Probiotics are synonymous to digestive health. But are they just for your gut health? The answer is no! Probiotics can also target the bacteria in your – yep you guessed it – vagina. The only difference is that you cannot pop the same probiotics you for your gut as the healthy bacteria down there is not the same as the bacteria in your colon. If you are wondering whether your vagina needs probiotics, here are all your questions answered.

Why Do You Need Probiotics for Vaginal Health

Lactobacillus which is a type of good bacteria lives in your vagina and keeps the pH range normal. The composition of the vaginal flora is very important when it comes to maintaining the pH of the vagina. When the pH changes, the wrong kind of bacteria proliferate, and this usually leads to infection and troublesome symptoms like irritation and odour. By using the right probiotics, you can help your vagina populate with healthy bacteria. Yes, you can treat these conditions with creams and antibiotics in the first instances but these conditions have a propensity to reoccur and this is where the vaginal probiotics come in. Putting garlic into vagina to ‘cure’ yeast infection is a bad idea says this doctor, here’s what you should know.

What Probiotics Should You Look For?

A few probiotics are designed to balance the yeast in the vagina and keep infections like bacterial vaginosis, urinary tract infections and yeast infections at bay.  Vaginal probiotics are usually characterised by strains that naturally occur in the vagina. You need specific strains of lactobacillus L rhamnosus GR-1 and L reuteri RC-14, (to get technical) to populate your vagina. Vagina highlighter, vajacial + 4 bizzare vagina trends from social media that need to stop right now!

Do Oral Probiotics Have Any Side Effect?

The good news is that the risk of taking oral probiotics is minuscule, so even if they are not actively preventing or treating vaginal infections, they are probably not hurting you. And while they may be useful for some people, there are no definitive research-based statements that say that yet. You should, however, exercise caution and first consult your general physician if you have pre-existing medical conditions. There have been cases of women underlying health problems developing an infection with probiotics.

Pro Tip

One thing you can do is to stay away from products that may irritate your vagina or vulva, like certain laundry detergents, body soap, and scented panty liners. The most sensitive tissue in the body is the vulvar vaginal tissue, so the less irritating stuff you dump in that area, the better.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 16, 2019 02:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).