If you have a vagina, you’ve probably heard of vaginal douching with vinegar or other ingredients. While the practice may be common, douching may actually provide more harm than good.
More and more women are questioning: is douching safe? Let’s dig in and uncover the truth to keep your vaginal microbiome happy and healthy.
What is douching?
Vaginal douching describes the practice of washing your vagina by flushing water or other fluids inside the vagina. Daily washing, on the other hand, involves washing the ‘outside,’ of the vagina, aka your vulva.
Douching has become a relatively common practice in the US with studies suggesting almost one in five women between 15 and 44 years old douche every week [1], [2].
A quick anatomy lesson: vulva and vagina are often used interchangeably, but they represent two different parts of your genitals.
What’s in a vaginal douche?
There are many vaginal douche products sold over-the-counter, in stores, pharmacies, and online.
Many contain a prepacked mixture of water and vinegar. Sometimes the vinegar is replaced by baking soda, iodine, or another chemical antiseptic. Some women make their own homemade douche solution with similar ingredients.
Do I need to douche?
No! You don’t need any form of douching, including douching with vinegar, to keep your vagina clean and happy.
Vaginal douching is often mistakenly used to:
- Resolve bacterial vaginosis (BV)
- Protect against sexually transmitted infections
- Clean menstrual blood
- Remove vaginal odor
But what you may not realize is that vaginal douching actually causes more harm than good—douching won’t help curb these symptoms and may even make them worse. In fact, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists recommend women not douche [8].
The downsides of vaginal douching
The vagina is colonized by microbes known as the vaginal microbiome. In healthy premenopausal women, the vaginal microbiome is typically low in diversity and dominated by Lactobacillus species (yup, same as what you’ll find in a probiotic).
Friendly Lactobacillus bacteria are associated with health since they can protect us from unfriendly bacteria and sexually transmitted infections by lowering the vaginal pH below 4.5.
They also have a protective role in miscarriage and preterm birth [3-4].
When douching with vinegar or antiseptics, you can actually cause chemical damage to the vaginal microbiome. Douching also washes away the good Lactobacillus bacteria, leaving the door open for disruptive bacteria or yeast to grow.
By washing out the beneficial lactobacilli, you increase your vaginal pH, making it more alkaline, and remove the natural mucus that your vagina secretes [5-7].
Imagine your vagina as the rain forest and a terrible fire is destroying it, leaving empty space without life. Well, douching is this fire destroying everything in its path. Kind of scary, right?
Once you wash away the protective bacteria and mucus, you open the door for the development of complications such as:
- Bacterial vaginosis
- Yeast infections
- Vaginal dryness
- Sexually transmitted diseases
- Pelvic inflammation
- Endometriosis
- Preterm birth
Can I use vaginal douching to get rid of BV, yeast infections, or unpleasant vaginal odor?
As we mentioned earlier, douching may make these issues worse. Not better.
Bacterial vaginosis (BV), yeast infections, and vaginal odor are often related to overgrowth of disruptive bacteria such as Gardnerella vaginalis, Atopobium vaginae, and Prevotella. Or Candida, in the case of yeast infections.
These disruptive microorganisms may cause an unpleasant vaginal odor. In these cases, vaginal douching could do more harm than good and prolong the infection. If the odor is very strong and out of the ordinary, consider talking with your healthcare provider.
If you notice any of the following, it’s best to consult with your healthcare provider:
- Unusual for you smelly or colored discharge
- Painful urination
- Pain and discomfort during sex
- Any redness or burning sensation around your vulva or inside your vagina
When it comes to vaginal odor, remember that odor is normal and unique for each woman. What to do instead of douching? Simply cleaning the vulva with water is enough.
The vagina is also a self-cleaning organ, thanks to its own mucous secretion. So your daily routine should be only ‘outside’ washing and shouldn’t involve any douching.
Want to better understand your vaginal health and get to the root cause of symptoms? Check out our Vaginal Health Program and receive a health report and personalized check-ins to bring your vaginal flora back to balance naturally.