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BrightGreyEyes t1_j5ia0nc wrote

Reply to comment by Poemang94 in TIFU by washing my hooha with Dr. Bronner’s Tea Tree Castile Soap giving myself a chemical burn by aquakitty99

I know the difference. You're still not supposed to use soap, just warm water. Products like Summer's Eve are basically a "It's best not to, but if you absolutely must, at least use something vaguely vagina safe," thing. Even if you're not soaping up your actual insides, some soap will get in when you wash your vulva. You don't need it, so why spend money with a company that was founded to make people feel bad about their bodies?

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Poemang94 t1_j5iagp5 wrote

I don't really pay attention to that stuff to be honest. I never actually looked into it. I've never felt bad about my body, I just clean all of my body because I thought it was how you do it and so I picked something I believed to be safe.

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BrightGreyEyes t1_j5icjpp wrote

That's partly because of companies like Summer's Eve that made people feel like normal vaginal odor was bad. You're lucky though. If I even look at a bottle of Summer's Eve or any similar product, I get BV.

I started using it in college when I got BV for the first time because I thought maybe I wasn't cleaning my vulva well enough (I now suspect he just had bad hygiene) and kept using it after. Even though I broke up with that guy and wasn't sleeping with anyone, I still kept getting BV. Eventually, I told my doctor that I was cleaning down there really well so I didn't understand why it kept happening, and she was like "WITH SOAP?!?!" When I said I was using sensitive skin Summer's Eve (no fragrance, dyes, etc), she explained how even that wasn't great and why it was unnecessary. I'm usually pretty well informed about vaginal health, and I had mentioned how careful I was to rinse down there at the end of my shower just incase and shampoo, body wash, conditioner got near that area so I think she thought I couldn't be using soap down there. I happen to have incredibly sensitive lady bits, but it still makes other people more vulnerable to BV and yeast infections. The wipes freak me out even more because you're not even washing it off

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Poemang94 t1_j5ie0ry wrote

Yeah I've been using it since I was 17. I'm 28 now but I've never had any issues whatsoever. I thought I was doing myself good. Well, I've learned something today. I'm gonna throw out all of my Summers Eve stuff. Everything I believed I was doing right was bad. Now I feel a bit sad.

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BrightGreyEyes t1_j5ig9zu wrote

Don't feel bad. There has been a lot of marketing for a very long time aimed at making people think it's necessary, and the medical establishment isn't always great about communicating about this kind of thing because it's usually not really their job unless it's causing problems. There's also a lot of weird sexism and shame that would take too long to get into here that helps perpetuate these ideas. Blame lack of good sex ed. I took a lot of microbiology, anatomy and physiology, etc and even did some sexual health work, but it still took like 5 rounds of BV for either me or my doctor to realize what was going on.

If it's worked out well for you, then it's probably fine. It also might be weird to suddenly stop (who knows, every body is different), so I'd start by just using it less frequently to see how it goes. I just wouldn't advocate it to others unless it's a "if you absolutely must" situation. I would avoid buying the wipes again, though, if only because they're bad for the environment

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Poemang94 t1_j5igsjm wrote

Yeah that's pretty understandable. Still know knowing that it's bad for vaginal health and I still think I'm gonna stop it altogether. I don't want to cause problems for myself later. Lol the wipes I only use when I absolutely need to but the wash is a daily thing. So anything to help myself be better about it and the environment, I'd gladly throw them out.

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BrightGreyEyes t1_j5iju9g wrote

Since you already have it, I wouldn't get rid of it even if you stop using it down there. The wash and the wipes would actually probably be really good for armpits after intense workouts or hot sweaty days

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