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?!

Apparently Gwyneth Paltrow steam cleans hers.

Does anyone else remember the MNetter who posted about bleaching her bum hole with toothpaste? That was a wild one!

The important question is did it work? Did she have a nice pink button?

I’m not a first time poster. I just don’t post very much. Very much a middle aged mum wondering if I have my hygiene habits all wrong. I asked because it’s a huge topic of conversation on twitter at the moment. I did a quick search and didn’t see a thread on it but I’m not here enough to read every single thread sorry.

I just pop round the back and drop my knickers when I go to the Dry Cleaners 😀.

@Theyarehere

I was certainly educated in school and by my mother about how to keep my body safe and clean. Were you not?

I wasn't. I won't be the only one.

My mother taught me nothing, I was the dirty kid, riddled with nits and rarely washed.

By the time school were discussing genitalia I was barely there.

I am in my 40s now and have managed to pick up (probably from reading magazines in my teens) how to wash bits properly.

This poster obviously doesn't know how to wear a tampon!

Mine has never absorbed water in the shower either

To be fair, when you think about it, why do we try to keep period blood inside our vaginas when our bodies are designed to expel it to the outside of us every month ( if there is no fertilised egg there)? When I had regular periods when I was younger I only ever used tampons when really essential. People baulk at the idea of "sitting on a bloody sanitary pad" and say that tampons are more hygenic but personally the thought of having old blood and manmade fibres and chemicals up there festering away is a bit yuck really. The fact that if you're not careful they can cause toxic shock syndrome if there's a bacterial issue is enough to put me off the idea.

Even so, I still wouldn't "clean" my vagina by putting soap or shower gel up there, how bloody weird! I do wash the outside area with v mild correct-ph unscented soap. No scrubs with a shower puff - there is no way that kind of rough scrubbing is right for delicate areas like that, I'm surprised at those saying they use them. Maybe they're men.....

The mind boggles.

Do you back towards something very hot or is a steam mop the answer?

Once a week ?

I was replying to a post saying the only place that people consider disgusting not to clean is the vagina. Doesn't matter why I clean in my mouth the fact is it would be disgusting if I didn't because I'm pretty sure my breath would smell.

Do people with no teeth clean in their mouth, use mouthwash or something? I've never thought of that before. Just googled it and this is what I found Even when you have no teeth and have stopped wearing dentures, it is still important that your mouth is cared for and kept clean. Dampened gauze around a gloved finger is recommended.

So it looks like oral hygiene is important even if you have no teeth, I'm just hoping I don't find out myself.

I agree with you Op I always wear a tampon in the shower or if I didn't wear a tampon come the end of the shower there'd be blood everywhere (on the floors, towels etc.)!

I also go swimming and take baths with a tampon in and never had any issues!! After swimming it will need changing as absorbs some water but it's fine and better than blood dripping everywhere surely!

I also do not wash inside my vagina with soap!! It's bonkers. I just wash my vulva and groin and arse like a normal person!!!

I just clean all the bits that it doesn't feel too intrusive to access! I also pay more attention at period time to get rid of any blood traces.

That's about it. Always water, never soap.

Washing the inside is a rapid route to a yeast infection!
YANBU!!

That sounds scary, I mean steam is hot. I did once see a programme about Africa, it was a tribe in a very dry area, very limited water and no period products. The narrator said the women sat by a smoky fire and put a blanket over the fire and "smoked" the area to kill the smell. We don't know how lucky we are.

They’re confusing vagina with vulva?

I think she markets some kind of gadget for the job, like a facial sauna, but for fannies She adds various essences too it seems so it's super clean and fragrant 😊.

Can't beat a quick squirt of fairy liquid

Groin area (where the hair grows regardless of whether you have hair or not) are like armpits. There are apocrine glands in these locations. These special sweat glands excrete odour. For primitive reasons. You wouldn't wash your armpits with just water would you?

I agree totally with the second paragraph.

But the first??? There may be some good points here but our bodies are not designed. Our bodies evolved and there are lots of flaws in the evolving process.

Yes, you are not supposed to wash inside the vagina. Its self cleaning and cleaning inside can throw off the PH and make you more prone to infection and thrush.

Dont listen to anybody online that says otherwise.

No need to wash the actual vaginal canal at all, with anything. I suppose mine gets a few incidental rinses a month as I seem to absorb and expel water when I have a bath.

I do wash my vulva with water and an unscented ph balanced soap. A proper wash, “inside” the outer lips, just nothing UP myself. I think there can be some confusion here - yes, you are allowed (and should) to properly wash your pink areas. Going through the first set of uh, doors, is not the same as washing INSIDE the vagina.

You don't have much imagination do you.
Some people like to wear pretty pants.
Some people find period pants irritate their vulva
Some people have flies so heavy that they need tampons and^^ period pants.

I've always washed with femfresh, never had any problem. I don't feel clean unless I've just it. Never up my vagina though.

All American women think that? Interesting. As an American woman I don't think that nor do I know anyone who does. I would say the women who do think that are very few. Nice generalization though.

@Iwasafool we eat with our mouths. Our mouths are the start of our digestive tract. There are bacteria in our mouths involved in breaking down foods. We sleep with our mouths open half the time and our mouths dry out.

You may merrily shove semi digested food up your vagina and crank it open overnight to dry out. If so, please wash your vagina. If not, your vagina doesn't need the cleaning your mouth does