Is douching bad for my vagina?

If have a deep, undying love for your vagina, chances are that you may have come across the term ‘douching.’ It’s possible you’ve already tried it or even considered it.

If you’re new to the word, douching is washing or cleaning your vagina with water or other cleaning products. This means inserting water or a mixture of fluids sold in some stores in the vagina. The water or fluid inserted then comes out of your vagina.

Common reasons women douche

Get rid of vaginal odor – Unless you have a strong smell, a bit of natural smell is totally normal. Your vagina can clean itself.
Deal with problems such as discharge, pain, itching, or irritation – Douching is a temporary solution and unlikely to deal with these problems
Get rid of period blood to feel fresher
Prevent pregnancy
Protect from STIs

The truth is that douching DOES NOT help with any of the above things.

Whatever the reason, avoid douching since even doctors do not recommend it.

Why you should avoid douching

Your vagina has a healthy balance of good and harmful bacteria and if this balance is destroyed, you are likely to get infections or irritation. Douching can cause an imbalance of the bacteria in your vagina and the PH balance which is necessary for a healthy vagina.

Douching can also lead to an increase in harmful bacteria. If the harmful bacteria increase, you are at risk of catching STIs such as yeast infection or bacterial vaginosis.

If you already had an infection before douching, bacteria can be pushed to your other reproductive organs namely the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries and this can cause serious problems such as pelvic inflammatory disease.