It is normal and healthy for you to have some vaginal odour. However, strong vaginal odour can be as a result of douching, excessive washing, wearing very tight clothes and panties, and also certain chemicals in your soaps, among other things. This strong odour can be embarrassing. If you personally feel that the smell is too strong, here are some tips on how to deal with this unpleasant vaginal odour.
Identify any infections: If you want to stop vaginal odour in its tracks, you need to figure out the cause of it. The most common source of vaginal odour is an infection. this can range from yeast infections, to bacterial infections, to STDs/STIs. The best practice is to visit a doctor and have him check you out. There are also few different ways you can also gauge if this is is your problem;
- If you have a lot of chunky white discharge, you probably have a yeast infection. Medecine for this can be found easily at any pharmacy.
- You might contract a bacteria infection from public toilet, if you don't practice proper toilet etiquette. Do you wipe front to back or back to front? Wiping back to front introduces bacteria into your vagina and can cause infection.
- If you think you might have contacted an STD/STI, just go to the doctor to get tested. This is the kind of thing you need to know for sure, for your own safety and that of those around you.
The vagina is kind of like a rich ecosystem. Everything has to exist in perfect balance, and that balance can be easily be upset. If you use soap, antibacterial, take baths that are too hot, go in pools frequently, use scented pads, use lotion too close to your vagina, don't change your underwear often enough or even use underwear of the wrong material, or a large number of other things not mentioned here, you can cause your little ecosystem to get totally out of whack.
Embrace natural vagina odour: Lots of women don't like the way that their vagina smells, but if you ask their husbands or boyfriends they will say they cherish and love it! Don't under estimate your natural odour. Those men do not want you to smell like flowers down there.
Consider that maybe it's him! Certain sexual practices can also cause vaginal odour, either from his bacteria colonizing your body or just the smell of sex itself. Never mind if you are taking the sexual practices outside of missionary 101. consider if this is the reason you smell different and take whatever measures you believe are warranted.
Just going to put it out there; putting it in your butt and then putting it in your vagina is a TERRIBLE idea. At least switch condoms between these activities.
Check for foreign objects; You know it sometimes happens that you forget you have a
tampon in there. sometimes the occasional condom gets left behind. These things can cause an odour as your body tries to get rid of the object. check for objects and get them out! change them regularly to avoid smells.
Stop using fragrant body washes and soaps: It is best to use a mild soap with warm water. Soaps are too harsh or have too many chemicals and fragrances can actually make your vagina produce more discharge that gives off the foul smell.
Avoid using douches to clean
your vaginal area: Douching can alter the balance of healthy bacteria in your vagina, causing other bacteria to grow and create a foul vagina odour. You should douche ONLY if asked to by a doctor or gynecologist.
Eat Yogurt: Yogurt that contains live cultures adds probiotics, or good bacteria into your body. This can reverse the problem if you have a mild case or a yeast infection that is just starting out, and acts as a great preventive measure if you start doing it before the problem develops.
Avoid foods that contains a lot of sugar and yeast: Foods such as bread, beer and mushrooms contain yeast, and the sugar in other foods turns into yeast. These foods can increase the amount of yeast in your vagina, causing a yeast infection.
Stop taking hot baths or showers: This can kill your body's natural bacteria. Try taking colder baths or showers to see if it helps reduce your vaginal odour.
Avoid pads and panty liners: You want vaginal discharge to be wicked away from your body, not held close next to it by items like panty liners and pads. Use these only when you need them and absolutely do not use scented products(as these can throw off your body's natural balance).
To get a better smell
- Wear cotton underwear. Panty hose and any synthetic material will block some air flow to the area. Loose cotton garments will give the region more ventilation, which will help get rid of vaginal odour over time.
- Wear perfume. You can wear perfume normally to generally help reduce the smell, but if you have reason to think that someone special is going down there and you want to make sure you smell great, dab a very small amount of perfume about 4" up from your knee( on your inner thigh). Choose a perfume with a musky scent, as this will most closely resemble your natural smell.
