Cleaning yourself down there

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-05-2006
Cleaning yourself down there
2
Thu, 02-22-2007 - 10:38pm
I heard on one of the message boards that "douching" is actually bad compared to a long time ago when they thought it was good for you. I heard it's not that great now because it gets rid of the good bacteria that is produced. Well, I'm on birth control and sometimes my bf cums inside me and I'm not sure what I can do, if anything, to clean myself out down there afterwards. We usually just wipe ourselves off with a towel and he says to let it run out in the shower the next morning or whenever. But he also told me sperm stays in your body for up to two days afterwords. So I'm kind of curious. Anything to say about that?
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-12-2006
Thu, 02-22-2007 - 11:43pm

Recently I mentioned to someone not to douche. That's something that was believed 50-60 years ago. Now the doctors know that it's not necessary, and in fact it can be harmful. Even if you use plain water, that will flush out the good bacteria in your vagina....and that bacteria is what keeps you from getting yeast infections.

Your vagina is "self cleaning". After sex, his semen will seep out by gravity. Your vagina flushes itself out, so there's no need to do anything. If the outer area (the vulva) is clean, there will be no odors.

As far as the sperm is concerned, it's part of the semen, and will leak out just as quickly. Your b/f is confused about the two day thing. Supposedly, any sperm that have gotten past the cervix can be viable for one or two days, but in your case, you're on b/c, so it wouldn't matter if it lived a week. On b/c, you don't ovulate, so there's no ovum to fertilize.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-05-2006
Thu, 02-22-2007 - 11:46pm
Alright. Thanks a lot! =)