelly and dirty, thus engendering such ugly names for the vagina as “hole” and “slit.”

Regardless of what you call it, the vagina is neither inherently grimy nor inhabited by a foul smell. Clean and healthy vaginas emit an odor often described as “musky,” which is to say distinctly feminine. This musk smell becomes more prominent after exercise or sex and is released by oil and sweat glands located in the vagina. When the organ is dirty, the musk smell turns slightly sour.

Hidden Dangers of Douching

What many women don’t know, however, is that simply washing with warm water and soap can sufficiently clean the vagina. Douches – solutions made with water or other cleaning agents squirted directly into the vagina – are unnecessary. This is because the female body was designed to naturally expel toxins, blood, dead skin cells, and harmful bacteria. It largely accomplishes this task with vaginal secretions.

Douches impede those fluids and also disrupt the vagina’s delicate pH levels. They even interfere with the growth of beneficial flora that keep unhealthy flora at bay. This balance between healthy and unhealthy bacteria is crucial to the vagina because it protects from disease. When the balance is disrupted, a woman becomes susceptible to illness. The window for such opportunity after douching is substantial; flora levels do not return to normal for 72 hours.

Therein is another problem with douching: it contributes to such harmful conditions as bacterial vaginosis and pelvic inflammatory disease. It also raises a woman’s risk for developing chlamydia, the most prevalent STD in America. When young girls and/or women douche, they even put themselves at risk for infertility.

Smells That Hint at Illness

Before you think your vaginal odor is foul, consider this: each woman’s body smells slightly different. Your odor will not match that of another female’s. In addition, the vagina’s scent changes throughout the month because of factors like ovulation and menstruation. This suggests hormones influence odor, so you can expect variations that range from metallic to musky to slightly fishy.

What’s not normal is a strong fish smell at a time other than when you menstruate. Such an odor is symptomatic of bacterial vaginosis, the foremost cause of vaginal odor. Also beware of yeast odors that point to yeast infections. Both are caused by an overgrowth of bad flora and need to be treated. Sexually transmitted diseases can also spur strong, unpleasant odors.

Naturally Smell Wonderful

Don’t douche to eliminate strong vaginal odor. A much safer alternative is an herbal remedy known as the Sweet Secret of Princess Aroma. (TRY: Natural Herbal Formula for Vaginal Odor Relief) Blended with such ingredients as Yumberry and Pumpkin Seed, it restores balance to the vagina’s pH levels and rejuvenates tired tissues. It also improves blood flow so the vagina can naturally expel toxins and smell pleasingly clean.