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?!

@Jumpingthruhoops you seem to constantly contradict yourself. You've said you wash inside your vagina and arse hole. But then you've also said
No... for starters, I don't 'stick' anything 'up' anywhere.

And whoever on here is saying 'rectum' is frankly an idiot. Rectum is inside the body. Obviously nobody is washing that

You've also said your vagina smells unless you wash inside it. This is not normal. My vagina really dies not smell. How do I know? Because I've sucked cock that has come out of my vagina and it not only doesn't smell, it doesn't even taste of much at all.

All your washing inside your vagina which goes against every doctors advice has no doubt left you with some smell creating fungus

Because washing inside your vagina, as you claim to do is entirely equivalent to trying to clean inside your colon.

Wasing around your as you put it "fanny and arsehole" is not washing inside your vagina. It is mystifying why you refuse to comprehend the difference and why wearing a tampon in the shower is no impediment to the kind of washing you are describing and most people do.

Because if you are bleeding THAT heavily all the time, there is clearly something more seriously wrong with you that you can't be sure isn't vascular and could require medical attention.

But is a moot point anyway, as people have since established that bleeding heavily, continuously, around the clock for 7 days straight is NOT actually what they meant. They just meant a 'heavy period', which we've all had. No need for the drama.

The anal canal and the vaginal canal are both inside the body equally, right? There's a hole, go up the hole and ta-da.. anal or vaginal canal and hopefully not both.

Or was I really not paying attention in biology? 🤣

None of us have necessarily particularly said that we are bleeding THAT heavily (whatever that means) all the time for 7 days, unless the person is maybe really unlucky with the routine level of heaviness of their period, or has some other issue.

Not contradicting myself at all. You just can't read... otherwise you would have read that I have not had one case of thrush, BV or any sort of 'fungus' thanks very much in 45 years. I'm assuming you can say the same? 🤔
Any part of our body has the potential to smell less 'fragrant' on ocassion. You know that, right?

I really don't understand why people are getting so worked up. If you're all so happy with how YOU do things, what's the issue with someone expressing that that isn't how THEY would do things?

People need to work out why what I've said has really offended them so much and stop projecting.

Wasn't there a thread on here from a woman who was bleeding insanely heavily? She was asking if she should go to a&e. She got a lot of abuse but did listen to those posters who told her what she was describing was in no way normal for anyone with even the heaviest periods and to go to a&e asap.
As I recall, she came back to report that it was a medical emergency and she would have died had she not listened to them and not gone to hospital

Er, yes they did actually. Several people. SOOOOO heavy that it wouldn't possibly stop for the few minutes required to wash, dry and insert a fresh tampon.
And people say I'M dramatic!?!?

People argue about weird things, but no - no you do not wash inside your vagina. You only wash the outside with gentle soap - unless you enjoy flaming flaps.

God, there are some pedants on this thread!

I mean just inside the vagina (not deep into the canal) and around my anus (not deep into my rectum). Obviously.

Basic biology: the anus closes up tightly, the vagina does not.

Also, it doesn't impede the washing, no. I just don't get why people would wash that area, then make it 'bloody' again by taking a used tampon out. Just seems a bit backward.

This! 👏👏

Flaming Flaps. Didn't they sing Sex On Fire?

Because if you are bleeding THAT heavily all the time, there is clearly something more seriously wrong with you that you can't be sure isn't vascular and could require medical attention.

I take it you haven't heard of fibroids then? Yes my friend bleeds THAT heavily.

@Jumpingthruhoops if you were that concerned you could always pop a fresh on in before you shower. Not you personally of course as you have control, but for most of us, unless on a very light flow day there would be some bleeding and that would affect the area you describe as well as potentially getting blood on upper thighs from the movement of getting out the shower. However if you're using the correct absorbency tampon and changing it regularly enough, it should be landing blood behind when you remove it.

Late to this thread but I'm really surprised anyone would ever wash inside. It's basic self care rules taught at a young age and then at school isn't it?

I thought all women knew the vagina is self cleaning and you mess with it at your peril.

I know some men are clueless but you'd expect women to understand how their own bodies work

Quite worrying.

Yep I mean no one is saying someone should put up with anything unbearable. And presumably that wasn't normal for her over most of her life either, or she wouldn't be posting about it.

@Jumpingthruhoops yeah ok. You are the one with the stinky vagina not me

Well, even if that was the case, at least I can wash it. Not sure there's much you can do for your stinky personality. 🤷‍♀️

But the point is this IS actually someone's lived experience, so I was right!

All those smart-arse 'I'm not dead' quips hitting a little different now, eh?

@Jumpingthruhoops awww my feelings.

Your vagina is self proclaimed stinky. I'm just repeating what you have said about your own smelly vagina

Your insult about my character is all of your own doing.

Me thinks you are just upset that we all know (by your own admission) that your vagina is a bit feral

@splutter 😂 TBF I don't think Jump has a stinky vagina. But there is science to the world and she doesn't see that. What's right or wrong to do isn't subjective when it comes to something like this. She could just ask her doctor. I say that as someone who ignored what I knew was the right thing to do, even when a doctor told me off for cleaning up there.

Now I can't always clean up there because I hit the conker-sized cyst I believe is soap generated, which I'll need to have removed.

I dunno. She was the one who said her vagina smells 😂

I'm also puzzled at the concern of getting blood on her vagina when removing tampons after a shower. She doesn't seem to realise that blood is consistently in the vagina during a period. Maybe she washes her vagina out with every tampon change?

Sloshing out the blood during a shower doesn't prevent there being blood in there. It just washes out a bit of what is in there which immediately will get replaced by more descending blood and also introduces the risk of bacteria entering the vagina and of course upsetting the whole ph balance.

She seems strangely uncomfortable with bodily functions.

I suppose her plan is to put a tampon in really quickly before any blood appears.

Hey ho, she won't believe us so she needs to talk to a Dr. she will believe (if there's anyone she thinks knows more about the science of the human body than her.)

Not sure if I'm misremembering this, but in a programme with Jade Goody when she was suffering from cancer I'm sure they said that shower gel down there can cause it. Even if I'm wrong, Defo stop putting shower gel inside your vag ffs

Cervical cancer is caused by the HPV virus which is sexually transmitted.

How are you supposed to get clean if you use just water on your vulva as some are suggesting? It sweats, gets covered in discharge, blood and urine. It would stink with just water. You wouldn’t use water on other sweaty body parts.

Definitely don’t use shower gel inside but the vulva is completely different.