To not wash the inside of my vagina?

[Secretname123]

First AIBU so please be nice! There is a huge debate going on on twitter where people are horrified that some women wear tampons in the shower (it seems to be the majority of the many women responding to the tweets who are horrified). They claim it’s unsanitary because then you can’t wash inside your vagina. I thought we weren’t supposed to do this? I’m sure I had this drummed into me as a child. I never have and have never had an infection. Have I been doing it wrong all these years?!

I use a mild soap and water on external areas only, there's no smell and my dp says I taste amazing so I'm happy with that.

Women have a smell and taste, no matter how they wash or wax or whatever. The vagina has secretions 🤷‍♀️ it’s par for the course.

Apparently, according to survey, probably half of all women in the UK do it https://yougov.co.uk/health/articles/22596-half-brits-dont-know-where-vagina-and-its-not-just

@lisalisa I do personally use a mild wash on the outside (Weleda sensitive) but please don't think that an odour an your DH after intimacy is a bad thing or something to worry about, it is quite normal and it's not a bad or a dirty smell.

I'm really horrified by how many women here are using soap on their vulva. It is absolutely not recommended by doctors.

I saw a dermatologist who specialises in vulva issues - so someone who would know - and her recommendation was emollient round the back, water only elsewhere.

So you'd just use water after having sex? Nothing else? I can't ever imagine feeling clean if I only used water and no soap.

Thanks for highlighting that this is perfectly possibly.

People don't see a specialist vulva dermatologist for the hell of it, clearly you have skin issues so it would make sense they'd advise you to change what you're doing.

Why extrapolate that advice, which was tailored to your circumstances, to the millions (possibly billions) of women worldwide who use soap and don't experience any negative effects?

Are you 'horrified' because you think we're all so stupid that we'd keep using soap if it doesn't agree with us?

Honestly, these threads bring out some absolute weirdos. So invested in how other people wash.

100% this! Thank you. 👏👏

Have literally had people telling me that what I've been doing DAILY and without issue for the best part of 45 years is 'bad for me'...

And that I haven't found ways to stop my OWN menstrual flow momentarily on occasion because, well, 'science'.

But I'M the one who 'knows nothing' 🙄

You started it, you were in there telling everyone else that they were weird and gross @Jumpingthruhoops , and pretending you couldn't possibly understand why other women aren't like you. So please don't assume my post in any way supports what you've said in this thread.

Oh, I see. No, you're mistaken...

I merely said that, I personally, would find it gross having a shower with a dirty tampon in (which I would), then revealed ways in which I can/have/am able to get around this in order to wash properly. (Seems I wrongly assumed I'd be allowed to respond to the OP with my own personal experience).

However, people took issue with both these things, which is when the insults started. People were calling ME weird and 'couldn't understand how I wasn't like them'. (So it was actually the other way around to what you said). I'm not going to be all polite then am I? But I certainly didn't 'start' anything.

Your reply above perfectly highlighted what I'd been saying. Apologies if I misunderstood.

@Whatdoy Not with shower gel (unless you can get a completely non scented mild one and I’ve missed it). Water is generally enough, or something like ‘simple’ soap… but soap is nearly always alkaline, so it interferes with the slightly acidic environment of the vagina.

Then don't shove soap you your vagina. The commenter wasn't talking about soap in the vagina. They stated quite correctly that some sort of cleansing agent is needed for the VULVA. Just as with armpits and butt cracks.

Oh stop it. Vulvas can and should be washed with soap or cleanser. You seem to be confused between vulva and vagina. Vulvas are like armpits. They have apocrine glands. They smell. Water won't clean an armpit thoroughly. Nor a vulva. Vulvas don't have a ph issue.

@Jumpingthruhoops when one wears a tampon it has blood in it that hasn't left the body. So if you wear one in the shower then dry off, remove the tampon at the loo and put in a new one, that's literally no different from removing it before the shower and then putting in a new one after.

The only difference is that you lose a tiny bit of blood down the shower. And on your towel. And potentially running down your leg...

You aren't scrubbing out your vagina. The blood is in there. It's in there whether you change the tampon before or after your shower.

That you are sort of repulsed by it is peculiar. It's just period blood.

@Jumpingthruhoops sorry posted too soon.

So when you are in the shower whether you have a tampon in or not you are washing the same areas. Your vulva is thoroughly washed with a tampon in. Infact it's less messy as there is no blood around the vulva when inserting new tampon. If you have no tampon in then some blood will have trickled down the vaginal canal and around the vulva. It's WAY tidier leaving the tampon in until after the shower and no part of your body is not washed with the tampon in so why are you yucked out?

Not confused at all.

If you must use something an emollient cream is best.

I don’t, thanks.

Says who? Nothing wrong with soap, I use simple soap on all parts of my body including my vulva and groin areas. I'm 50, never had any issues so no need to use emollient

@Jumpingthruhoops if you know what menstruation is why did you state that if flow is continuous during menstruation we would all die? We do not bleed to death, as you insisted we would have to, because we are menstruating. Not losing blood from our vascular system as we would with a cut.

@Jumpingthruhoops I was not being nasty to you when I asked if you give yourself a colonic every time you shower. It’s a genuine question. If you think not washing the inside of the vaginal cavity is disgusting, then you surely must also give your rectum a wash too? If not, why not? Surely poop is worse than vaginal secretions?

Actually, I think I could possibly "hold it in" for a few minutes. If I still had periods. I've gone through menopause now so the bastards are gone for good thank fuck.

Reason being I'm as fat as a bloody whale and dur to my size my labia and my thighs form an impenetrable barrier.

It's not a boast I'd have thought of making, hey guys, I'm so fat my flab can be used as a blood proof barrier. A dam that holds the red stuff back 🤣 but now I'm thinking I missed a trick for 30 odd years. I never did have a party trick.

eh? No. Are you Jump? Some women's period lasts 7 days for their entire life of having periods. I just worked it out lol and I had it happen 384 times or more. It doesn't mean something's wrong or even that they necessarily bleed more than other women do, just that it's spread out over a longer time.

I don't need 'schooling' thanks. I've been doing it long enough.

That's how you do it. I do it differently. Is that so wild for you to comprehend?

How is it a genuine question!? How on earth would anyone give themselves colonic irrigation in the bath?

There is NOTHING remotely genuine about that question no matter how smart you think you sound FFS!

Yes I wash my fanny and my arsehole. Like I thought everyone did. The End.

Bleeding intermittently for 7 days and bleeding heavily, non-stop, without a few minutes break, for 7 days is a little bit different, no?

Honestly, I give up...! 🤦‍♀️