8 Habits That Can Get in the Way of Having a Healthy Vagina (2024)

Having a healthy vagina is pretty high up on the taking-care-of-your-body list. Pretty sure we’re all on the same page here.

Though you’re obviously not trying to sabotage your vaginal health on purpose, there are some things you might be doing that can raise your risk for issues without you even realizing it, Jessica Shepherd, M.D., a minimally invasive gynecologist at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, tells SELF.

“Many women are doing things every single day that are not in their best interest,” Lauren Streicher, M.D., an associate professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, tells SELF. “I see this all day, every day.”

With that in mind, we dove into a few habits that you may think are totally innocent—but your vagina doesn’t.

1. You douche.

No, we’re not insulting you—we mean that you use douches to “clean” your vagina, even though it’s not necessary at all. You’ve probably heard a bunch of times that douching is terrible for your vagina. But as long as ob/gyns keep finding out that their patients are douching, they’re going to continue spreading the word.

Douching can change your necessary balance of vaginal yeast and flora (the bacteria that live in your vagina), according to the Mayo Clinic. This balance helps create an acidic environment, which protects your vagina from infections or irritation.

When you douche, you can disrupt this balance, allowing yeast or “bad” bacteria a chance to grow out of control. That can lead to a yeast infection, which can cause symptoms like itching, redness, burning while you pee, and a thick, cottage cheese–like discharge. It can also make you more prone to bacterial vaginosis, a kind of vaginal inflammation that can lead to a foul-smelling fishy odor, itching, burning while you pee, and changes in your discharge.

Also, if you already have a vaginal infection, douching may actually push that culpable bacteria deeper into your reproductive system where it can cause pelvic inflammatory disease, a condition that can cause lower abdominal pain, a fever, smelly discharge, pain or bleeding during sex, burning when you pee, and bleeding between periods, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Pelvic inflammatory disease can also lead to infertility if it’s not treated quickly enough.

Bottom line: Douching isn’t a good idea. “There is no medical reason to douche and no benefit,” Dr. Streicher says. Your vagina cleans itself with discharge—trust us, you’re good! Beyond that, all you need is water, or at the most, a super gentle soap that only touches your vulva (the outer portion of your genitals), not your vagina. If you feel like that’s not doing the job, talk to your doctor to make sure you don’t have an infection that’s causing excess discharge or odor.

2. You don’t use protection against sexually transmitted infections when receiving oral sex.

It might seem like protection isn’t necessary unless you’re dealing with penis-in-vagina penetration, but that’s 100 percent not the case. Protecting yourself during oral sex—no matter who it’s with—isn’t only possible, it’s actually necessary, because it’s a mode of transmission for so many sexually transmitted infections, from herpes to gonorrhea to HPV. You can also pass STIs to your partner if you have one in your genitals and they’re performing oral sex on you. Protecting yourself is just worth it.

One way to make sure you’re protected is to agree to be in a sexually exclusive relationship and both get tested before foregoing protection. If that’s not realistic, then the most responsible thing to do would be to use protection for every sex act, which includes oral sex. This will likely mean using a dental dam (a square sheet of thin material that can act as a barrier between your vulva and your partner’s mouth), or even create a makeshift one with a latex condom, latex glove, or plastic wrap. Here’s exactly how to do that.

3. You don’t ever clean your sex toys or use protection if you’re sharing them with partners.

Let’s say you have a sexually transmitted or vaginal infection, use a sex toy, and don’t clean it afterward. Let’s also say that after that, you clear the infection from your system with whatever treatment your doctor deems necessary—then you use your sex toy again. Not to freak you out, but it’s theoretically possible to reintroduce infection-causing microorganisms that are still on your toy back into your system. Similarly, if you use a sex toy on a partner without protection or cleaning your toys, then use it yourself, it’s actually possible to contract an infection, Dr. Shepherd says.

It’s not like doing any of these things guarantees that you’ll wind up with vaginal problems, but it’s easy to avoid this stuff by taking steps like cleaning your sex toys properly and using a barrier method, like a condom, if you’re sharing them with a partner.

4. You hang around in your sweaty gym clothes for ages.

Yeast is a fungus that loves warm, moist areas, and wearing sweaty or wet clothes for an extended period of time could create a prime environment for yeast to go wild, Dr. Shepherd says. When yeast grows too uncontrollably, you can wind up with an infection. This doesn't mean that every time you stay in your leggings for hours after a workout, you're going to wind up with a yeast infection. But it's one risk factor for yeast infections that's worth knowing about and avoiding if you can.

To lower these odds, it’s a good idea to change out of your gym clothes when you’re done working out, and ditto for a wet bathing suit. That’s especially true if you have to deal with recurrent yeast infections. “Certainly women who are plagued with yeast infections can give it a try,” Dr. Streicher says.

5. Your super-tight clothes are chafing your vulva.

OK so there's no research that attributes skinny jeans to vaginal infections, but some doctors and people with vulvas anecdotally report that super-tight clothing can just be generally irritating for certain crotches. For that reason, some medical sources, like the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Mayo Clinic, list clothing choices as a possible risk factor for vaginitis, a catch-all term for vaginal irritation. Now, this doesn't mean that skinny jeans actually cause vaginal infections like bacterial vaginosis or yeast infections. It just means that it’s possible for your clothing to contribute to vulvar irritation. So, if your crotch has been generally itchy and uncomfortable lately and you typically live in the tightest of bottoms, maybe try switching it up and see if that helps. Of course, if you're ever unsure of the source of genital itching or discomfort, it's best to talk to your doctor first to rule out anything like an STI or bacterial infection.

6. You wear pantyliners all day, then through the night, too.

Whether you need a little added protection during your period or you tend to have a lot of discharge and need a barrier to protect your clothes, a pantyliner can help. Pantyliners themselves aren’t bad, but both experts have seen patients who wear pantyliners all day, then overnight, too. This can wick away too moisture from your vagina, causing dryness, irritation, and itching, Dr. Shepherd says, recommending that you wear pantyliners for 12 continuous hours at most. Be sure to change them throughout the day as they become soiled.

Scented pantyliners are an especially bad idea—the fragrance on them can be irritating, Dr. Streicher says. If you need to wear a pantyliner every day and have noticed some irritation, she recommends putting a gentle, unscented cream on your vulva, like Aquaphor, to help protect your skin from dryness. (That cream should not go inside of your vagina. Just on your outer genitalia, please!)

7. You take a lot of magnificent, endless bubble baths.

Bubble baths may seem innocent enough, and some people can luxuriate in that sudsy water for hours with zero issues. But bubble bath products contain different chemical agents that your vagina may be sensitive to, Dr. Shepherd points out, noting that bubble baths are “notorious” for their potential to cause vaginal irritation or infections.

Here’s how it works, she explains: Bubble baths can contain things like alcohol, fragrance, or other chemicals that can dehydrate your delicate vaginal mucosa. That can alter your vagina’s natural pH, leaving you more vulnerable to an infection.

If you’ve been taking bubble baths for ages and you’ve never had any issues, keep on keeping on. But if you’ve been dealing with irritation or infections that just so happen to coincide with a new bubble bath routine, it’s probably time to give that habit a pass and see your doctor for a check-up.

8. You don’t finish the entire course of antibiotics necessary to clear up an infection down there.

Whether we're talking about a urinary tract infection or an STI like chlamydia, if your doctor gives you antibiotics to clear it up, make sure you're taking the whole course. It can be tempting to stop taking them once your symptoms clear up, but that's actually a really bad idea.

First of all, your infection may not be entirely cleared (even if your symptoms have let up), so it's possible for the infection to come back if you don't finish all of your antibiotics. And, in the grand scheme of things, this can lead to antibiotic resistance, which happens when an antibiotic loses its ability to effectively control or kill bacterial growth, Dr. Shepherd says. So you should always finish your course of antibiotics, even if your symptoms are gone.

When reading through this list, you probably noticed a pattern: If you feel like something is up with your vagina, you should see your doctor. A good ob/gyn won’t judge you, no matter what you bring to the exam table—they’ll ask relevant questions, run whatever tests make sense, and identify treatment that can get your vagina back to normal.

Update 7/19/19: We made changes to a few of the items on this list to provide greater clarity and remove inaccuracies.

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