#knowyourbody #vagina #womenshealth #omgsomanypeopleareconfused #itsallaboutph #vaginalhealth #cleanthevagine #pussypower
So a few weeks ago, I decided to make an educational post on Tiktok about the proper way to wash your lady parts. Complete with a diagram that I drew on the chalkboard wall in my treatment room.,,, and what transpired over the next few days was incredible! 23k views and tons of comments in 24 hrs, and I was kind of in shock, because of the number of women who were under the impression that we aren't supposed to wash down below. This is oh so wrong. Yes, the vaginal canal itself is self cleaning,,,,the rest of it isn't.
I've specialized in Brazilian Waxing for the past 20 years, so I've seen it all at this point. I'm completely sympathetic to the various reasons that not all of us have been properly educated, but I am shocked that in this day and age, we still are where we are. Education is the most powerful tool that we have as women, and the fact that there's so much confusion about caring for our most important body part, is astounding. So here we go, let me make this absolutely positively clear to you- WASH HER.
Think this through- especially when we think about parts of our bodies that have folds of skin- under your boobs, underarms, crease of your thigh- those areas get sweaty and trap lint & dead skin. Do you have any idea how much toilet paper gets trapped in the folds of womens labia? A lot. And do you know what happens when you never bother to wash the folds of your labia? Crust can literally build up along the inside. Women also have a tough time wiping the backside as well. You can imagine what is back there if you've never bothered to wash properly before. I see women all the time who have zero idea that this is what their situation is.
How did we get to this? There are lots of reasons...some women grow up in households that don't ever talk about these kinds of things, growing up without a mother, or in the system... There's also the issue of the fact that many women refer to the entire area as "the vagina". In some cases, the patient asks the ob/gyn if she should be washing her "vagina" with anything. The doctor will most often thinking "vaginal canal" which is indeed self cleaning, and should not have anything flushed inside. The doctor explains that it's self cleaning, and the patient walks away thinking she should NEVER wash the rest of the parts also in the general area of the vagina. This is so very wrong.
Around your clitoris, between the folds of you labia majora and minora, and yes, extending to the backside, between the cheeks... need to be washed with a ph balanced cleanser. These days we have the luxury of several brands that are available in every pharmacy. Ph balanced, and formulated for the most sensitive skin. Personally I like Honey Pot Co, but I have friends who love Rosebud. Nothing horrible will happen if you have to use a regular body wash on those parts from time to time, something is better than nothing! And remember, you absolutely need to be spreading things apart and washing in the creases!
For those of you who still swear that I'm wrong- I've tripple checked with my ob/gyn clients, just because those crazy comments on my Tiktok made me second guess myself. And I was reassured that I'm 100% right. The vaginal canal is self cleaning-the rest of it isn't!
