Clearing Up Misconceptions About Your Vagina

Spend enough time on TikTok, and you’re likely to come across videos telling you what to do—and not to do—to keep your vagina healthy. There are several videos telling you to douche with boric acid or vinegar to prevent yeast infections. One popular clip claims you should throw out your underwear every six to nine months to avoid getting infections. And another TikTok influencer tells you never to wear underwear to bed so that you can let your vagina “breathe.”

If watching all these TikTok videos has you confused about vaginas and how to keep yours healthy, here are the medically sound, evidence-based facts:

You don’t need to do anything to “clean” your vagina, because your vagina cleans itself naturally by making mucus, and that mucus helps wash away menstrual blood, semen, and vaginal discharge (more on that in a minute).

By the way, there’s also some confusion about what the vagina is, and isn’t. Lots of people mistakenly call the visible part of a woman’s genitals the vagina, when those external folds of skin are really called the vulva. The vagina is a stretchy tube that connects the vulva to the cervix (the opening of the uterus) and it’s completely inside the body. The average length of a vagina is around two to four inches, but it can stretch to double that size when you’re sexually aroused.

You do want to wash your vulva every day, with water and a mild soap. But there’s no reason to douche or use any other product to clean the vagina or prevent yeast infections; in fact, doing so can actually cause more harm than good. That’s because a healthy vagina naturally has a balance of good and harmful bacteria and when you douche, you remove some of the good bacteria that helps protect you from infection.

It’s perfectly normal to have some vaginal discharge, which is a combination of mucus, water, microorganisms, and skin cells. Normal vaginal discharge looks clear, white, or slightly yellow when it dries. It’s part of the vagina’s way of cleaning itself and it can vary in thickness throughout the menstrual cycle.

A certain amount of vaginal odor is also normal and it’s nothing you need to “treat” with so-called feminine hygiene products or douching (see above).

However, there are some signs that may indicate you have a vaginal infection. These include:

• Vaginal discharge that smells bad
• Vaginal itching and thick, white or yellowish-green discharge with or without an odor
• Burning, redness, and swelling in or around the vagina
• Pain when urinating
• Pain or discomfort during sex

If you’re having any of the above symptoms, call your gynecologist or primary care provider.

There’s no truth to the advice to skip underwear at bedtime in order to let your vagina air out or breathe, and wearing underwear to bed every night isn’t going to make you more prone to developing an infection. It’s also not true that you need to throw out your underwear after six to nine months.

You’ve probably also seen ads or social media videos touting “vaginal rejuvenation.” These are cosmetic procedures using lasers and other energy-based devices to reshape or destroy vaginal tissue in order to treat symptoms related to menopause, urinary incontinence, and sexual function. Studies have found this treatment is not effective, and what’s more, the Food & Drug Administration has warned consumers that the procedures can be dangerous and cause vaginal burns and scarring, among other things.

Bottom line: The best way to know how to keep your vagina healthy is to talk to your gynecologist or primary care provider instead of watching TikTok videos.

• What is vaginal discharge?
• Itching, burning, discharge? It could be vaginitis.
• Common vaginal infections and how to treat them.