There are a lot of things in life that seem to be second nature to everyone. After we do something for so long every single day, we end up doing them without even thinking about it.
However, there are ways to do things right and ways to do things wrong. Sometimes, we end up doing everyday activities and things completely wrong and we have no idea.
Women are always buying more products for their overall health and beauty, especially hygiene and cleaning. The beauty industry is always marketing new products to us on a regular basis.
TikTok and Instagram influencer culture allows us to believe that whenever someone is using a product, we have to go out and buy it too. After all, why wouldn't we want to look as beautiful as someone on social media?
Algorithms and "for you" pages always lead us to places where we end up buying things we don't really need—no matter the price—trying to look good and feel good, too. However, some things can be pretty bad for us.
When it comes to vaginal health and cleanliness, women are constantly looking for ways to keep things clean and "fresh."
Women will purchase vaginal cleansers and "freshness" products in hopes of fixing any issues down south. However, a doctor opened up about why it's a bad decision to do this.
The doctor shared that our consumer society will market products, making us think that we need them, when in reality we are just fine without them.
Dr. Karan Raj said that society perpetuates this idea that women's bodies are "dirty" and need to be cleaned and sanitized, hence marketing these washes and feminine odor products.
He continued to explain that these types of products upset the chemical balance in the vaginal area and give women a higher chance of contracting yeast infections and other types of problems.
He pointed out that it's a bit strange they are always talking about feminine odor but never talking about "scrotal odor" for men and sharing the same issues in the consumer industry for men.
Using all of these products, such as washes and douches, can disrupt the pH balance of the vaginal area and can truly hurt the bacteria that are so properly dispersed in the area, as well.
After looking into products that are marketed for feminine hygiene, there are many chemicals in them that can be dangerous for anyone to use. Some of the products have in their ingredients carcinogens, reproductive toxins, endocrine disruptors, and allergens.
If we stop to read the instructions and labels of these feminine washes, one would see that they constantly read "for external use only." As we wash our vaginal area, it's only normal that these washes will get inside of the vaginal canal, which can be harmful.
Despite the endless amount of products on shelves, using regular body soap or body wash is just fine for vaginal cleanliness when we shower. Using these specific marketed products can just harm us in the long run.
If you are someone who buys or purchases products for these uses, make sure to read the ingredients and understand what is in them. Also, be careful that they don't go internal, as they are for external use only.
If you can help it, stick to the soap. Regular soap that we use on our body is good enough to wash our bodies with and is good enough to wash our vaginal area with, too.
