Q: Good evening ma’am, how is the family and work generally? God bless u for a continuous good work. Please ma, I have a question regarding cleaning the female private part. I don’t know if it’s okay to wipe with water that has been disinfected , because I feel better when I do, than without a disinfectant. Please advise me ma’am.

A: Hmm, this is a question I’ve been asked often and it does make sense to ask 🙂 You would want to wash your vagina with disinfectant or perhaps antiseptic soap to make sure that you kill off all the germs, right? Wrong!

There are some bacteria that are actually useful in the body. Those found in the vagina, mainly lactobacillus, fall into this group. They produce substances that help to fight the growth of fungi (candida) and other unwanted organisms. So, when you wash with antibacterial soap or disinfected water, you mess with that natural balance in your intimate parts leading to overgrowth of unwanted organisms like candida.

Another similar activity is douching. Vaginal douches usually contain water and vinegar. Others have antiseptics and fragrances in addition. These douches are usually sprayed upwards into the vagina to ‘clean’ it up. Apart from destroying the hard-working bacteria which ‘protect’ the ‘intimates’, it can also lead to irritation of the very delicate vaginal skin.

Other activities that can cause over-growth of the vagina by unwanted organisms are abuse of antibiotics, a weak immune system from disease or stress and the hormonal imbalance that can occur in pregnancy.

So, the feeling better is really all in the psyche. No real work is being done. Truth is, if there is actually an infection, the douche and disinfectant et al are unlikely to be able to deal with them! So, there 😀

So ladies, all you need is…clean hands, soap that is not perfumed (if you can tolerate it) and water; c’est finis!

Have a great evening!