The subject of intimate care & vaginal health can still be controversial and because of that it’s largely not spoken about. While it might seem like an embarrassing topic, it is an important one, so here we aim to tell you what we think about it…
The pH of your vagina is less than 4.5 while the pH of the rest of your skin is above 5.4. Any changes in the vaginal pH can upset your natural balance and lead to irritation and potentially thrush.
While the vagina is designed to self-clean using natural fluids that remove anything unwanted and simply using water is enough to keep your vagina healthy, many women feel that water isn’t enough. If you prefer to wash with more than water opt for something that is designed to maintain your vaginal pH.
There’s a long list of other things that can upset the pH balance of your vagina…
Antibiotics, sweaty workout gear, drinking alcohol, too much sex, using regular soaps and shower gels are just some of the things that can disrupt your pH and cause irritation.
It may seem like a long list of things to avoid but using a pH balanced cleanser will help maintain your natural balance and a pH balancing serum will restore the vaginal pH to back to where it should be when things feel a little off. What we mean by that is that you start to sense there is some irritation – this doesn’t mean you have thrush but at times things feel they are heading that way.
We spoke to Dawn Harper from Embarrassing Bodies to see what she thinks about the subject of vaginal health and care..
“Generally, good vaginal health is maintained by making sure your overall health is in good shape, which includes healthy diet and exercise, and a good intimate care regimen.
The vagina contains lots of good bacteria (lactobacilli) which help to keep the vagina’s pH balance at an even, healthy level, and these produce bacteriocins (naturally occurring antibiotics) to reduce or kill harmful bacteria entering the vagina.
However, if the balance of bacteria is off-kilter this can result in embarrassing and uncomfortable infections such as bacterial vaginosis (BV) or thrush, which can cause symptoms including itching, irritation and abnormal discharge.
"To keep the vagina’s pH balance at its normal, low level it’s a good idea to avoid heavily perfumed soaps, and even your regular shower gel as these can affect the healthy balance of bacteria and pH levels in the vagina, and cause inflammation and itching. Instead use a very gentle, pH balanced wash to cleanse the area around the vagina every day.”
Dawn Harper
Try the SASS Intimate Purifying Cleanser for a pH balanced alternative to soaps and shower gels and SASS Intimate pH Balanced Serum to rebalance your pH when you feel on the brink of thrush.
