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?

[CoteDAzur]

rabbit - That must have been a particularly clueless ophthalmologist. As I said, I started wearing soft contact lenses back in 1979, and have not heard a bad word about them from any doctor.

[Ohsiena]

Pubes get a shampoo, just water for inside labia.

Arse gets a good soapy wash.

Do you people not shampoo your head hair? Does water sufficiently clean this too? Why would you use a cleaning product on head hair but not pubic hair? Hair traps and holds smells.

[ScarahScreams]

I agree with Bonsoir.
Sorry but are you happy to participate in erm, "oral love" not having washed your flaps? Seriously? You will NOT be fresh.

[rabbitstew]

Some women are prone to thrush, others aren't. Those who aren't can quite happily wash with soap anywhere they fancy and probably get bacteria from their arses in all sorts of places they shouldn't without getting urine infections or thrush. Other women aren't so lucky...

As for contact lenses, CoteDAzur - have you ever spoken to specialists working in hospitals about this? Because I don't think it is a clueless opinion coming from someone who has seen the hideous infections, ulcerations, dry eyes, vessels growing into the cornea from the old versions of soft contact lenses, it's merely a biased one based on their experience. Which goes back to my point about the advice on soap. If you see people who use soap and get thrush, you are going to hate people using soap, even though millions of women use soap with no problem.

[TeaBrick]

It's not just the "healthy bacteria" in the vagina that provides a hostile environment for poo bacteria, the vagina is also naturally slightly acidic, which bacteria don't like, and most soap is alkaline. I had bv recently, treated it with balance active, and am now washing with water only (only in that area though, still washing the rest of me with soap)

[MakeHayNotStraw]

Why assume that if you don't use soap on yopr fanjo you don't use it on your anus either? I definitely wash there with soap, but WO on vagina/vulva etc. DH has no problem with it, and believe me, if anyone was going to it would be him...

FWIW no, I don't use shampoo either. My hair does not smell (well, unless I use essential oils in the water rinse, then it smells of lavender) and gets comments on its cleanliness. Our bodies are designed to self-clean with a bit of help from water - if you choose to use soap all over all power to you (as I said, I am selective about it) but that does not mean that choosing not to because, like me, you are prone to uncomfortable, painful or smelly infections or, also like me, you wish to minimise contact between artificial chemicals and delicate membranes that it is disgusting. Believe me when I say I do not smell - my teenage students would soon let me know if I did (and I use homemade deodorant, too. Works just fine).

[ArielThePiraticalMermaid]

Am heaving at greasy poo

[KateSpade]

Just been reading the whole thread,

Ahem, my input. Wash with water, I don't smell & the time I did use shower gel I got thrush.
But I think I have got thrush/BV now, so I'm booking an STI test just to make sure. Bloody vagina!

[rabbitstew]

MakeHayNotStraw - who is assuming anything? People on this thread have said they don't use soap anywhere, including their anus...

[rabbitstew]

My brother didn't wash his hair with shampoo for months to see if the "self cleaning" theory worked. He smelt like a damp sheep every time it rained and his hair went from blonde to mouse. Why didn't it work for him?...

[rabbitstew]

ps he was washing his hair with water... perhaps he's no good at hair washing???

[rabbitstew]

I really dislike the smell of damp sheep .

[CoteDAzur]

"As for contact lenses, CoteDAzur... I don't think it is a clueless opinion coming from someone who has seen the hideous infections, ulcerations, dry eyes, vessels growing into the cornea from the old versions of soft contact lenses"

As I said, I am familiar with "old versions of soft contact lenses", having worn them in late-70s & early 80s. These were lenses that one used for 2 years and de-proteined in a small electrical device once a week (before all-in-one solutions came out), then neutralised before use.

My point is that contact lenses didn't cause the problems that you mention. Improper use of contact lenses did - keeping them in your eyes for days, not de-proteining or not neutralising after de-proteining (thereby burning your cornea) etc.

The ophthalmologist you spoke to was clueless not because he didn't actually see these problems (of course he did) but because he attributed them to normal use of contact lenses and concluded that contact lenses cause these problems and hence should be avoided.

[rabbitstew]

You're kind of making my point for me, CoteDAzur. Gynaecologists see the problems soap can cause. It doesn't cause problems for most people, but it introduces the possibility of problems being caused.

As for improper use, I used soft contact lenses for years, I NEVER slept in them or overwore them, or swam in them, or forgot to clean them, or wore them for longer than the amount of time I had been told they were safe. However, I suffered from a clueless or negligent optician, who did not mention that in MY case I was nevertheless getting vessels growing in my cornea, because it was starved of oxygen. I was very angry when I changed optician to be told this and that I should limit my contact lens use to no more than 6 hours a day, with at least 2 days off a week... So I have sympathy for the opthalmologist in the hospital for thinking soft contact lenses are not as safe as some people think they are. In fact, it is now thought that laser eye surgery is safer - not by clueless opthalmologists, but as a result of research into the evidence so far.

[rabbitstew]

(that should read, I was never told that wearing my lenses for up to 10 hours a day was bad for my eyes).

[CoteDAzur]

Probably because it's not true. I've been wearing them for about 17 hours per day, every day, since 1979. It sounds like yours was a special case, rather than contact lenses being universally dangerous.

[Quadrangle]

So glad i had laser eye surgery and no longer have to use all those solutions!

[CoteDAzur]

Sorry to have derailed this thread so completely, btw. No more contact lens talk from me

[rabbitstew]

I was a special case, the same as women who can't ever use soap in certain places . Of course soft lenses are perfectly safe for most people - even when they swim in them! It's only an unlucky minority who ever get serious problems. My problems weren't even serious, anyway, just something I should have been told about long before I was so that I could ensure the problem didn't get worse up to the point at which it could affect my vision (fortunately, I swapped opticians long before that happened).

[Bonsoir]

I wonder whether all those soap-phobics realise that you do need to rinse the soap away properly after washing your genitals, with fresh water and a shower head...

[rabbitstew]

I suspect they do, Bonsoir. It is a fact that some women cannot even wear trousers without getting thrush, whereas others can wear thongs, tight trousers, perfume their genitals, not wash soap off properly, douche right up inside themselves and still not have a perceptible problem with it. Everyone's immune system is different.

[rabbitstew]

Also, no-one person's anatomy is identical to any other's.

Some people get eczema and asthma, some people are prone to thrush and/or BV, some people get chest infections with every cold, some people have constant post nasal drip and polyps up their noses, some people get appallingly bad acne, some people have very dry skin. We are all different. Some people really, truly, cannot use soap on specific parts of their body.

[susiedaisy]

Wow, have read the whole thread and as a constant thrush sufferer I am going to give the' just water' theory a go, as I have tried all the neutral shower gels and none have made any difference I still seem to get frequent thrush,

Does anyone think the type of washing powder and softener has an effect or is it mainly shower gels ?

[alemci]

yes susie perhaps using non bio on underwear may be a good idea and no softener.

i find wearing jeans too much makes me feel uncomfortable.