How to Take Care of Your Vagina: 10 Self-Care Rituals – Love Wellness
But the vagina is much lower-maintenance than most folks realize, and keeping it healthy doesn’t require any of these trends. In fact, most of them do more harm than good, according to Felice Gersh, MD, author of PCOS SOS: A Gynecologist’s Lifeline To Naturally Restore Your Rhythms, Hormones and Happiness. “In general, vulva-owners are giving their vaginas and vulvas way way too much attention in a way that is actually interfering with the health of their vagina.”
You’ve probably heard that the vagina is a self-cleaning oven. Well guess what? That’s true! “The vagina doesn’t need to have water or soap inserted inside of to be clean,” according to clinical assistant professor of obstetrics & gynecology Jennifer Conti, MD, MS, MSc. In fact, douching actually does wayyy more harm than good. She explains: Douching can upset the good bacteria in the vagina, which help protect you from things like bacterial vaginosis. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls out that not douching actually reduces a person’s risk of developing infection. You don’t want to powerwash your external genitals, either. “Plain, warm water or warm water and some fragrance-free soap will do the trick for your vulva,” says Dr. Gersh.
Get handsy… but only if you want to!
Good news: According to Dr. Conti, “The vagina is NOT a use it or lose it situation… that’s a myth.” However, she says, “I absolutely recommend folks masturbate because sexual pleasure is an important component of sexual health.”
Pro tip: Try Sex Stuff, Love Wellness’s all natural, organic personal lubricant which is formulated to match the pH of your vagina and is FDA-approved (which not all lubricants are).