For as long as people have had vaginas, they've been entertaining ideas and products that will "improve" their lady parts. But most of those products or ideas do more harm than help to our vaginas, and yet the suggestions won't stop coming. TikTok is just the latest place where people are finding dangerous information about ways to "cure" your vagina. In a release shared with Mom.com, Mickey Karram, MD, a Beverly Hills, California, board-certified doctor in obstetrics and gynecology and urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic aurgery at Visthetic Surgery Institute & MedSpa, addressed some of the most popular, and dangerous, trends.
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Just say no to "vabbing"
You may have heard about "vabbing" earlier this year. The name is pretty self-explanatory: You dab vaginal secretions onto your pulse points, including your wrists or neck, like you would perfume. It's said that your body's pheromones will help you attract potential partners.
But what they don't tell you is that you can introduce unsafe bacteria into your vagina if you're not properly and thoroughly washing your hands, and you can transfer things like yeast or even STIs from your vagina.
You shouldn't taste different down there
Lots of women on TikTok are talking about vaginal moisturizing melts, which are suppositories that apparently make your vagina smell and taste like peaches or cookies. Femally is the most popular company selling these products and you can find dozens of videos about their product.
Despite claims that their products are made with "all-natural" ingredients, it's still potentially hazardous to stick one of these in your hoo-ha. They can alter the pH of your vagina, which can lead to infections or other issues.
Ice cubes are for your drink, not your va-jay-jay
This is another issue of introducing a foreign object into your vagina that will ultimately affect its pH. Some people on TikTok claimed that sticking ice cubes in their vaginas could help make your vagina "tighter" or help with depression. If you're depressed, turn those ice cubes into a frozen margarita — don't put them inside your body.
You need to consult with a doctor before using boric acid
Some were claiming that the use of boric acid suppositories in the vagina could cure things like yeast infections and bacterial vaginosis. It's true that boric acid could help, but only under the care of a medical professional. So much could go wrong if you were to introduce such an intense and potentially harmful product into your body without proper medical supervision.
Yoni eggs or pearls are a bunch of woo nonsense
Several years ago, Goop creator and woo practitioner Gwyneth Paltrow brought yoni eggs to the public consciousness. The claims are that they can remove vaginal odor, cleanse the vagina of toxins, or even treat bacterial infections.
"Depending on where you purchase this, a lot of these eggs are crafted out of porous materials, which means bacteria can be absorbed into them. Which can, again, throw off the PH balance within your vagina," Dr. Sarah Welsh, a gynecological and vulva health expert, told Cosmopolitan UK.
It's not worth the potential risk.
