The Vagina: A Self-Cleaning Oven

Over the years I’ve been asked about the proper care and cleaning of the vagina. Women often want to know how to douche and what preparations to use.

But the vagina is like a self-cleaning oven.

Cleaning with water externally during bathing is quite adequate. Use a small amount of mild unscented soap if you must. Soap dries out your mucous membranes which are already more likely to absorb toxins.

Now new research just out this week suggests a link between use of talc and ovarian cancer. Women reporting long-term frequent application of talc powder to the genital area have a two-to-threefold increased risk of ovarian cancer.

So please refrain from special preparations, perfumes, and potions. Your vagina knows how to take care of itself.

Please forward this to anyone you know who has a vagina or loves someone with one. Thank you!


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22 comments on “The Vagina: A Self-Cleaning Oven
  1. jill says:

    You are sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo amazing!!!

  2. Ayala and Richard says:

    Along this line: Ayala knows of exercises on beyond Kegels to support a woman’s internal organs. Often and esp. after having had babies, the organs get hit by gravity and end up so very out of place. Seems like mainstream medicine is heavily into removing them all, which can cause the intestines to twist up… everything in there is related to everything else (duh)!

    • Pamela Wible MD says:

      Yep! Do share! “The thigh bone is connected to the knee bone . . .” Maybe we could make a song!

  3. Cheryl Jones says:

    Wonderful advice. It’s the truth. Thank you for sharing. It’s usually not a topic at lunch with the girls… Maybe it should be. You are the best!

  4. Andrea says:

    makes sense…isn’t talc a petroleum product, which is toxic to the body? I wouldn’t use it on a baby, either.

  5. Elizabeth Sadhu says:

    I am laughing so much……self cleaning ovennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn………………oh my gosh…………………….I am still laughing, I have been laughing out loud, here working by myself for at least a minute straight. I am getting a stomach ache from laughing……..I cannot wait to meet you Dr.P!!

    love and light and laughter, Elizabeth

    • Pamela Wible MD says:

      There is an actual abbreviation for your condition:
      LSHMSH – laughing so hard my side hurts
      or LSHMBB – laughing so hard my belly’s bouncing.

  6. Jeannette says:

    Oh no! I`ve used talc for years…I had heard the phrase about the vagina being “self cleaning` but had no idea about this talc issue. That is pretty scary!

  7. ann says:

    i’ve heard this self-cleaning business before, and completely bought it. but a few months ago, i had a hysterectomy and am having some strange symptoms which have caused me to wonder how this ‘self-cleaning system’ works without a uterus present.

    my surgery involved removal of my uterus, but not removal of my cervix. since my surgery, i have felt itching, and had an accumulation of a sticky, oily,white accretion that has not gone away, around my inner labia. i still have (very short) periods since the surgery, and these do nothing to cause the other situation to abate. i’m wondering: did someone give me an std, or does this self-cleaning system not work the same way once the uterus is gone?

    if the latter is the case, is there a product i should be using every so often to return things to a normal state?

  8. Hugh Hansen, Ph.D. says:

    Is there a book that explains exactly how the VASCO works?

  9. Brittany Howard says:

    I have been with my husband for nine plus years. In the time we’ve been together even before I have had white vaginal discharge. When he sees it in my panties or when we are being intament he swears I’m having an affair. I have told so many times that women have a self cleaning oven and the discharge is normal. Even had ob doctor try to explain it to home once but he doesn’t remember the conversation. Can you please explain about the discharge in a way that he will understand. Our married is danger.

    • Pamela Wible MD says:

      Women have varying types and quantities of vaginal discharge. It is normal to have a white or creamy discharge. This is natural. Many women wonder why they have a more profuse discharge. The discharge can change over one’s life (pre and post-partum, pre and post-menopause).

  10. Mary Spencer says:

    Some great advice here on a very touchy subject. Thanks

  11. Serene says:

    I tell my male patients this too. The inner foreskin and glans, while not entirely self-cleaning, should be limited to water and mild unscented cleansing agents only. So many cases of balanitis/vaginitis and so many UTI’s we see are from being overzealous with the soap. I dont use soap at all anymore, its so drying!

  12. Kim says:

    I still don’t understand how the vagina is self-cleansing. Can u explain a little more for me please?

  13. Dr. Zoo says:

    I was mistaken
    The Vagina is NOT a self cleaning oven.
    Tell it to Michael Douglas and his throat cancer.
    Poor Catherine.

  14. Dr. Zoo says:

    Oh Please
    Wash that thing !

  15. Dr. Zoo says:

    What’s the Big Deal !

  16. Dr. Zoo says:

    The Vagina is NOT a self cleaning oven any more than your nose or your ears or your butt hole is a self cleaning oven.
    You need to clean that thing really well.

    As it turns out Dr. Oz is like a biological and physiological terrorist.
    A disgrace to America

  17. Steve says:

    Talcum powder is a mineral. A powdered rock. It is not a petroleum product. It is not toxic. The link to cancer is still unclear.

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