Hi girls… We are heating up for summer fun in the sun. For many of us this means traveling, pool time, lake time and let’s be honest sweating time. Who does not love summer? Unfortunately, sometimes your vagina. Who wants to worry about itching, burning, and chafing “down below” on your family vacation. I have put together some pearls of wisdom and tips for avoiding this from happening to you.
First let cover some basics:
What is vaginitis?
Vaginitis is a general medical term referring to swelling, burning, itching, or irritation of the vaginal area or vulvar area (skin around the opening of the vagina). It is one of the most common conditions and nuisances affecting all ages of women, especially in the summer months.
The healthy vagina:
- Some vaginal discharge is normal. It helps to keep the vaginal area clean, lubricated and helps remove dead skin cells from the vagina. This is why it is NOT necessary and even harmful to douche and disrupt the flora of the vaginal vault. It is a sensitive balance, and any disruption can lead to problems.
- In a perfect world, our vagina stays acidic which suppresses the growth of yeast and bacterial overgrowth.
- Many times, the products we use or the “over cleaning” of the genitals disrupts this balance and leads to vaginal infections such as yeast and bacterial vaginosis.
- Even though we are a society that LOVES to “clean”- avoid antibacterial soaps and/or douches that can kill or wash away the “good” protective bacteria in your vagina.
Types of vaginitis
First, Let’s get some terminology out of the way. We are just going to cover the three main types of vaginal “revolt” as we like to call it in OBGYN world.
- Bacterial vaginosis– This is a quite common condition caused by an overgrowth of bacteria naturally found in the vagina. This overgrowth upsets the natural PH balance of the vagina and can result in increased amount of discharge, odor, burning and irritation. This usually causes more of a “thin” watery discharge.
- Yeast infection– This is a fungal infection of the vagina that also causes discharge. However, yeast should not be there so this usually causes more intense itching, swelling and many times it creates more of a “thick” pasty discharge.
- Contact dermatitis (surrounding your vaginal area)- Many times the delicate mucous membrane of your vaginal area and the skin surrounding the area can become red and irritated causing itching and burning. This can happen with or without a vaginal infection. In this instance often your discharge is normal, but everything is “angry” at you down there. This is common especially in the summer months when we are hot and sweaty and often in and out of wet bathing suits. This is more of a “skin” condition, but uncomfortably close to our delicate girl parts.
How to keep your vagina happy:
The vaginal area is EXTREMELY sensitive, and we often cause our own problems with the many products we use that disrupts the PH and causes irritation.
Let’s talk about some of the main offenders:
We have SO many products we use on our bodies and even though we are not “purposefully” getting it in that area, it often runs down while showering. We often buy expensive “vaginal” soap, but at the same time use shampoo, conditioner, body soap, shave gel, body scrubs that run down and can irritate the sensitive area.
- Avoid ANY Scented soaps or body washes. If it smells “NICE” it has fragrance. These products wash down your body and can irritate the sensitive vaginal mucosa. Save your scented smell good products for lotions and creams after your shower so that you can control where they go.
- Avoid letting shampoo or hair products run down your body in the shower as much as possible. These products are great for hair, but often contain harsher chemicals for stripping oils and can cause irritation.
- This is VERY important- Use unscented laundry detergent and no fabric softeners on all laundry containing your undies. The “good smelling” tide underwear sits up next to you then between discharge and sweat this can disrupt your PH causing yeast and or BV or merely cause irritation.
- Change out of wet bathing suits, sweaty exercise pants as soon as possible.
- Use unscented feminine products such as tampons, pads, and toilet paper.
- Be sure to use all unscented hypoallergenic lubricant for sexual activity.
Even if you do EVERYTHING perfectly sometimes your vagina still gets irritated.
Here are some tips to calm it down until you can see your local OBGYN.
- Now that your “lady parts” are mad at you what do you do? Much like a baby can get a “diaper rash” you may experience itching/irritation simply due to the wetness. This can also happen during your menstrual cycle.
- Use any kind of water bottle with a squirt top or you can purchase a “peri-bottle” from any drug store or amazon- Use this to rinse with warm water after you urinate and pat dry.
- Then apply a thin layer of Aquaphor to the mucous membrane or anywhere it is irritated- this will protect it from discharge/sweat/urine until it can heal.
** IMPORTANT NOTE
Sexually transmitted diseases can cause similar symptoms. If you have any risk factors it is important to see your provider for STD screening.