Feminine Hygiene Tips Every Woman Should Know

Ever wondered why vaginal health is often misunderstood? Join me in the Tea Tasting Room as we break the stigma around feminine hygiene and dive deep into what it truly means to care for your vaginal health. In this episode, we debunk common myths, including misconceptions about fragranced products, and highlight the vagina’s natural, self-cleaning process.

You’ll learn why it’s crucial to change your period products regularly, how peeing after sex helps prevent UTIs and the important role diet and hydration play in maintaining optimal vaginal health. We also discuss the benefits of probiotics, reducing sugar intake to prevent yeast infections, and why douching does more harm than good. Plus, get the scoop on how your clothing choices can impact your hygiene.

This episode will encourage you to embrace open dialogue about your body and empower you with practical feminine hygiene tips. Supported by Scrub Life Cares’ mission to provide comprehensive reproductive and sexual health education, we aim to make self-care a priority for your overall well-being. Tune in for insights and essential self-care tips that every woman should know!

Support Scrub Life Cares here. Feel free to contact us if you or someone you know is struggling to afford menstrual products. You can also follow us on Instagram and Facebook.

Chapters

• 0:00 Breaking Stigma
• 9:21 Vagina Health and Hygiene Tips
• 16:37 Empowering Conversations on Feminine Hygiene

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to Tea with Tanya. I'm your host, tanya Ambrose, an average millennial navigating life as a maternal health professional, non-profit founder and grad student. Join me in the tea tasting room where we spill the tea on finding balance and promoting positive living while doing it all. Hey friend, welcome back to another episode of Tea with Tanya. I'm your host, tanya, and, as always, I am so happy to have you here with me in the Tea Tasting Room. If this is your first time listening, welcome to the Tea Tasting Room. I hope you stick around to see what tea we serve here in the Tea Tasting Room.

Speaker 1: 0:40

Speaking of tea, this week's Tea of the Week is a Honeybush Hot Cider Tea. You know it's fall, so I'm trying to get into the fall flavors and the fall taste, but this tea combines Honeybush with apple, cinnamon, orange peel and licorice root for a sweet and lightly spiced blend of a tea. It is delicious. Okay, I hope you're ready for some real talk today, my friend, because we're diving into a topic that, for me, it doesn't get enough love, and that is feminine hygiene. So, yes, we are going there today. So grab your tea, get comfy. If you're relaxing at home or you're on your morning walk or commute, whatever it is. Let's chat, because we deserve to talk about this openly and without shame. Right? I think we do. We do, you know. It's crazy to me, my friend, that in the year 2024, we're still kind of like whispering about things like periods, vaginal health, vaginas, like it's some big secret, like when did we learn to be so hush hush about our bodies? It's so frustrating. But honestly, on one hand, I get it because I grew up in a culture where these things weren't talked about openly. We weren't allowed to have these conversations to some extent, you know.

Speaker 1: 1:51

But here's the thing Feminine hygiene isn't something to be embarrassed about. It is really part of our health. We cannot talk about our self-care or health and well-being without even talking about our feminine hygiene. It has to start somewhere. So today we're breaking the stigma and getting real and we're going to be talking about feminine hygiene tips every woman should know but isn't always told. Or maybe you forgot about it, or because you live a fast-paced life that sometimes you don't slow down to really acknowledge and give your body the attention that it needs. Okay, so let's start with this idea that feminine hygiene is more than just cleanliness. Right, we are taught that it's all about washing and staying fresh, but that's such a small part of the picture.

Speaker 1: 2:32

Feminine hygiene is about taking care of your vaginal health. You know your overall well-being and, honestly, showing ourselves a little love. So let me tell you, your body is amazing, my friend. One thing about the female body it is so complex, honestly, but it's so beautiful and it's doing its thing without you even realizing it. The part of that thing that our body does is that your vagina keeping itself clean. So you heard that right, it is self-cleaning Like. Your vagina is literally a self-cleaning powerhouse. It's doing the work for you. Isn't that wild? Isn't that crazy? I think about it. What if my apartment could just be self-cleaning by itself? I won't have to worry about falling clothes, doing laundry. That's how powerful your body is. The vagina is a self-cleaning powerhouse that it takes away the stress of thinking about having to do so much to keep it functioning.

Speaker 1: 3:20

No, but when you think about what do we see in the stores? We tend to see shelves full of products telling us we need to smell like flowers or vanilla or lavender down there. And, like my friend, no, sis, that's a no-no. Our bodies aren't supposed to smell like lavender and rainbows or vanilla, like? No, that is honestly marketing period, no pun intended, it's just a whole marketing gimmick. If you're healthy, you're good. Anything that smells super sweet or is loaded with like fragrance that really can mess up your natural, your body's natural pH balance, which we don't want, you don't need that stuff. A simple soap and water goes a very long way, my friend. We have to unlearn the idea that feminine hygiene is just about masking our natural bodies. No, it's about health, self-care and knowing our bodies well enough to give them what they actually need.

Speaker 1: 4:09

All right, let's get into periods. Yes, I said it periods, periods, periods, periods, periods. This is up my alley because you know, again, this is something that everyone tries to whisper about, like why, why are we whispering about periods? I don't know why people still act like it's something we need to hide when half of the world experiences it. That we've got to stop being embarrassed about something that's so natural. I get it again. You know different cultural practices, but again, we have to stop being embarrassed about something that is natural, like, first off, you know there are so many period products out there. You have the pads, tampons. You know there's menstrual cups, there's period panties, you name it. But here's the thing what works for me might not work for you, my friend, and that's totally fine. It's really all about figuring out what makes you comfortable.

Speaker 1: 4:59

But what we don't talk about enough is how often we should be changing these products that we're using, whether it's a tampon, a pad or a cup. You've got to change them regularly, my friend, like every, on average, let's say every four to six hours at least. At least you know, because you don't want to leave anything in for too long, because when you do that that can lead to infections and I mean we don't have time for that. We're out here living our best life we have do. We have goals to accomplish. We definitely don't want to have unnecessary infections coming about because we chose to leave or use our menstrual products for longer than we need to. So definitely you want to do every four to six hours. Sometimes I will say you know you want to change every two to three hours. But again, what works for me is not going to work for you. And then sometimes you know it becomes technical when, if you're someone that you're going through multiple pads every hour, then that's another underlying health issue that we have to tackle and I'll have someone talk about that on another episode coming up, but we definitely want to ensure that we're changing the tampons, pads or cup, or even, you know, every four to six hours. Of course, you do it as much as you need to as well.

Speaker 1: 6:05

You know, like I said, I mentioned the different types of period products and you know, speaking of menstrual cups, my friend, if you haven't tried them, they are a game changer. I will say I am a pad girly. I have tried a menstrual cup, but I'm just a pad girly through and through. I don't know. You know I've done away with the tampons, I have tried the cup, but my brain, just I don't know my body. I prefer to just use the pad, and that could just be maybe based on my cycle as well, but I prefer. I'm a pad girlie.

Speaker 1: 6:30

But speaking of menstrual cups, they are a game changer and the one thing that I love about them because I'm all about protecting the environment, especially when it comes to women's health as well Menstrual cups they are sustainable, they're cost're, cost effective and once you get the hang of it, it is so convenient. You know it's going to make sure you're cleaning it properly, so you don't want to have a boiling hot water. So every cycle you should be sterilizing your menstrual cup until it's time for the the other cycle to start. Again and again, we're talking about protecting not just ourselves but the place that we live, the place that we call, call home, the earth where we are, and period products tend to add up over a period of time. So if you decide to switch, when you switch to something reusable, it really does make a huge difference for our environment.

Speaker 1: 7:14

But again, there's no right way to handle your period.

Speaker 1: 7:16

You do what works for you, but I would not be me if I didn't mention period poverty. If you don't know, I am the founder of a non-profit organization called Scrub Life Cares and part of our mission is to promote reproductive health education, comprehensive sexual education and, of course, providing menstrual products to those in need. But period poverty is a real thing and it's something that I'm really passionate about. And for those of you listening if you don't know what period poverty is, it is a term used to describe a lack of access to proper menstrual products and the education needed to use them effectively. There are approximately 500 million women and girls around the world that cannot manage their periods safely due to the lack of menstrual products and also for the fear you know, fear of shame, because, again, these are not things that we're talking about but people are experiencing.

Speaker 1: 8:07

We cannot talk about period poverty if we don't talk about poverty and I'm trying not to go down a whole tangent, because I can talk about this non-stop but it's not lost on me that people are struggling to afford. You know, people can't afford to buy menstrual products, so they're having to resort to socks or paper. You know newspaper, to which you know it's not necessarily safe and it also makes me emotional, but, yes, definitely that is a thing. So, even though I mentioned these period products, there are many people around the world that are struggling to have safe periods because one they don't have access to water or they can't afford the period products that's available to them because of all the different taxes and just the cost of them altogether. So you definitely need to pay close attention to that as well. So I consider myself privileged because I have no issue with accessing menstrual products, but somebody that lives next to me or whatever the case may be have to choose between menstrual items or food or utility as well. So, if you are someone listening, if you're struggling to afford or access menstrual products, or if you know someone, feel free to reach out to my organization, scrub Life Cures, and I'll put it in the show notes as well, because we'll be happy to help you. Again, we're trying to remove the shame. We're here to be our sister's keepers, our menstruator's keepers as well. So definitely reach out to me at Scrub Life Cures and I'll put everything in the show notes.

Speaker 1: 9:21

Now let's get into the nitty never gets enough love. I'm going to say it loud for the people in the back Stop douching, please. May I beg you, just stop Stop douching. Okay, I know some of us honestly grew up thinking that douching is what kept us clean, but honestly, it's actually doing the opposite, my friend. Douching messes up your natural pH balance. It messes up your natural vaginal flora, the good bacteria that keeps everything balanced. It messes that up. Your body already knows how to clean itself. Remember I said earlier that your vagina is the powerhouse self-cleaning. It's a self-cleaning powerhouse is what your vagina is. So your body already knows how to clean itself. So you don't need to go in there with all that extra stuff. It's just not needed. A little soap and water goes a very long way when it comes to your vaginal health, when it comes to keeping it clean.

Speaker 1: 10:21

And another thing I want to talk about and let's be real, my friend, a lot of us are using products we don't need at all. All those scented washes, body wash, vaginal wash, all the wipes they're doing more harm than good, my friend. I hate to break it to you, but they're doing more harm than good. I know, in the past we've been taught you know what? Yeah, you got to have these scented wipes and all these different body wash I'm not going to call it a particular brand but they're doing more harm than good. A little water and a mild, maybe unscented, soap is all you need on the outside when you're cleaning your vagina. That's it, my friend. That is it. You're good to go, okay, and then remember what I want us to remember again being in tune with your body.

Speaker 1: 11:04

If something feels off down there, whether it's itching, some sort of discomfort or an unusual discharge please, please, please, my friend, don't ignore it. That is your body's way of giving you a signal to tell you that something is off and with that, it's totally fine to check in with your healthcare provider. Me one thing I'm gonna do first if something is not feeling right. I'm gonna get a mirror and I'll put it underneath so I can see what's going on for myself, so that when I'm talking to my healthcare provider, before they do any sort of examination, they know what they're working with. Again, it's very important to be in tune with your body and apply the less is more mindset when it comes to taking care of your vagina. It's less is more. Listen to your body. Again, if there's any discomfort, itching, unusual discharge with a smell, whatever it is, please don't ignore it. Go run to your doctor right away to see what's going on with your body.

Speaker 1: 12:00

Let's talk about sex, baby. Let's talk about I'm so funny, but I want to talk about the sex and feminine hygiene. Let's talk about this. We should all be comfortable talking about this Feminine hygiene and sex. It's part of the conversation. But whenever it comes to comprehensive sexual education or just education across our board, it's often left out. For what reason, I don't know. Again, that's something that's very mind. It's just mind blowing to me, but one of the easiest things you can do to your vaginal health is to pee after sex. Yes, I know some of you should know. If you don't know, you don't remember, peeing after sex helps to prevent UTIs. It helps to flush out any bacteria that might have made its way into your urethra. We don't want that, so definitely I'm encouraging you to pee after sex.

Speaker 1: 12:45

Another thing I want to mention and I don't want you to stress. I don't stress about rushing or hurrying to wash off right after sex. Of course, a light littleinks is fine If that's what makes you comfortable. You know in your mind. You know I gotta pee, I gotta take a shower, do what makes you comfortable. But your body doesn't need a whole on full on. Scrub down right after. Again, your vagina is doing its job. It's there to protect you. It's going to do what it needs to do.

Speaker 1: 13:10

Okay, a myth that I want to talk about that we just need to put to rest. We need to just put six feet under. Is that sex, my friend, doesn't stretch out your vagina. I'm putting air quotes here. It doesn't stretch out your vagina or change your vagina permanently, like I'm tired of hearing, oh, if you have sex too many times or whatever, it's going to stretch your vagina out. If you had a baby. I'm just tired. So I want us to put this myth to rest. Let's just kill it. Okay, just like how we are resilient individuals here in the tea tasting room, like, no matter what life throws at us, we're going to be resilient. It's the same thing with your body. Your body is resilient, it is built to handle all these things. So let's just stop with that narrative of you know, sex is going to change your vagina permanently. Let's just put it to rest. That's just not what we're about.

Speaker 1: 13:53

And again, it's very important for me and the work that we do at my nonprofit Scrub Life Care to have this open conversation because, again, there's so much misinformation out there and, living in a social media world, we just believe everything that we say and everything. Some things aren't even evidence-based. So let's just put that myth to rest, please. I'm begging you for the sake of myself and you. Let's just put it to rest. Let's switch gears for a little bit and talk about something that we might not think of often. Even I myself, sometimes in previous times, didn't always think about that, but once I learned this, you best leave. You can't stop me now.

Speaker 1: 14:30

But I want to talk about clothing and hygiene. If I was thinking, girl, what? Yes, your clothing and your hygiene, because did you know that what you wear can affect your vagina health. Like it's very important to like wearing breathable fabrics like cotton underwear that helps to keep things fresh and dry in that area down there. Okay, and I know many of you, you know you're super feminine and I know those are the cut lace, like a little cute lace undies. They're tempting because you want to do something, you want to feel good about yourself. Maybe you can just save them for a special occasion because, again, non-breathable fabrics can trap moisture, which leads to yeast infections, and we don't want that. We do not want that at all. So be mindful of the clothing that you're wearing. As a whoever you are woman, whatever, you want to ensure that you are wearing clothing that's breathable to prevent any sort of yeast infection or bacteria from appearing.

Speaker 1: 15:28

Another thing you know after you, if you're someone like you're, a gym girlie, whatever it is, after you work out, or even if you sweat a lot, please don't hang out indoors closer to a lot. Like if you're someone like you're, you're gym girly, whatever it is, after you work out, or even if you sweat a lot, please don't hang out in those clothes for too long, like if you're like me, I like to talk. So after my workout I'm gonna talk to my friend, I'm gonna be there talking, end up for like an hour or two, but you know, don't stay in those clothing for too long because bacteria and sweat can build up. So showering and changing into fresh clothes is key, because one thing I I'm going to do, I'm going to take a nice hot shower, honey, after working out, after the workday, whatever it is. I've had someone tell me one time when I was doing a seminar that you know I go to. I bathe one time a day because you know what? I'm in the office all day with AC. I'm not sweating. So what's the point of me? Don't sweat, even though you may not be doing something physical that's going to allow you to sweat from your head or your armpits or whatever. You know, sweat and bacteria, they can build up down there. So I'm encouraging you, my friend, as part of our feminine hygiene is to ensure that you are showing and changing into fresh clothes regularly. That is going to be key for your overall feminine health as well. Okay Now, I learned this a while back and this might come as a surprise to you, my friend.

Speaker 1: 16:37

It may not, I don't know, but what you eat plays a major role in your vaginal health. Okay, staying hydrated, for example, is a huge, is a huge way for you to keep everything balanced in down there. So I'm gonna say, down there, you know, when you eat foods that are probiotic rich, like your yogurt or your fermented foods, those support the healthy bacteria in your body. So it's important to be mindful of what you eat because, again, it's all connected. It is it's all connected, you know. On the flip side, too much sugar can lead to yeast infection. We don't want that. We want to stay void of any sort of yeast infection, because when you have too much sugar, that feeds the bad bacteria. So definitely want to be mindful of how much sugar we're intaking. And if you're someone that's prone to yeast infection, you definitely want to be more mindful of what you're eating and how much sugar your body isn't taking as well, because it's all connected Everything that we do. Like I said, the female body is complex, but so beautiful. Everything is connected. So you have to be more mindful when it comes to your diet and your vaginal health. Be mindful of what you're eating, day in, day out. It's very important.

Speaker 1: 17:48

All right, my friends, so I'm coming to the end of this episode because I don't want to keep you here too long, but I think we've covered the basics today. We've covered what we needed to cover as it relates to the basic feminine hygiene practices or what to look out for. But before I wrap up, I just want to say this and I want you to remember this the shame and stigma surrounding your bodies. It needs to stop. Like my friend any for just done, end that, finish it Period.

Speaker 1: 18:16

The shame and stigma surrounding our bodies needs to stop. We really it's on us. We have to break the stigma around feminine hygiene. Like we already live in a world where we're having to fight so hard for even rights, for reproductive rights, like it's rights. It's so toxic living in this environment, this world that we're living in. People want to control what we do with our bodies. So it's on us to remove that shame and stigma as it relates to our bodies, because it's nothing to be embarrassed about.

Speaker 1: 18:43

We have to break the stigma around feminine hygiene. Our bodies are not something to be embarrassed about. We should be talking about these things openly with each other, with your partner, with your doctor, with your friends, whoever. If you want to come in the tea tasting room and talk to me about it. I'm done for that, it's what I do in my everyday job. But we have to keep these conversations going because if you're not having them, then people are not going to learn, people are not going to understand why it's so important for us to have the rights that we are fighting for.

Speaker 1: 19:11

You know, there's so much shame wrapped around menstruation, vagina health and even sex, especially in certain cultures, and I understand that every culture is different. But the more we have these conversations, my friend, the more we normalize them. Like I truly believe that knowledge is power. We grew up hearing that knowledge is power. Well, we equate that to just educational academics. But no, it comes down to our body. You know it's time to stop letting the world tell us something natural should be hidden Like no, it's time we need to stop listening to that.

Speaker 1: 19:40

Family and hygiene isn't a taboo. It isn't a taboo topic. It's literally our health, it's self-care and we all deserve to feel comfortable and confident in our bodies. Okay, so if you don't remember anything that I say, remember this Feminine hygiene isn't a taboo. It's health, it's self-care and we all deserve to feel comfortable and confident within our bodies. You know, for me, as the founder of Scalp Life Cares, part of our mission is to provide and promote comprehensive reproductive and sexual health education, and it really brings me joy to have these conversations here with you in the tea tasting room, because they're so necessary, they're so needed. It's really important for us to continue to have these open conversations.

Speaker 1: 20:22

If you are someone, or you know someone, who struggles with having access or being able to afford menstrual products, feel free to reach out to me and my organization will help. If you're looking for someone to give a talk or a speech about feminine hygiene, menstrual health, whatever it is as it relates to comprehensive reproductive and sexual health education, please feel free to reach out to me. I'm your girl. You can reach out to me via DMs or email and I'll put all the details in which you can contact me for any sort of speaking engagements. So if you need products, I'll put it on in the show notes so we can ensure that people are having safe periods Also, they're getting that education that they need. So I'll put all my details in the show notes where you can find us Scrub Life Cares If you want to reach out, if you want to support or donate to keep our menstrual pantry going. I will leave that information in the show notes for sure.

Speaker 1: 21:13

Okay, I feel like we talked about a lot today as it relates to feminine hygiene, especially with the basics. So I hope you're walking away from this episode feeling empowered to take control of your health in a new way. Maybe you were doing these things and you forgot, because, again, life be life and things happen, but I hope you're able to walk away feeling empowered and ready to take care of your health and control, to become the CEO of your health in a new way. Remember this feminine hygiene isn't just about staying clean. It's about honoring your body. I'm gonna say it again Feminine hygiene isn't just about staying clean. It's about honoring your body. I'm going to say it again Feminine hygiene isn't just about staying clean. It's about honoring your body and making sure you are treating it, treating it with the self-care and respect that it deserves. Okay, so we cannot talk about self-care if we're not taking care of our body.

Speaker 1: 22:01

All right, as always, my friend, thank you for spending this time with me in the tea tasting room. If you have questions or comments, anything you want to share, feel free to hit me up via email or Instagram, let me know what's going on. Because, again, let's keep these conversations going, because the more we talk, the more we learn, and the more we learn, the healthier we all are. Until next time, my friend, stay hydrated, empowered, curious and remember your body is beautiful just the way it is. I'll see you next time here in the Tea Tasting Room. I love you for listening. Thank you for joining me for another episode of Tea with Tanya. If you like this episode, be sure to share it with a friend. Don't forget to follow on Instagram at Tea with Tanya Podcast. Be sure to subscribe to the weekly Tea Talk newsletter and, of course, rate on Apple or Spotify and subscribe wherever you listen. See you next time. I love you for listening.