Personal hygiene

[Pepperedbeef]

I read a twitter exchange arising from an article about poor female genital hygiene. One user said, “unperfumed soap and water, it’s not hard girls”. Lots of people responded saying you should never use soap on your vagina. The reply was “not inside it, no but on the folds”. This left some dumbfounded. Do some females really think that no cleaning agent should be used in the area at all?!

Something like this www.superdrug.com/Sanex/Sanex-Dermo-Hypo-Allergenic-Sensitive-Skin-Shower-Gel-500ml/p/203545 is less likely to cause irritation than something like this uk.lush.com/products/olive-branch-0 as much as I adore Lush!

If you're suffering from irritation try something that is as free from unnecessary extras as possible, such as strong scents and unnecessary colouring.

Cote I know what works for me. I can't speak for others. As all bodies are different.

@Lemonshark

Yes I can't use any thing from Lush (which also kickstarts my asthma)

It's not just about allergies, though.

(1) Soap is normally alkali. Female genital area is normally acidic.

(2) Soap normally kills microbes. Female genital area has a balanced flora with good microbes that shouldn't be killed.

Ah I love lush and luckily can use it fine 😁 despite also being asthmatic! It's very very strong though. I'm always amazed they market as natural products when they are all so bright and smell so strong. Love their lip tints and karma perfume.

Cote: so how do you explain that so many women use soap and shower gel on their vulva just fine? You mention flora and microbes: perhaps that's the reason you should never clean your vagina with anything, but are you suggesting it's detrimental somehow to use soap on the vulva? I know some people who are hyper sensitive to it might not be able to but for the vast majority they use soap or shower gel on the entire area barring internally, and it's absolutely fine.

From the NHS site. Recommends using plain soap on the vulva and nothing inside the vagina, as many are saying. Obviously if you have problems with that you'll need to do something different. But most women ought to use a cleaning agent for their vulva, water isn't sufficient.

"It's a good idea to avoid perfumed soaps, gels and antiseptics as these can affect the healthy balance of bacteria and pH levels in the vagina and cause irritation.

Use plain, unperfumed soaps to wash the area around the vagina (the vulva) gently every day. The vagina will clean itself inside your body with natural vaginal secretions (discharge).

"During your period, washing more than once a day may be helpful," says Dr Elneil, who points out that keeping the perineal area between the vagina and anus clean is important, too. "Good perineal hygiene is necessary by washing that area at least once a day using your normal bathing routines."

"All women are different," says Professor Lamont. "Some may wash with perfumed soap and not notice any problems. But if a woman has vulval irritation or symptoms, one of the first things you can do is use non-allergenic, plain soaps to see if that helps."

Lemon - I was fine too, until I wasn't. You might come to regret it too.

Also, not all "soap" is actually soap - many don't sanitize (i.e. kill microbes). This sounds like a good thing until you remember that bad smells are caused by bacteria.

Try using soap (real soap, not shower gel or Dove) in your armpits and pubic area (just outside, where hair grows) just once, to see the difference it makes.

When you say may come to regret it, what do you mean? Did you end up with irreparable damage or something?

Also not sure what you mean re using soap and the difference, what difference?

No not permanent damage but the flora takes some time to reconstitute properly and you suffer infections like thrush during that time.

The difference I referred to was the smell. Use real hand soap in your armpits and genital area (above, not inside the folds) and you will be amazed at the reduction in body odour.

Ah I see. Sorry you had to deal with that :(

I use shower gel occasionally but normally do use soap as I find shower gel takes forever to go down the plug hole and leaves scum in the bath, soap doesn't so it's easier to keep the bath clean! I use soap on a shower puff. It feels really nice and clean. Not noticed any difference in odour however but I never seem to get any odour to begin with, possibly just luck and possibly good hygiene practices but I don't ever seem to smell.

That's because you use soap

No it isn't. I only started using soap last year and never had any odour issues my entire life throughout the shower gel years :)

I must have a hardy vulvic area (is that a phrase??). I sometimes even use tea tree and mint original source, which creates a pleasant tingle! No thrush.

For those that only wash ears with water. Me too. A. They're on my head which gets washed with shampoo every 2 days. B. They don't encounter wee or poo on a trust basis. In fact, ever. C. They are not covered in hair which traps bacteria D. They are not lovely and warm/ moist, an idea environment for bacteria to breed and grow.

Only read the first couple of pages...

Of course we should all seek to maintain good standards of personal hygiene !

It is a fact that sometimes we just cant smell ourselves. Its how the human sense of smell works. Your nose sniffs a new smell, it notices it immediately. After a minute or two of exposure, it sidelines that smell and doesnt really notice it that much any more.

I know people who smell. What do you do? Tell them to get a bath? Not my responsibility ...

I think women are better at maintaining higher standards than men but then men often do much more physical work.

There is no real excuse.

Now of course one can be up close and personal with a women when she is sexually aroused. Thats normal and natural to have a certain scent and it isnt unpleasant.

The popular idea that all men who are uncut have cheesy knobs is a complete joke.

Cut or uncut it can be dirty. Again its all about hygiene .

There are varying degrees..for example im uncut but even when err,,at rest,,, the foreskin is behind the head ie it doesnt cover and there is no "sock". I also know where the shower is and any time im going to get close to a woman i make sure im freshly scrubbed.

I'm with Cote. And using soap down there always brought out a fishy smell during washing followed by thrush. If I ever want to wash with something other than plain water I use Femfresh but, that's rare and I've never had complaints - quite the opposite in fact and I have many honest friends who would tell me if I smell generally. Ears are washed with plain water and a flannel daily.

"For those that only wash ears with water. Me too. A. They're on my head which gets washed with shampoo every 2 days. B. They don't encounter wee or poo on a trust basis. In fact, ever. C. They are not covered in hair which traps bacteria D. They are not lovely and warm/ moist, an idea environment for bacteria to breed and grow."

My ears are the part of my body that I find hardest to keep clean. Sorry for TMI, but there's wax and it's difficult to get my fingers into the creases properly.

I don't think I've ever washed my ears in my life.

My Dd gets sticky ears so if they weren't washed, they'd go brown and no doubt black very quickly!

I wash my hair daily so when I have the shampoo on I just use the suds to clean my ears, run my finger around the ear lobe etc. It's important as if you wash your hair and don't do that you can end up with wet shampoo suds stuck in your ear folds that you don't rinse off and it can end up gunky...