“What is douching?”
Douching is rinsing out the vagina with a vinegar-water or other kind of liquids (which can be bought at drug stores) to “clean out” the vagina.
“Should I douche?”
Douching is not recommended by doctors because the vagina cleans itself out naturally! The whitish fluid (discharge) that girls can have in their underpants every day is the vagina cleaning itself out. The discharge will look and smell a little different at different times of the month so make sure you know what is normal for your body.
Douching can even harm a girl’s body because it messes with her natural cleaning system. Douching can change the natural balance of healthy chemicals a girl has in her vagina and make it easier for her to get infections.
Go to your doctor or a teen-friendly clinic near you if you ever have any:
- discharge that looks or smells different than it usually does
- itching, burning or pain in or around the vagina
You might have an infection. It’s important to get any infection treated as soon as possible because if left untreated, it could lead to serious health problems.