The Wash Up: Vaginal Douching

Though it’s long been in practice as hygienic and even something many women all over the world consider a necessary part of maintaining their vaginal health, vaginal douching is actually the cause of more harm than good. Unfortunately, because of the misconceptions surrounding the so-called “benefits” of vaginal douching, most people don’t even ask their women’s health specialist or urogynecologist is douching bad for your body. Instead, they assume that this long-observed “cleaning method” comes with a cache of reasons pointing to the “pro” side of the argument of why douche is good for sexual health, rather than asking for reasons why douching is bad.

A Flush of Evidence

As a female pelvic exam would likely show in the case of any woman who consistently uses vaginal douching as a means of keeping her vagina clean, the evidence pointing to why is douching bad for you includes a few symptoms they might think are totally unrelated to this method of…maintenance.

Some of the most frequent issues include:

• Irritation in the vagina
• Bacterial infections of the vagina
• The spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)
• Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)

Douche or Don’t?

Obviously, those are great indicators of just why is douching bad. So why would anyone do it in the first place, and just what is vaginal douching? Vaginal douching is exactly what it sounds like, cleaning or “douching” the inside of the vagina by using a bottle with a syringe-like tip to flush the area with either plain water or a solution of water and vinegar, salt, or another type of mineral.

Sounds like a good thing, right? Like you’re getting rid of bacteria or germs or whatever another type of “unpleasantness” might have built up in the interior of the vagina…including the possibility of sperm headed on its way to meet an egg. But deeper studies in urogynecology show that rather than simply cleaning out the bad, vaginal douching gets rid of the good, as well, tipping your pH levels off-balance and eliminating bacteria that can actually defend against infections. Vaginal douching can also cause dryness. And in some cases, douching can spread infections up into the uterus, the Fallopian tubes, and the ovaries, where even greater damage can occur.

Flush out the facts for better health! Call the team of experts at Coyle Institute to schedule a consultation today!