As someone who worked in retail for a while, it's very common to find women buying yeast infection medication and douche kits in the same transaction. It took all the will-power I had to not cry out "What are you doing??? Do you not see the cause and effect right there on the counter???"

As many have said already, the vagina is a self-cleaning orifice. (Would you douche your urethra? Hell no!) There are "good" bacteria in the mucosal membrane that maintains the pH balance and healthy environment. By douching, you risk killing off good bacteria that would otherwise protect you from infection and at the same time it forces foreign bacteria up further into the vaginal canal, possibly even into the uterus, causing infections or worse! And since most women douche for smell reasons, it's interesting to note that infections cause more terrible odor than what you started with!!!

Also worth knowing is that you should never, ever, ever use soap inside your vagina. You can wash the labia and external vulva that way but don't insert it. It's no better than douching. Just don't. Also, don't force water up into it either. Yeah, same thing. Just washing the outside well, let it dry, change your underwear, don't wear pads or tampons too long, and see a doctor when necessary. Seriously.

This has been a PSA by Darling Jen. less

No! No! No! I would absolutely not ever douche. It's bad for you and honestly I don't understand why so many people are convinced that cooters are such a dirty thing? They are not dirty at all. A healthy cooter is clean and does not require anything besides decent hygeine habits to keep it up. Douche can cause extra bacteria, infections, etc. Ugh! They're supposed to "clean" but they really do the opposite. Soap and water should always do the trick and if soap and water can't keep it clean then a dr. should be seen or you should take some extra time to educate yourself on your own body and what it needs. Simply keeping yourself at a somewhat decent health is enough to keep your crotch clean with no need of ever douching. I hate that so many women feel that they have to do it. A lot of women still believe that the cooter is too nasty of a thing to even touch (even their own) or explore! I'm glad to see the poll results! Most women I know are major douchers! They think I'M nasty because I don't douche. God made our cooters smart enough to clean themselves pretty well. Everybody's contains acid which helps fend off bad bacteria, but keep the good bacteria. That acid also helps in keeping away bacteria, infections all on it's own! less