Treat your ladybit with kindness and it will return the favour. Here are three ways to keep your vagina healthy…

Don’t Smoke

It’s much more difficult for your body to fight off the damage caused by HPV if you smoke. “Women who already have abnormal Pap smears have a much higher chance of it getting worse, up to the point of cervical cancer,” says Dr Elna Rudolph, clinical head of MySexualHealth. You’re also more at risk for STIs like Trichomoniasis. Stub it out for the sake of your vag.
Read More: How To Quit Smoking In Six Steps

Don’t Douche

“Your vagina is like a self-cleaning oven – don’t come close to it with any detergent,” says Rudolph. “In fact, bacterial vaginosis, a condition where one or more of the natural bacteria in your vagina overgrows and causes a smelly discharge, is significantly more common among women who douche or try to wash inside their vaginas. Your vagina is not meant to smell like a rose, so stop trying to make it.” But if you insist, for gynae’s sake, put down the lemon-verbena soap on a rope and use a specially formulated wash. Femagene won’t upset your beaver’s balance, but only use it externally. “Never use soap inside your vagina and definitely don’t squirt anything up there – especially not Betadine!” warns Rudolph.
Read More: Is Perfuming or Douching Safe?

Have Different Orgasms

Too many of us still prioritise the hole as the goal – to our sexual detriment. A study by neuroendocrinologist Dr Kim Wallen found that just seven percent of women can climax from penetrative sex alone. What’s more, he calculated the “C-V ratio” to show it’s the distance between your clitoris and vagina that likely determines your ability to have a hole-in-one orgasm. The perfect pump-to-pleasure measurement was found to be 2.5cm. If yours is longer than that, don’t let him think it’s only his magic wand that counts.
Looking for more info on your lady parts? Here’s the number on benefit of masturbation , plus 7 really common reasons why you have an itchy vagina.