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One of the most critical issues women face in summer is an increased risk of vaginal infections. The hot weather and continuous sweating down there can make your vaginal ecosystem a perfect location for bacteria and fungi to grow. Luckily, we have a few tips for feminine hygiene in summer that you might want to follow to avoid these painful complications.
But first, let’s start with why you need to ensure your hygiene this season.
Why You Should Take Care of Feminine Hygiene in Summer?
Feminine hygiene typically refers to cleansing tips for keeping your vagina/vulva clean and healthy. While the vagina has self-cleansing bodies, the vulva, on the other hand, is just the skin outside the vagina. Therefore, it requires proper manual cleaning.
The vaginal flora contains bacteria and yeast as a part of its ecosystem. These microorganisms are in charge of keeping the vagina healthy by producing substances that keep the pH acidic, protecting the vagina from germs that may cause infections.
But if there’s a pH imbalance in the nether region – commonly due to poor intimate hygiene – there may be excess production of harmful microorganisms.
As a result, besides being infected, you may be prone to other health risks like infertility, complications in pregnancy, and low sex drive.
Although you may want to take care of hygiene throughout the year, excessive sweating in the summer and high humid temperatures creates a proliferation ground in the vulva for bacterial growth in this particular season.
That’s why it’s necessary to know what tips for feminine hygiene in summer you need to follow.
Read More: 19 Super Risky Pregnancy Infections
What are the Signs of Poor Intimate Hygiene?
One of the biggest tips for feminine hygiene in summer is to watch out for the signs that your body shows. You can tell a lot about your hygiene practices if you look closely.
If you find that you are exhibiting the following signs, you may have been neglecting your hygiene down there.
Skin irritation:
Many times, skin complications may be a symptom of poor feminine hygiene in summer. Burning, itching, rashes, and bumps are just tell-tale signs of irritation in the skin.
In the case of vaginal hygiene, skin irritation can be a dead giveaway of a bacterial infection. Besides, yeast infections and STIs are some of the most common conditions that may lead to skin irritation in females.
🌸 Foul odor in vagina
🌸 Weird color discharge
🌸 Irritation or rashes around vagina
Click the link for tips on how to take care of intimate hygiene in summer.
#summer #hygiene #womenshealth
Vaginal odor:
The vagina typically has a slight smell. But if the odor is too funky or overbearing, it may indicate bacterial overgrowth and poor intimate hygiene.
If it lasts longer than a few days, it is a sign of a serious health problem. Common culprits of vaginal odors are infections like trich and bacterial vaginosis.
Read More: 11 Home Remedies to Get Rid of BV at Home
Vaginal discharge:
Normal vaginal discharge is clear or milky. However, the texture and amount of discharge may change throughout your life as long as you’re menstruating.
But if your discharge is anything other than usual, it may signify that you’re letting your hygiene slide. Abnormal discharge is usually brown, gray, or yellow, accompanied by a burning sensation. It may even have a thicker consistency.
You might notice many other things if you have poor intimate hygiene. Luckily, you can avoid the complications by visiting a medical consultant for treatment and following the tips for feminine hygiene in summer.
What are the Must-Follow Tips for Feminine Hygiene in Summers?
Here are some easy-to-follow tips for feminine hygiene in summers including various “dos and don’ts” that will help you remain sweat-free and clean in hot weather.
1. Shower as often as you can
Our body is constantly shedding skin cells. If you don’t get rid of them daily, they may stick together and clog up your pores.
Taking a shower can help remove the dead cells and the harmful bacteria in your body. It also cleanses the skin, frees it from irritants, and maintains healthy skin function.
In addition, it is beneficial in reducing fatigue, alleviating pain, improving concentration levels, and keeping the body odors away.
Read More: 18 Health Tips For Summer
As a part of the tips for feminine hygiene in summer that you follow, also gently wash the genital region with water, especially the outer part of the vagina, to avoid bacterial build-up.
How often you shower is a personal choice. Depending on how quickly your body accumulates dirt, you can pick your shower frequency.
However, the best practice is to take a shower every day, especially if you live in a hot climate region.
2. Change pads or tampons regularly
During your period, ensure that you change your pads or tampons regularly. Leaving your pad for too long can lead to bacterial overgrowth because of the trapped moisture and heat.
A damp pad gives rise to irritation and rashes in the genital area, which is likely to cause an infection.
Following the general tips for feminine hygiene in summer by experts, change your pad or tampon every four hours, irrespective of your flow. It can reduce the risk of infection as well as foul odors.
3. Wear cotton underwear
A study published in 2018 in Obstetrics and Gynecology suggested many critical tips for feminine hygiene in hot weather. They mentioned that non-cotton underwear can contribute to irritation and yeast infections. In addition, the study showed that wearing thongs increases the chances of bacterial vaginosis, UTIs, and yeast infections.
It makes sense considering other fabrics like polyester, lace, nylon, etc., are non-breathable, trap moisture and heat, and create the perfect environment for bacteria to proliferate.
Cotton underwear, on the other hand, is far more breathable. They help prevent sweat from sticking to the genitals and provide greater comfort than other underwear.
Read More: 9 Best Pregnancy Yeast Infection Treatments
4. Be mindful of your toilet habits
If you use public toilets often, you may want to be mindful of the tips for feminine hygiene.
And yes – this includes office, school, and gym restrooms too!
Avoid using public restrooms as much as possible. Relieve yourself at home before going out. If you must use a shared bathroom, invest in a good quality restroom sanitizer. Always spray this on the seat before going to the loo to ensure
Another critical habit is always wiping from front to back (vagina to anus). Wiping the other way around (anus to vagina) may cause bacteria in your colon to infect your urethra.
5. Pay attention to your diet
As surprising as it may seem, your diet can impact your body odor!
Board-certified dermatologist Joshua Zeichner states that certain foods contain foul-smelling compounds that may be excreted by your sweat glands and cause you to smell unpleasant – even down there!
Most of these foul compounds are found in foods like alcohol and red meat. Hence, it may be helpful to keep these food groups to a minimum and opt for other varieties of fruits and vegetables.
Adding more yogurt to your diet is also one of the best tips for feminine hygiene in summer and reducing the risk of infections.
A research study in Finland reported that women who ate three or more servings of yogurt had far fewer UTIs than those who didn’t.
This is because the high levels of probiotics or “good” bacteria in the yogurt help fight off the harmful bacteria and keep you infection-free.
Also, keep in mind to stay away from sodas, colas, and other carbonated drinks. Instead, always drink water if you feel thirsty. Drinking lots of water is vital to prevent UTIs as it stabilizes the bacterial balance of the vagina.
6. Don’t use scented products
Scented products – like tampons, pads, or washes – are a huge no-no for the vagina.
Most of them are rich in chemicals that disrupt the pH of the vagina, leading to bacterial ecosystem disruption. Scented hygiene products may even have cancer-causing ingredients and pesticides.
In 2014 the STAT laboratory tested popular high-end scented pads. They discovered toxic chemicals in these pads, particularly substances declared carcinogenic by the U.S. Department of Health.
Another one of the most useful tips for feminine hygiene in summer is that you should try to steer clear of douching. It’s an unhealthy way of cleaning the vagina. Your vagina naturally cleanses itself and the best natural product for washing the vagina is water.
☀️ Avoid wearing wet clothes
☀️ Change the tampons
☀️ Wear cotton undies
☀️ Shower daily
☀️ Don’t douche
For more, check out our blog!
#summer #hygiene #womenshealth
7. Go for regular health check-ups
A regular check-in with the ob/gyn can do wonders for hygiene. By visiting the doctor periodically, you might be able to spot any infection on time and get treated before it gets worse. This can significantly help keep the itchiness and unpleasant odor in control.
In case you’re suffering from an STD-induced odor, it’s essential to know that they cannot be treated by hygiene alone. Instead, find a professional who can help guide you better about safe sex practices and advise the correct drug regime.
Start going to the ob/gyn as early as puberty. Later, when you go over the age of 20, it becomes an absolute compulsion, especially when it comes to learning tips about feminine hygiene in summer.
In fact, most medical experts advise women to get a health exam once a year.
Read More: 10 Essential Women’s Health Screening Tests for Ages 20 to 39
8. Avoid leaving on wet clothes
If you visit the beach or swimming pool for a dip, immediately change your swimwear after you’re done. Laying around in the wet bathing suits after a swim might disrupt the vaginal balance and give rise to infections.
You may also consider taking an alternative dry swimsuit to change into after a swim.
This is especially mandatory for women who prefer swimming pools because the chlorine in the pool kills both the harmful and good vaginal bacteria, leading to a greater risk of infections.
Similarly, if you engage in tough summer workouts, ensure that you shower and change your sweaty gym attire as soon as you’re done exercising. This will save you from infections, odor, and itchiness.
The Bottomline
Following expert advice and tips on feminine hygiene in summer can save you from infections that might cause severe discomfort to excruciating pain. It will also keep your sexual drive healthy and happy, which is essential for women’s physical and mental health.
References:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3758931/
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0897189796802187
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8477900/
- https://www.clovia.com/blog/why-switching-over-to-cotton-undies-is-best-for-you/
- https://reproductive-health-journal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12978-016-0182-4
