by Angie Warner WHNP
While we at WCS are happy to support women involved in an active lifestyle and encourage daily exercise, we are no fools to believe that every female we see at school, walking in the stores and at hanging out at the bus stops in their yoga pants are on their way to or from the gym. In fact yoga pants and leggings have become such a staple in women’s fashion that they have coined a new category of clothing… “Athleisure”. Yes, I know, they are super comfortable, and yes, even I can be caught at least 2 days a week wearing my “Atlhleisure” clothes when I am just running errands and not only at the gym. So, I get it. But these fabulous articles of clothing may be the culprit behind your increased vaginal discharge and odor. We often see an increase in vaginal infections in the hot summer months when we live in our wet swimsuits and sweat our butts off in the sweltering St Louis humidity, but winter tends to be a time of reprieve for our lady parts… until this year. Wearing these tight clothes increases friction and irritation which leads to skin breakdown and thickening. That in turn leads to your body’s attempts at repair, which is achieved by increased discharge and often an odor is associated with that discharge. These symptoms are much worse when we are actually working out in those athlesiure pants and not changing right away. So to reduce your chances of making frequent trips to the Gyno office, consider changing out of those work out clothes immediately following your sweat session and allowing your vagina to “breathe” every once in awhile. By no means do you have to pack up those skinny jeans and change over to the “mom jeans” but possibly consider changing into some loose fitting sweats or pj pants once you are at home. Those tight skinny jeans and athleisure clothes not only interfere with air exchange and increase risk of vaginitis, but can also cause your hair follicles to become inflamed and possibly infected. Which brings me to my next trend regarding hair…
Let’s face it, humans are hairy. While there is a good portion of our bodies that does not require hair (ie. our chin, our upper lip, our legs, and our underarms) there is a purpose for hair in other areas, such as our eyebrows, eyelashes, and even our pubic areas. We women pay a great deal of attention to the shape and fullness of our eyebrows, we take time to enhance our eyelashes for length and volume, yet when it comes to pubic hair up to 60% of American women are removing it. I am not exactly sure where this idea of mimicking a prepubescent girl became sexy or desirable came from, but I can say that in the past 5 years I have certainly seen an increase in women baring it all, and the worst part is that more and more women are choosing permanent removal, so the hair is gone… never to be seen again. It’s no wonder that women are shedding all of their “unwanted” hair with every other commercial on the radio is taunting you with the greatest deal of the year.
In studies performed related to pubic hair removal, there is an overwhelming consensus that women “feel sexy and clean” when they are bare, yet the studies also show those women are more likely to get a sexually transmitted infection (STI), are more likely to spread an STI and have a significant increase in vaginal discharge, and quite frankly no one feels “clean” with that. Pubic hair protects the skin from breakdown from exposure to normal vaginal discharge, protects the skin of the vulva from trauma and also reduces the risk of infection. That being said, grooming is perfectly acceptable. I don’t want you to get the impression that pubic hair should be untamed and sprouting out from the edge of your bikini bottom. There are plenty of ways a woman can still feel “sexy and clean” with a little pubic hair while still maintaining a healthy vulva and vagina.
If you are experiencing any increase in vaginal discharge, slight odor, or irritation you may want to consider assessing any changes you could make in your hygiene/grooming, soaps and other scented products, and even your wardrobe. Symptoms of vaginitis are all very similar but could be many different diagnoses, each with a different treatment, therefore it is always best to call for an appointment for accurate diagnosis and treatment.
9 out of 10 patients I see in the office with sudden recurrent vaginitis are typically self-offenders.
So, unless you want to continue your very close friendship with your Gynocologist, I would recommend that you reconsider some choices you may be making to worsen your risk of vaginal infections and frequent visits to the GYN office. Until then, we look forward to seeing you at your annual exam and anytime in between for problems you are experiencing.
ShareJAN