You shower regularly, you eat a healthy diet and you change your underwear daily – and even wear a panty liner, but for some reason, you still have a funny stench downstairs. This can make you feel uncomfortable when your partner wants to perform oral on you, or even when people come close to you, not to mention at the gynecologist. If you’re struggling with vaginal odor and have tried everything under the sun to rid yourself of the problem, here’s what you should know about the various causes of it so you can stop feeling self-conscious.
Allergy to condoms
According to We Belong Project, some women are allergic to certain materials in condoms, which can throw off vaginal bacteria and cause odor. Switch to a few different types of condom over the course of a few weeks and see if the stench improves. This will take a little trial and error
Douching
According to the Office on Women’s Health, douching can mess with the pH levels of the vagina and even cause a large amount of bacteria to grow. There is good and bad bacteria that can be down there, but the bad bacteria can cause a strong smell
Excessive washing
Even if you’re just washing your vagina with warm water, according to Innovateus, excessive washing can still mess with the vagina’s flora, causing an odor.
Physical activity
If you’re an avid exerciser, what you could be smelling is just sweat accumulating down there. According to the Office on Women’s Health, lots of physical activity can give your vagina a “muskier” smell.
Tight clothing
Even if you’re not very active, wearing very tight pants or underwear can cause your vagina to sweat. This, again, can cause vaginal odor.
Leftover tampon
Innovateus also lists the “presence of leftover tampon inside vagina” as a cause for vaginal odor. We would hope you wouldn’t forget a whole tampon inside of you, but also make sure there were no fly away fibers left in there.