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

Could be hormonal. I had a few weeks where I had a very strong smell during pregnancy, my husband noticed too so it wasn’t my heightened sense of smell! I tested for BV and didn’t have it, and had no other symptoms. It just went away.. see your GP?

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Forcing water or anything else up your fanny is not medically recommended.

www.verywellhealth.com/douching-dont-3133090

SRK16 I was the same in pregnancy, very strong smell. Went to GP for tests which were all negative. Same in second pregnancy.
I think I am generally quite strong smelling anyway. As I said up thread , I always have a wash if I'm going out in the evening or when I put my pyjamas on. It varies with the time of the month.

I think in pregnancy your sense of smell is far stronger too so you might just be smelling yourself more than normally

Ooh sorry to derail slightly, but I had years of no problems and then Mirena coil put in and BV diagnosed. I have had 2 rounds of antibiotics, and it is not shifting. My GP is mildly sympathetic and just shrugs and says yes, it can be one of those chronic, now you’re prone to it things. I wear tampons all the time the watery discharge and smell is so bad otherwise. Anyone got any other tips?

This thread is turning into the vaginal equivalent of the mumsnet way to clean a toilet.

"Never use soap!"

"Never use femfresh!"

"Never just use plain water!"

And for loos:
"Never use a toilet brush!"

"Never use a disposable brush!"

"Never use bleach!"

I use soap/shower gel on my nether regions every day and I've never had BV. Wouldn't dream of trying to wash my actual vagina though. Vulva, yes. Vaginas are self-cleaning.

Don’t you all know it’s actually supposed to smell like a £77 candle?
shop.goop.com/shop/products/this-smells-like-my-vagina-candle?country=GBR

@timewarp6I use vaginal wash. O and lenor softner makes my bits fishy wiffy.

"Why is this advice out there though?? Why was it ever necessary to make it widely known that it’s not necessary to stick your fingers up your fanny and lather up confused it makes no sense to me because I don’t believe that women were regularly doing this to the point that nhs and gynaecologist and magazine advice columns had to regularly advise people not to - as pp have said I still think they are referring to the mucus membrane area - not the inside."

With the "fishy fanny" insult that has been thrown in the direction of women for years it wouldn't surprise me if many women have been tempted to wash the inside of their vaginas. Women are commonly hugely paranoid about the smell of their genitals hence the popularity of evil scented panty liners and sanitary pads (and I believe tampons!) and special soaps
Going to a doctor to say that their vagina smells unpleasant can be a wildly embarrassing thing to do so maybe some women would prefer to wash, or douche, inside instead. This is probably why there is such explicit advice about not cleaning inside vaginas.

Ponders if men have similar angst over knob cheese 🤔

Dorset if they don't, they should do ......

Ok here's for some sharing. My first bf has the cleanest one ever. Then my first husband wasn't so assiduous, shall we say, in his hygiene routine 😬

This one is Squeaksville Tennessee. So clean. Personally I can't be doing with anyone stinking and not using an appropriate cleaning fluid (or ointment ...) on folds and other areas that need exposing.

No scummy rims for me.

I meant first bc HAD the cleanest one!!!! 😂 (bloody Freudian typo if ever there was one!!)

Youaretheeggman
😂 hilarious. How do they get it right for each customer? Must be some elaborate sales process ... !!

This thread

Is smelly finger coming back or is she scrupulously soaping (#mild).

Had last year hated it and never found time to go drs when I got bk from holiday with infected moxzy bites was prescribed doxy and cleared up str8 away

Well this thread has been a surprise for me Iv found brasso and a clean microfibre cloth has been perfectly adequate for years now.

If you don’t soap your inner labia then it smells. Between your clitoris and the lips will be trenches of whiffy goo.

@F0RESTGRUMP indeed, and so eloquently put !

With the "fishy fanny" insult that has been thrown in the direction of women for years it wouldn't surprise me if many women have been tempted to wash the inside of their vaginas.

But the fishy smell, absent a vaginal infection, comes from that vulva not the vagina. Women need to take responsibility for understanding their anatomy, and cleaning it

@Sydenhamhiller. Canesflor Probiotics Vaginal Tablets are the only thing that have ever worked for me.

I've not had BV but used to have perpetual thrush. They work by restoring the PH balance of the vagina. If nothing else is working then they are worth a try as they're not medicine as such.

If you get them, do the 7 days then just use one when you need it. I used to put one in after sex but don't even need to do this nowadays. They honestly changed my life.

To avoid upsetting the PH balance I use the Femfresh Soothing wash which is PH balanced at PH 4.5 to match mucosal skin (normal skin is PH 5.5) and also has probiotics and aloe vera.

Should stress that I don't douche or wash internally before the 'leave your flaps alone seashell woman' brigade all jump in.

Ponders if men have similar angst over knob cheese

I'm not sure women have angst over genital stench. Those who wash the area don't need to. Those who don't appear oblivious

Honestly, i think this is all the fault of the Americans, again. "Douching" , where one actually tries to squirt water up your (inside) vagina to clean it, seems to be/have been a thing there.
Hence appalled gynecologists going, "no, leave it alone, it's self-cleaning!"

On this side of the pond, where very few people considered squirting soap up their actual fanny to begin with, people heard the "it's self-cleaning!" advice, and thought it referred to the vulva, rather than the vagina.

Hence the confusion.

In sum, vaginas - leave them alone; vulvas - wash them properly.