When it comes to vaginas, loads of us just don’t know enough.
There’s a tonne of misinformation and fake news out there designed to make women fearful of their own bodies.
Earlier this year, Marie Claire advised women to stick parsley up their vaginas in order to induce a period (a practice that has killed women before).
Experts have had to warn women not to put garlic cloves, sea sponges or cucumbers up there to clean it for fear of infection.
And one in five women thinks they pee through their vagina, with docs warning that ignorance is to blame for delays in cancer diagnoses.
So, here are ten facts everyone should know about their vagina:
- It’s totally self-cleaning
The reason that you shouldn’t be sticking anything up there (apart from the obvious) is that the vagina cleans itself.
It doesn’t need any help in that department.
In fact, trying to clean it with soaps and douches will actually leave you more open to infection.
Dr. Shazia Malik, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at the Portland Hospital for Women and Children, told The Sun that intimate hygiene products are “absolutely unnecessary”, and exist simply to make money from women.
“There’s absolutely no evidence that they can be beneficial to women in any way,” she said.
READ ALSO: One dead, village head, 7 others missing in fresh Zamfara attack
“I’ve seen loads of women come into my clinic with infections because they’ve upset the natural balance of the vagina or vulva.”
“The best thing to wash around your vulva and the opening is warm water.”
When you poo, use soap or shower gel to wash around the back passage, but never go near the front.
- It’s supposed to have a smell
Concerned that your privates don’t smell like the meadows pictured on tampon adverts?
That’s because your vagina should have a smell – and not the kind of artificial one you find in sanitary products.
- Your vulva and vagina aren’t the same thing
When we talk about our vagina, we’re usually just talking about the whole lot down there.
But what most of us actually mean is our vulva – the fleshy bit that you see.
Your actual vagina is the canal that you pop tampons up/push a baby out from.
- Some people have two vaginas
This is super rare but there have been reported cases of people having two vaginas.
It’s called uterus didelphys and it affects one in every 3,000 women.
The condition tends to refer to people who have two wombs or two cervixes, but in some even rarer cases, women can have two vaginas.
Having two vaginas means that some women can have two periods a month – meaning that they can still bleed if they’ve put a tampon in, because the other vagina is still bleeding.
People with two vaginas can still get pregnant and give birth, although it does come with a higher risk for complications.
- They change colour
Not all vaginas the pastel-pink colour that nice illustrations may have you believe.
And they don’t stay the same colour, regardless of what shade they started off being.
When you get aroused, blood rushes down there and that can make your vulva look a darker colour.
After sex, it’ll go back to its normal shade.
- They get deeper when we’re turned on
Our vaginas are constantly changing and adapting.
When we get aroused, they don’t just go darker, they go deeper.
The average vagina is around 3-6 inches long, and up to 2.5 inches wide.
READ ALSO: Ex-Actors Guild chairman wants late Eddie Ugbomah immortalised
When we’re turned on, however, the upper bit of the vagina elongates – pushing the cervix back – to make room for whatever is about to be inserted.
- You can lift weights with it
Did you know that vaginal weight lifting was a thing?
No, it’s not a competitive event with actual dumbbells but it’s a way to strengthen your pelvic floor.
The UK’s strongest vagina can weight-lift a tin of baked beans.
Vaginal weightlifting is said to increase blood flow to your genitals and train your pelvic floor muscles, which in turn lead to better sex, reduced risk of urinary incontinence and quicker recovery after childbirth.
Holistic sex and relationship expert Kim Anami is a vaginal weight lifter who travels the world lifting things with her vagina.
Dr. Vanessa Mackay, from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said: “Doing regular pelvic floor exercises can help improve muscle tone, bladder and bowel control and sensitivity during sex.
“If women are pregnant, or planning to get pregnant, they should start doing pelvic floor exercises as soon as possible as this will reduce the risk of experiencing incontinence after child birth.”
But you don’t need to lift beans to get those muscles working.
Dr. Mackay said that you simply have to sit or stand comfortably with knees slightly apart and then draw up the pelvic floor muscles as if trying to avoid passing urine or wind.
“It is important not to tighten the stomach, buttock or thigh muscles during the exercises.
“Women should do ten slow contractions, holding them for about 10 seconds each.
“The length of time can be increased gradually and the slow contractions can then be followed by a set of quick contractions.
“The whole process should be carried out three or four times a day.”
- Childbirth and sex won’t permanently stretch it
If you give birth vaginally, your bits might feel sore for a while.
After all, it’s just pushed through a whole human.
But it won’t always be like that and your vagina won’t always be the size it is after childbirth – although it will be different.
You may find that you’re a bit drier due to the fact that the body produces less oestrogen after having a baby.
It’ll be a little wider but you can keep your vagina muscles toned by doing your pelvic floor exercises.
And sex definitely won’t change its shape.
Gynaecologist Dr Karen Morton explained there will always be an initial amount of change when you first become sexually active, but after that it stays relatively the same.
She said: “The vagina is an infinitely stretchy and elastic organ, otherwise we would never be able to pass a baby through it and then for it to be restored to its normal shape and size.”
- You can never lose anything in your vagina
There’s nothing like the panic of not being able to find a tampon string or moon cup end.
You start to fret that your body has sucked your sanitary support into your vagina – never to be seen again.
But don’t believe the urban myths – you can’t lose anything up there.
At the end of your vagina is your cervix, and unless you’re in labour, that remains firmly closed so nothing can go anywhere.
However, it is possible to forget about a tampon for a long time and that can be dangerous.
So if you ever realise that you’ve accidentally left one in there for a few days or weeks, go to your GP.
- Masturbating can help with period cramps
As if the vagina doesn’t do enough, your pleasure dome can also help to relieve PMS symptoms.
Giving yourself an orgasm will prompt your body to release feel-good chemicals which also act as natural pain-relievers.
They help to relax muscles and ease the pain from cramps.
See? So much to learn about the not-so-humble organ! (TheSun.co.uk)