1. Don’t douche, ever.
Douching is cleaning the vagina with either water or water mixed with any washes or products. Either way, please don’t ever do this. The vagina is self-cleaning. We have billions of good and bad bacteria living in our vagina, and these bacteria, along with various fungi and viruses, make up their own little ecosystem called the vaginal microbiome. The bacteria produce lactic acid, which creates an acidic environment (a low pH), which wards off nasty infections. Douching disrupts our microbiome and pH level, and makes us more likely to get infections including thrush, bacterial vaginosis and pelvic inflammatory disease. So let your vagina do its thing, it will be keeping itself nice and clean and healthy.
And while we’re at it, you don’t need to use ‘feminine hygiene’ products. The ‘feminine hygiene’ industry is quite literally selling us shame in a bottle! Vulvas are supposed to smell like guess what, vulvas. Not flowers, not sweets, or anything else for that matter. The vulval skin is very sensitive and can be easily irritated by these products, and because the vagina is self-cleaning and is trying to keep its delicate pH balanced, any products you put on your vulva might disrupt that.
As Dr Anita Mitra, aka the Gynae Geek says, she doesn’t care if the package says ‘pH balanced’, you do not need specific vulval washes, lotions or potions. Just wash your vulva with water, or a gentle soap is fine.
2. Check your vulva and vagina regularly!
Everyone’s vulva looks, feels and smells differently, so the only way to spot if something might be wrong is to know your normal. Use a good mirror (and a light if you need it) to have a look at your vulva regularly, at least once a month. Have a feel inside your vagina too for any lumps or anything new or abnormal. Get to know what is normal for you, that way if anything changes, you can spot it straight away and go see a doctor.
3. Track your periods.
Your periods can be a really good indicator of your health, and changes to your periods or vaginal bleeding could be a sign of something not quite right. Track your periods and any other bleeding you notice on your calendar or in a period tracker app so you can get to know your normal cycle and notice if anything happens out of the ordinary.
Our periods are all different, and what is a normal amount of blood for you won’t be the same for someone else. When tracking your period, note down: when you are bleeding, how much you are bleeding, any other associated symptoms (pain etc). You could use one red dot for ‘light flow’, two red dots for a medium flow and so on. This visual aid will help you compare/track your period month to month
Don’t disregard very heavy and/or very painful periods. What counts as a heavy period? Everyone is different but generally speaking:
- Heavy bleeding for 7 days or more
- Pain/heavy flow that disrupts your daily activities
- If you need to change your tampon/pad every 1-2 hours or
- You need to use 2 period products at the same time.
- If you have to get up during the night to change your products.
- Bleeding through your clothes.
If you’ve gone through the menopause (you haven’t had a period for a year or more), any amount of bleeding, from blood in your discharge, spotting, or a full bleed, is abnormal and needs to get checked out.
4. Attend your cervical screening appointment.
Cervical screening is a test to help prevent cervical cancer. In the UK, anyone with a cervix will be eligible for cervical screening from the ages of 25-64. It’s the only national screening programme for any of the five gynae cancers and is a great way you can take action to help reduce your risk of cancer.
The cervical screening test looks for the virus which causes nearly all cervical cancers, Human Papilloma virus or HPV. If HPV is found they will then look to see whether there are any changes to cells which need further checks. These cell changes are not cancer and can be monitored or treated to prevent them developing into cancer.
We know that cervical screening isn’t always easy for everyone, but there are some things you can do to help make the appointment easier such as booking a double appointment, wearing comfortable clothes like a long skirt, and listening to music or a podcast if you would find that relaxing. We have more tips and information on cervical screening (in Easy Read too) on eveappeal.org.uk/screening.
5. Know all of the five gynae cancers and their symptoms.
Yes, there are FIVE gynaecological cancers: womb, ovarian, cervical, vulval and vaginal, all with different signs and symptoms. Knowing the key symptoms to look out for can help you spot anything worrying and get checked at the earliest opportunity. The symptoms are most likely to be caused by something less serious than cancer, but it is always worth checking just in case. The earlier a cancer is caught, the more treatment options are available.
The key signs to look out for are: abnormal vaginal bleeding (that’s any bleeding after the menopause, even pink/red/brown in discharge, bleeding after sex, bleeding in-between periods or your periods becoming heavier or more painful than usual), visible changes to your vulva which include a lump, a tear, a change to a mole, a thickened or raised patch of skin, a patch of red, lighter or darker area of skin), also a persistent vulval itch, any lumps in the vagina, any pain in the pelvis or abdomen or during or after sex, any changes to your toilet habits including needing to wee more frequently/urgently, being constipated or diarrhoea and loss of appetite, feeling full quickly or nauseous.