For all young girls and ladies, your vaginal and sexual health is as important as the health of your other body parts.  From yeast infections, thrush and discharge to UTI ( urinary tract infections ) and vaginal pain, here are simple lifestyle changes to make and be aware offor optimal vaginal and sexual health.

1. Gently pat dry your vagina post showers  / peeing:

Yeast and bacteria tends to thrive in moist areas. Your panties will absorb moisture and create a possible breathing ground for bacteria and yeast, affecting your vagina. Hence make it a practice to keep the area dry always, not moist.

2. Do not sleep with underwear 

Your body, skin and private parts need to breathe. Women are covered in clothing all the time and a lot of their clothing are synthetic material, especially underwear. Synthetic fabrics  does not allow the vagina to ‘ breathe’ or have access to pure air. We all know oxygen creates an unfavourable environment for yeast and bacteria to grow. Make it a practice to sleep at night without underwear.  Clothing does not allow the skin to breathe. This particularly holds true for synthetic material. Go commando at bed time.

3. Frequent UTI / pain, post sex ? Pee “after” sex and not before.

Peeing before sex weakens the stream after sex. Aim for peeing after sex, which is good for your sexual health and hygiene in any case. This is for women who especially complain of frequent UTI or pain post sex.

Bacteria have tiny pili that act as velcro hooks, which allow them to attach themselves to the urethral lining. Having a solid stream post an intercourse is crucial since these bacteria can be hard to dislodge. 

4. Discourage use of vaginal tightening creams and sticks 

Invest more time in Kegel exercises rather than using these synthetic vaginal tightening creams and sticks. They are bad for two reasons:

1. You may appear to have a tighter vagina for your partner and most women are aware of how much they don’t enjoy that sex due to pain.
2. The second point is that it claims to clean the vagina with its mixture of plants, herbs and other weird substances, but in the bargain dries out the passage to tighten it. It does so by blocking the vaginal discharge, which is your vaginas natural way of cleaning out possible bacteria and yeast.

5. Avoid vaginal cosmetics and douching solutions  – 

Using soaps, shampoos, vaginal douching solutions, herbal balls, sprays to clean the vagina alters the pH and allows an environment for bacteria to thrive. Altering the PH leads to more UTI, yeast growth and discharge.

Vaginal Discharge in small amounts in normal. Its after all the built-in intelligence of your vagina to flush out toxins and bacteria. Much in the same way,  our nose ejects slimy mucous which has entrapped bacteria, our eyes eject dirt from the corners and armpits sweat out toxins.  Hence a normal shower will maintain the right bacteria and keep you clean.

Today, we live in a world where we are ‘ too clean ‘. Deodorants, creams, fragrances, vaginal washes wipe out the essential microbiome ( Yes, micro biome isn’t just in your gut. It’s everywhere: skin, body, gut, forehead,vagina, genitals ). Don’t be too clean as a lot of this bacteria is beneficial for our immunity.

A clean bath that accompanied with the natural and organic creams, soaps, shampoos, fragrances and essential oils which are chemical free will not be absorbed into your system, whereas all the chemically and commercially available, so called “ female hygiene” products can easy get absorbed into the bloodstream leading to xenoestrogen and estrogen dominance, which is one of the main culprits behind: belly fat, weight gain, ovarian, endometrial, breast fibroids or cysts, mood changes, infertility issues, etc. Simply summed up in one word:  “hormonal imbalance”.