what is vaginal douching

Vaginal douching is the process of washing or cleaning out the vagina with water or other mixtures of fluids. Most douches are sold in stores as prepackaged mixes of water and vinegar, baking soda, or iodine, and are squirted upward through a tube or nozzle into the vagina. However, health experts warn that douching is not effective for any of the purposes women use it for, such as getting rid of unpleasant odors, washing away menstrual blood after their period, avoiding sexually transmitted diseases, or preventing pregnancy after intercourse. In fact, douching can cause an overgrowth of harmful bacteria, leading to a yeast infection or bacterial vaginosis. If a woman already has a vaginal infection, douching can push the bacteria causing the infection up into the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries, leading to pelvic inflammatory disease, a serious health problem. Douching is also linked to other health problems, including cervical cancer, low birth weight, preterm birth, human immunodeficiency virus transmission, sexually transmitted diseases, ectopic pregnancy, recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis, and infertility. Therefore, health experts, including those at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, do not recommend women use douching products. Instead, the vagina is designed to naturally maintain a healthy pH balance, and removing or greatly reducing the number of healthy bacteria in the vagina can lead to problematic bacteria flourishing, causing infections, irritations, and more serious complications. The best way to clean the vagina is to do nothing, as the vagina is self-cleaning.