Fixed showers - a feminist issue

[trytopullyoursocksup]

Another poster said on the swimming thread -
"but women are condemned to get thrush unless they can get home in ten min to wash the pool yuck out of their vulva."

I know showering in a cozzie makes it worse but seriously I cannot believe this is the first time I have seen / heard another woman mention this.

I hate fixed overhead showers.

In many cultures it is normal to have a bidet or other means of delivering running water near the toilet.

In our culture (british) I am old enough to remember when baths were standard and showers were "modern". now showers are standard and when they are fixed overhead only (in a hotel or in a house) and there is no bath (you can actually wash under the tap in a bath if the taps are on the long side, you can squat with your knees apart and get a decent wash) - I never feel clean.

I am prone to thrush, UTIs and various forms of dermatitis when I am run down and being scrupulously clean at all times really helps with this.

Who decided that overhead showers are enough and how can we be unembarrassed enough to do something about it?

You can wash your vulva with a fixed shower.

Just like you can was your bottom or pits or any other such tricky bit of the body.

Just use your hands and soap...

We have a fixed shower and a hose attachment on the shower and the bath. Most girls I've been to have been the same.

Bidets are primarily bum washers anyway.

Fixed overhead showers are about hygiene, robustness and vandalism.

If you put a domestic style shower hose in with the public within days it will be broken, twisted, shower head removed, someone will have rubbed it on their genitals, had a "special massage" etc.

The public are disgusting and vandals.

I’m with you OP, my bathroom at home has a shower attachment you can take off and use to properly get clean — my heart always sinks on holiday because of this when there are only fixed showerheads (often rainfall showers with low pressure which are the worst!)

I had birth injuries, and even years later still have extra foldy bits and skin tags down there where the stitching wasn’t great. They don’t bother me at all, apart from when I don’t feel I can get clean properly.

I’ve even started looking at the pictures in holiday rentals beforehand with an eagle eye to the shower fittings before I book anywhere! It’s a small thing in some ways, but as you say thrush or feeling itchy can spoil everything.

I have a fixed shower head at home (my choice) and manage ok.
It is the first time in my life (nearly 50 years) I have heard of this issue.
I doubt the people who design public showers have either but you could raise it with them.

@cocksstrideintheevening "bidets are primarily bum washers anyway" - how do you know? (what everyone uses them for)

In my nearly 50 years I've never thought of this as an issue nor had any problems. It's a complete non issue I would say. Swimming pool showers are a courtesy to get the worst of the chlorine off, not a substitute for a proper wash later (10 mins is ridiculous though, I don't bother with the swimming pool showers, I go home and shower about an hour later roughly. I don't ever get the shower head down, we have flannels for washing!

Oh and actually fixed showers are also a problem for tall people if they aren't set high enough, dp is 6'2 and complains in hotels etc

This is not a feminist issue. In fact, it's not even an issue at all.

I’m confused about how women can spend an hour in a swimming pool but, the minute they get out, they’re in a race against time to shower, otherwise they’ll get thrush. That makes no sense.

If you’re prone to thrush after swimming, it’s going to be from the time you actually spend in the pool, not because you don’t have the right sort of shower afterwards.

All those saying "it's not an issue" obviously don't have a delicate bodily chemistry down there, something I clearly share with the OP.

Just use your hands and soap
If only!

Isn't this what flannels are for?

If it's that much of an issue, get a portable bidet squirty bottle thing to take to the swimming pool.

Of course you can get clean with a fixed shower… vulvas aren’t an especially dirty thing that needs to be power washed. People can stay clean with a bucket of water and a flannel if needs be.

Over cleaning this area can contribute to problems like thrush anyway.

I honestly don’t understand this, do people really get thrush from their shower head not being at the right angle?!

I have a fixed shower at home and I've never had a UTI in the 15 years we've lived in this house. It's perfectly possible to wash your vulva without shooting water at it.

I agree in domestic settings, houses, hotels etc, I unhook the shower head for this reason every time I shower. I particularly don’t like rainfall ones where it’s hard to keep your face out of the flow. But would not want to see them in swimming pools for all the reasons above plus children would use them to spray each other and everything, they’d be left dangling, get broken, I only ever use them for a quick rinse.

Good lord! There are a lot of important issues out there in the world, both at home and abroad. This is not one of them.

I have to say I don’t really think it’s a feminist issue though, I assumed men did the same to clean bum cracks and them being too low is more likely to be a problem for men.

Are you taking the piss? Of course you can get all your body cleaned with a fixed shower. It's also more hygienic in a shared environment.

I don’t understand how people don’t! Love mumsnet for this.

In short, yes. Those of us prone to thrush need to wash water directly into the vulva area to clean any… um… residue. I hand to open up the labia, 1 to hold shower head to direct it where it needs to go.

I suspect the poster who suggested soap has never had thrush!

Surely shooting high pressure water is more likely to flush bacteria backwards into the vaginal canal (like a douche), increasing the risk of infections?

I would imagine if you require a power hose type experience you might find THAT is what is causing your difficulties. Are you trying to wash inside your vagina?

I suspect firing a shot of high pressure water at your genitals is exacerbating rather than helping the issue.

I really think you’re washing away all the stuff that keeps your vagina PH balanced and likely making through more likely

“residue” doesn’t cause thrush!