To begin, we’ve to highlight that just like any other cavity of the body such as the mouth; the vagina contains normal microfloral that helps to maintain balance in the “lady’s garden”. Also, the vagina produces juice (body secretion with a characteristic smell) that helps to lubricate the vaginal wall and maintains the pH (acidity) level down there. Both mechanisms combined to protect the vagina from infection and also gives the “lady’s flower” its unique smell.
DOES YOUR VAGINA SMELL NORMAL?
It’s a fact that the vaginal do smell and the smell from the vagina can denote the condition in the deep blue sea of a lady. How to tell if your vagina scent is healthy or unwell depends on your familiarity with the smell of your lady flower. As a rule, medically, you’ll know that something is wrong when you experience a sudden change/increase in the odour of your deep blue sea as oppose to what it used to be.
In fact, healthy vaginas emit a unique scent that changes throughout the month according to your flow cycle. These changes are subtle and follow the rhythm of your menstrual cycle phases. A gross foul odour from the vaginal city could mean trouble! Therefore, it’s advisable for women to take time for self-examination and sniff their own “garden”. Yeah! For proper tracking of their vagina well being.
SHOULD I WORRY ABOUT MY VAGINAL SMELL?
Few of those odours that you should worry about are the fish smell, bleach smell, musty scent, musky scent and a rotten egg smell.
FISH SMELL!
A “fish smell” down there may not be a serious issue, but an intense fishy smell could mean a bacterial infection of your “lady garden”. There are two common vaginal infections among young women: bacterial vaginosis and trichomoniasis. Bacterial vaginosis is an infection linked to an imbalance of bacteria in the vagina. It’s not an STI, though sex with a new partner can trigger it.
Trichomoniasis is the most common curable STI. Both infections give off a fishy scent (and often, a white or grey discharge) as a symptom, and both can be cured up easily by antibiotics. If you’re not sure in your case; don’t be shy, go to a doctor for treatment.
Both can also present symptoms very similar to yeast infections, so in situations like this, checking out the unique smell is the key to proper diagnoses (and not just treating them with some yeast infection medication that may temporarily mask the symptoms, but won’t clear the underlying infection up).
MUSTY SCENT!
Often, yeast infections don’t have any scent at all, and so may present as other symptoms (thick white discharge and itchiness). However, a yeast infection may emit a faint bread-like odour, one that can smell slightly musty. The smell will never be your only symptom of a yeast infection, but it can help you to differentiate yeast from bacterial diseases with similar symptoms.
FOUL SMELL OF ROTTEN EGG!
A rotten egg smell from your vagina is a sign of an infection of multiple origins, and you surely need to see a doctor (Ob/Gyn) for treatment. It’s surely not a healthy smell and could be a sign of a tampon gone astray in your vagina during your last period, which happens way more often than you’d think. Your doctor (Ob/Gyn) has the skills to diagnose you, and extract a long-forgotten tampon before, so don’t be shy about setting up an appointment!
BLEACH/ALKALINE SCENT!
An intense alkaline scent coming off your “deep blue sea” is most common right after your period or had some intimate contact with semen. Both can change the pH of the usually-acidic vagina into basic pH (and thus, differently scented). In both cases, the bleach-like scent should be temporary. If it persists long after your period is gone or despite the fact that you didn’t have sex anytime recently; especially if it there is itching or discharge then you need to see your gynaecologist.
MUSKY SCENT!
A musky scent that smells just like a heavier version of your “lady garden” usual scent typically means that you’ve been sweating a lot, or wearing too-tight pants or synthetic fibre underpants (both of which can prevent skin from “breathing,” and thus lead to a stronger-than-usual scent).
Washing your vaginal city (vulva) with some water and changing out of skinny jeans every once in a while should fix things up if you find this scent extremely strong for your taste.
But know that this doesn’t signify that anything is medically wrong. Sweaty smell is high among the African ladies because of the high temperature in the region and the use of tight underpants or jeans. The odour can be nasty! You might need to allow fresh air to graze your lady garden!
REMEDIES FOR VAGINAL SMELL
First of all, don’t ever use soap, lemon and vinegar to wash your vagina! I repeat, don’t ever use soap, lemon and vinegar to rinse your vagina!! These substances are acidic and will affect the pH of the vagina; thus, the risk of yeast or bacterial infection will increase. Also, fruits like avocado, asparagus and other related fruits recipes help to give the vagina a fruity scent. One of the most widely proven foods that you can eat to help eliminate foul odour is probiotic yoghurt as it contains probiotics that can help to fight candida infection, a common cause of vaginal odour. Further, foods containing high levels of Vitamin E and zinc such as nuts and seeds prevents vaginal dryness which can cause bacterial growth and odour.
