‘Intimate hygiene‘ as the name straightaway suggest is all about keeping your privates clean and hygienic is a topic which makes even women quite uncomfortable to talk about.
According to a survey conducted by everteen, it points out that common vaginally problems affect the quality of life of 45% of the women surveyed. However, 50% of them prefer to suffer in silence than discuss it with others.
Many women are not even aware about the difference between intimate and regular hygiene, and fail to follow the basic rules to maintain their vaginal health.
As we all are aware that maintaining a good personal hygiene is one of the most effective ways to protect ourselves from various diseases likewise, maintaining intimate hygiene is of utmost importance for women in order to stay healthy by avoiding vaginal problems.
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Let’s go through some Do’s and Dont’s to maintain intimate hygiene:
Do’s for intimate hygiene:-
1) Do wash your privates twice a day with warm water as it helps to clean away sweat reducing the risk of infection.
2) Do change your pad every two or four hours because using a sanitary napkin for more than 4 hours causes harmful bacteria to multiply.
3) Do wipe yourself from front to back as it is very easy for bacteria to transfer from anus to vagina.
4) Always make sure to hydrate your skin and use soothing products during shaving your privates.
Dont’s for intimate hygiene:-
1) Don’t use much of chemical based soaps and wipes as they can cause irritation and an imbalance in pH levels.
2)Don’t use fabrics like nylon or polyester as they trap in moisture creating the perfect environment for infections. Therefore, always try going for cotton.
3) The vagina has the ability to self-clean, therefore do not wash the insides. Washing only outside of your privates is enough.
4) Don’t use fragrance based deodorants for your intimate areas as these products contain harmful chemicals which means you’ll be refreshing your vagina with toxins.
Intimate hygiene thus, doesn’t get the importance it deserves. Even with the increasing female literacy and creating constant awareness about intimate hygiene, adoption of poor hygienic practices among women of all ages still persists.
It is therefore very much important for women to adequately understand the close connection between genital cleanliness and risk of infection, whether or not you’re of reproductive age.
