TLC or tender loving care is an ongoing social media trend for taking care of your face and your body and prioritising them daily. But, what about your intimate parts? Are you giving your vagina the tender loving care it deserves? Turns out, unknowingly, in our daily lives, some of our careless habits can cause more harm than good. We should be giving our lady parts as much importance as we give to the upkeep of our face and hair.
If you’re struggling with dryness, itchiness, or even rashes down there, you’re definitely doing something that needs to be corrected, stat!
Listed below are a few careless habits from our everyday lives that signal towards poor intimate hygiene. So, here’s what you should do instead while correcting these habits:
1. Washing Down There With A Soap
As dangerous and harmful as it is, surprisingly, a lot more people wash down there with soap out of convenience and to keep everything ‘fresh’ and down there. What people don’t realise is the fact that this careless habit can be extremely counter-productive. A regular body wash or a soap might be great for cleansing our bodies, but can disrupt the microflora of the vagina and tick the natural pH balance down there. This, in turn, can wash away the healthy bacteria that protect you from vaginal infections, this can also lead to irritation and excessive, foul-smelling discharge. You should have separate intimate hygiene products for your vagina. This includes an intimate wash that you can use in the shower for your vagina and an intimate hygiene spray for the day every time you step out. We recommend trying out the Hi Life intimate hygiene spray. Our spray is calming on the skin and provides relief from itching, rashes & irritation. It also gives total protection against bacterial & yeast infections and is a sure-fire way of maintaining a healthy pH balance of the vagina whilst nixing foul smell, even during period days & before and after sex.
2. Wearing Tight Briefs & Tights At All Times
Wearing a pair of briefs that are smaller than your actual size can prove to be detrimental for your lady parts. Now, that we’re at home all day long, opt for loose knickers for everyday use that are more breathable in nature. Multiple studies suggest that wearing tight underwear or clothing multiplies the risk of catching a yeast infection as it gives the yeasts a warm environment to grow in. However, in our everyday lives, we tend to wear tight clothing or even corsets or tummy tuckers, try to minimise the use as it is detrimental for the vagina. Shop for pure cotton briefs that keep things dry and comfortable down there. This way, you’re even reducing the risk of getting rashes.
3. Constant Hair Removal Of The Pubes
If your skin appears to be sensitive down there, maybe it’s time to cut back on those monthly bikini waxing sessions. Sometimes, it is best to let your pubic hair grow–especially if you’re prone to rashes and bumps down there. Constant hair removal without breaks in the middle can trigger ingrown hair that is particularly uncomfortable. What’s worse is that it can also get infected and leave you in a rather uncomfortable state.
We’re not saying that you should completely give up on hair removal. Hair removal per se is not dangerous and if it makes you happy, you should definitely get it done, just give your skin a breather every once in a while so it can recuperate well. Lastly, if a particular hair removal method gives you irritation, try another. It’s all about trial and error and what works for your skin the best.
4. Smoking Regularly
While this point might sound completely unrelated to you in relation to your vaginal health but hear us out. Smoking cigarettes can affect your vaginal health like it affects the rest of your body in the most obvious ways. The chemicals in cigarettes have a way of changing the healthy bacteria population in the vagina, and you can end up with a bacterial infection or bacterial vaginosis, and smoking frequently also increases the risk of increased vaginal dryness.
5. Increased Stress Levels
Keeping stress levels under control is not always in our control, but heightened stress levels do have a massive impact on our bodies. It’s just the way our immune system is set, that stress can, in fact, throw everything off-balance. Our skin starts to look dull, we might start breaking out more, the hair starts falling off more, and as far as the intimate area is concerned, we’re again prone to bouts of thrush (also known as candidiasis, is yeast infection usually most commonly by a fungus called Candida) or bacterial vaginosis.
6. Not Taking Care Of Yourself Right Before Your Period
If you’re not washing down there right before your period, amid the pre-period hormonal changes, your vagina might itch more and you might break into rashes. While maintaining intimate hygiene is important throughout the month, it is especially necessary right before your period especially because the estrogen levels are naturally low around this time.
7. Taking Plan B More Often
Plan B or emergency contraception is a life-saver in times of emergency but taking it too often can be detrimental to the vagina. Instead, consider switching to the oral contraceptive pill that you’ve to take daily or talk to your gynecologist for alternatives. Using Plan B more often has reportedly been associated with an increased level of discharge, more dryness, and vaginal irritation. Pick a contraception plan that suits your vagina and doesn’t end up causing more harm than good.
8. Not Peeing After Sex
Having unprotected sex and the possible presence of semen inside your vagina can be quite irritating for some women. Studies have proved that semen can alter the natural pH balance of the vagina and alter the immune system response as well. This can then lead to a possible UTI (urinary tract infection). A simple preventive to the problem is to always pee after sex without fail and using protection each time.
9. Not Cleaning Sex Toys After Use
If you’re using sex toys to pleasure yourself, it comes with the responsibility of cleaning them before and after use each time. If not cleaned, they can quickly become storehouses for bacteria to thrive on.
Most of them can be cleaned with soap and water. Choose fragrance-free, mild soaps to clean the toys and make sure to wash them thoroughly so the soap comes off the surface entirely, to make sure there’s no contact with leftover soap residue and your skin. Also, store them in a clean and dry box away from any possible exposure to moisture or dust.
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