When your gynecologist says to only wash with water

[instantfamily]

When I've had bacterial infections or thrush more than one gyn has told me to wash my fanjo with water only and not to use any soap "because it upsets the ph/destroys the vaginal flora" etc.

I was too slow stunned to ask: are they talking about the vulva or the vagina?? I would never douche or wash inside with anything, but how can you keep your vulva clean with water only? I mean how can the vulva "self-clean" sperm, blood, discharge?

[rabbitstew]

Yup - I use shampoo on ALL my hair... and soap or shower gel on my bottom and under my arms... and it varies what I use on my face, if anything other than the shampoo coming off my hair, depending on how much my face feels like it needs cleaning...

[rabbitstew]

Of course, there's also the issue of whether deodorant and anti-perspirant use is a good idea... Removal of all bacteria and total prevention of normal bodily functions is not likely to do you much good, but then neither is stinking to high heaven in modern society...

[ecto]

I have never used anything to clean my fanjo. I sit in a bath and the water does the work, I don't even touch any of the area. I have never had any thrush, UTI, infection or anything whatsoever down there. I applied the same principle after having both DCs - had episiotomy and stitches one time and a 2nd degree tear and stitches the other time. Both times, didn't touch, just sat in bath as usual and all fine.

I actively wash places like armpits, face etc. Just leave fanjos alone!

[rabbitstew]

And some people are naturally more smelly than others...
I can get away with far less washing than my dh can, if you are talking about smell generation...

[rabbitstew]

There are, of course, people who have never use anything other than water to clean down there who nevertheless get constant thrush or BV...

[IWipeArses]

Have any posted?

[rabbitstew]

Yup - I went through a phase of getting constant thrush and found not using soap did not help AT ALL. I did better and felt more comfortable on a specific feminine hygiene wash for my genital area, which was NOT aqueous cream - don't have any issues down below any more. Not everyone gets thrush because of soap, even if it doesn't help with some people...

[pickledparsnip]

Just water here

[Quadrangle]

at the idea that the only alternative to washing with water only is to "scrub like maniacs everyday."

[scotjls]

Chortling. I use shower gel normally but post-birth when everything down below was wounded and icky I used Boots Baby fragrance-free wash, and would do again if I had an infection. Really gentle.

[MummysHappyPills]

Hear what some of you are saying, I have had thrush before but only when I have been on antibiotics, and once when I had sex in the shower (sorry tmi) and got shower gel up there (teach me to be adventurous!) and another time when I used fem fresh wipes when at a festival. Have been to lots of other festivals and not used them and been fine! I have never had bacterial vaginosis. I have worked in a gum clinic and seen lots of women with bv who are worried they have an Sti because the smell is so bad. Typical history is they all use soap/shower gel/feminine washes down there. Advice from dr every time has been to stop using soaps and use water only, or if they really must use something then aqueous cream. But I agree with other posters, I personally wouldn't, I have tried it and it stings, but us still not as bad as soap/shower gel. I just use water.

I knew someone who worked I'm gum in Manchester. There are some cultures that douche with all kinds of harsh chemicals in an effort to be clean. Just about the worst thing you could possibly do and causes all kinds of problems.

[MummysHappyPills]

And it is very telling that the op has needed to see a gynaecologist about bacterial and yeast infections and clearly uses soap (sorry to talk about you op)

[instantfamily]

That's ok, MummysHappy. I mean I can understand that it may be better for the fanjo to not have soap or similar around it but it seems difficult to reconcile with modern hygiene standards and polite society's expectations of how much we are allowed to smell.

And I was just wondering about the proximity of non-self cleaning skin and hair so close to the mucuous membranes and the nature of liquids/dirt we are dealing with. Surely, in a clinic you will use more than water to wipe blood and urine off a surface? Why is that not necessary on our skin?

Sorry, I am probably repeating myself.

[MummysHappyPills]

Because it's your own blood and urine! If it has come out of you then why should it not touch your skin? We was our hands so we do not transmit stuff to other people or the environment, or to our mouths as it may be harmful to ingest it, but it won't hurt our fanjo's if it has come out of there! Water is sufficient to wash away debris, which is what we need to do there. But antibacterial products or soaps will only kill bacteria and strip natural oils and moisture, which is exactly what we don't want! Of course on a surface you want to kill bacteria and removes oils and grime so you will use antibacterial agents and detergents.

Killing bugs is not always good, especially not in the human body. Killing the good ones allow the bad ones to take over. Even skin elsewhere is colonised with a layer of bacteria which enhances our immune system by competing with bad bacteria and acts as a barrier along with our skin to protect us. We are obsessed with sterility and killing bugs, but end up wiping out the good ones!

There are millions of bacteria all over us all the time, but we don't stink all the time do we? It is the nasty ones that have been allowed to take over that smell bad, so if we get excessively dirty or there are no good ones in check to keep them at bay we will smell.

[CoteDAzur]

"Because it's your own blood and urine! If it has come out of you then why should it not touch your skin? "

So you don't wash your face with soap after you vomit? It's the contents of your own stomach, after all.

The point is not whether or not this stuff touches your skin but whether it should stay there.

You might have a point re fanjo flora inside the "lips", but outside and all around the rest of your genitals, soap is a very good thing.

[rabbitstew]

Sorry, still prefer to use some kind of wash to remove bacteria from around my anus before my husband's penis gets anywhere near my genitals. What about, after all, the women who get thrush because they get anal bacteria and fungi in the wrong place?! There is no way anyone is going to convince me that it is perfectly OK never to use soap anywhere near your own backside or pubic hair, because that's just silly.
And my view on gynaecologists' views is that they are the same as the views of hospital opthalmologists in the past, who thought that contact lenses, particularly soft ones, were the spawn of the devil and nobody with any sense should ever wear them, because, surprise, surprise, the only people THEY ever saw who wore them had problems with them.

[rabbitstew]

Let's hope women who don't use any soap also remember to be scrupulously careful how they wipe their arses and never wear pants that ride up into their bottom cracks...

[rabbitstew]

And let's hope men keep their penises a bit cleaner than some women keep their genitals...

[MummysHappyPills]

I wash my bum with soap! Just from the back instead if their front!

And fwiw my exp got balanitis from being too over zealous with the shower gel!

I have to say you must be very messy shitters if your anal area is permanently smothered in faecal matter! It's like saying the entire area around your mouth is constantly dripping with saliva. Have you ever heard of wiping and a high fibre diet?!

[ElectricSoftParade]

While I am not a prolific poster I think I will NC after this.

Have always used soap/shower gel while washing but since entering early menopause I am more smelly than I used to be. I am intrigued and will have a 2/3/4 day experiment with just water.

I have only ever had thrush while on very high levels of ABs after a car accident. That was hellish as I was thrushy from mouth to fanjo. The nurse who came to change dressings for me recoiled from me (after having a look) when I said I was in pain there and said it was a horrid case. I recovered but have felt, especially since then, that I need a good wash. I'm not sure that water will give the same feeling but if the smelliness goes, it will be worth it.

[CoteDAzur]

"views of hospital opthalmologists in the past, who thought that contact lenses, particularly soft ones, were the spawn of the devil and nobody with any sense should ever wear them, because, surprise, surprise, the only people THEY ever saw who wore them had problems with them"

When was this? I've been wearing soft contact lenses since 1979 and never heard a bad word said about them.

[rabbitstew]

In the late 1980s, when I asked the opinion of a hospital opthalmologist on soft contact lenses...
Since when does your arse have to be smothered in faecal matter for the bacteria to proliferate? Do you wash your hands after wiping your bottom and if so why?!.... Do doctors and nurses who spread hospital superbugs and people who walk around with them up their noses and all over their bodies, get this way because they are so filthy you can SEE the dirt?...
So, to repeat, I agree you shouldn't get soap in your mucous membranes, but to avoid all cleaning products anywhere other than on your hands is going to extremes, imo, but apparently not in the opinion of others. And that's coming from someone who has experimented with going without deodorant...

[MummysHappyPills]

I just think the faecal matter is going to be there whatever. Wiping back to front and actually spreading it into your fanjo may give you thrush, but your vagina is designed to be in close proximity to your anus so can probably cope with the few stray colonic bacteria that are hanging around in that area. Especially if it has a healthy flora of good bacteria. Healthy bacteria on your vulva will prevent bad bacteria getting into your vagina.

[CoteDAzur]

"I just think the faecal matter is going to be there whatever. "

Are we talking about soap-resistant poo now?