My vagina stinks

[timewarp6]

I can't live with it anymore, it smells horrible even 2 minutes after showering. I don't use soap down there and I don't have an STI. I have been treated for thrush and no change.

It's worse in the hot weather but I'm feeling self conscious all the time. I can smell it when I'm sitting down on the sofa. People say it's normal to have an odour but when does it become abnormal?

I can't even describe the smell - it isn't fishy but it's unpleasant

You wouldn't wash your armpit with just water because it wouldn't get it clean, so how the jeff do you think you get your vulva clean with just water?

When actually it's their mons pubis that's itching

This is absolute PEAK Mumsnet and I love it 😂

I agree it's not normal to smell your vagina when sitting down in general. But is it normal to smell it at any point? I find in the evening, over 12 hours from a shower and the week before my period I get a waft sometimes in the evening. I always have a second wash if going out for the evening. Is that not normal?

@onlyconnect yes to some degree although if its through you clothes that might be a bit much and maybe you could use the bv gel as that does bring the ph back into balance and reduce it regardless of whether its bv or not.
its same as if you've been at work all day and a bit sweaty your pits might start to smell too... providing you plan on washing it again soon anyway and not wafting it in anyone else's direction you should be ok !

So to recap:

Cotton bud and Brillo pad INSIDE the hole.

Wave a glass of water near the meaty-smelling flaps.

Soap on a rope as anal beads for the back door.

Sounds perfect.

@onlyconnect I'd always have a quick gentleman's wash before going out in the evening..🙌

I don’t think you can compare a hand to a vulva though - if we pissed and sweated from our hands we presumably wouldn’t use them for the things we do, no matter how much we washed them 🤷‍♀️ Besides I said I used soap! If others don’t but feel healthy and clean nonetheless that’s up to them - presumably their not touching everything with their vulvas like they do their hands...*

Speak for yourself, I use mine to squat and pick up shoes when I'm doing the hoovering.

Cotton bud and Brillo pad INSIDE the hole.

Surely it should be a loo brush up there? Everyone knows they are much more effective...

Surely water only works if you have not had sex or your period ? And trust me middle age will have you reaching for the (mild) soap.......no one wants to be squeaky clean

@hamsterchump I agree with you. The back of the ear will definitely start minging after a while of not being cleaned. If you want to know, rub your finger through it or smell the stem/arms of your glasses.

Really? I've never washed behind my ears, definitely no smell, either rubbing behind there or smelling my glasses. Actually can't believe I just did that but anyway...

Yeah just the action of washing my hair alone is enough to subsequently clean the back of my ears

I do think there's a serious point of young girls not being taught about their bodies and personal hygiene. I didn't know the difference between vulva/vagina until I was in my late 20s. I also got badly bullied at school for being smelly when I was about 13....my mum had never taught me about personal hygiene, washing frequently even brushing my hair and teeth regularly. We're relatively close in adulthood but part of me will never forgive her for that.

Laughing so hard at this thread.

But seriously, how can you forget about a tampon being in? Maybe I have a shallow hole because I can always feel the bastard things!

Who is steaming their genitals?!?

I don’t know about steaming, but there was a program on a while ago where Scarlet Moffat and family stayed with an African Himba tribe. They don’t wash at all - they smoke themselves clean - they are bathed with water once after being born and that’s it then. They light a fire, burn some herbs, open their legs in front of it and ‘voila’, clean ‘fine china’. I read that this smoke really does have anti- bacterial qualities. Who knows, maybe even water is overrated, never mind soap.

Me too Pepperwand...it’s actually left me with a lasting fear of people whispering that I smell behind my back and I’m a bit of a clean freak as a result.

@BubblyBarbara

Flavoured lubes were not designed to compensate for poor hygiene! Also, if you suspected you might be smelly, why would you want to subject your partner to it?

BV the only thing that’s going good to sort it is antibiotics. I had it after giving birth to DC, awful felt so embarrassed. There is a Canestan yest you can buy I bet you can get it on Amazon. Your GP might be happy to prescribe over phone if that says you have it.

Sugartitss

I had a coil years ago that gave me a nasty pong.

I came here to suggest the coil - never had a problem before I got a copper coil put in last year but ever since then my vagina smells... weird, for lack of a better term, for approx a week after I finish my period. Can't be sure that it is the coil but I'm clear for STIs and have done the Canesten thrush/BV test and that came back negative as well! Was supposed to get my coil taken out and then lockdown happened - hopefully I can go back to feeling (smelling?) a bit more normal soon...

I dread to think that some people don’t use soap around their privates. I am sorry but that area pretty much includes in between your buttcheeks. So if you never wash it with soap....how can you live with yourself?? And how can anyone live with you? Soap dodgers, I am looking at you!

OP. Just wash yourself with soap. I am gathering you've never done this before? Try it and let us know if you still smell.

I dread to think that some people don’t use soap around their privates. I am sorry but that area pretty much includes in between your buttcheeks. So if you never wash it with soap....how can you live with yourself?? And how can anyone live with you? Soap dodgers, I am looking at you!

I do soap my bum, arsehole, pubes inner thighs and groin. I just don't put soap directly on to my inner labia, just rinse off the whole lot.

Baskininthegarden I have ordered the gel. It's not really through clothes, maybe pyjamas.

Omg if never laughed so much reading this "sea shells" omg lol.

Btw a good emollient cream for washing genitals is the way to go

I do soap my bum, arsehole, pubes inner thighs and groin. I just don't put soap directly on to my inner labia, just rinse off the whole lot.

What about the bit between the pubes and inner labia, of which there is quite a lot? (relatively I mean!) Do you literally just soap the outside pube bit and that's it? What about all the folds?

Cannot believe I just typed all that!

I'm now trying to recreate exactly how I wash my minge in the shower, it's not something I ever normally think about while I'm doing it!