This common practice could damage your vaginal health

We’re all about keeping clean and fresh, but when it comes to maintaining your health down south, you could be damaging your vagina’s natural environment. You might think you’re doing yourself a favour by freshening up your vagina odour when jumping in the shower, but using soap, shower gels, or feminine products on your lady parts could lead to an infection. Speaking to Women’s Health, Constance Young, MD, assistant professor at Columbia University Medical Center's department of obstetrics and gynecology explained how your cleaning ritual could be hampering your health: "These products do exactly the wrong thing to the vaginal microbiome, making it more susceptible to infection." Young adds that it’s normal to have an odour, and that your vagina will maintain its own pH-balance, due to the lactobacillus bacteria present in it. In fact, washing your privates works against protecting your body’s natural know-how on regulating the acidity levels of your vagina. This can lead to itchiness, sore skin and a rise in infections. So how can you safely freshen up without drying out? Young points to the vast array of products on sale – but offers some sage advice on choosing wisely: "It's all about marketing that's not based on any science—it's the equivalent to Febreze, but for a more intimate setting." Instead, stick to the age-old method of unscented soap and water – and keep strictly to the outside.