Bacteria live everywhere in and on our bodies: on the skin, in the intestinal system and in our mucous membranes - also in the vagina. Lactic acid bacteria in particular live here, which got their name because they convert carbohydrates into lactic acid. In the vagina, the lactic acid bacteria contribute to maintaining a healthy balance and making the mucosa resistant to unwanted microorganisms. Most of your vaginal lactic acid bacteria are good (probiotic) and are part of the body's natural defences, e.g. against fungal attacks, viruses and against other bacteria (pathogens) that can cause disease. A preponderance of the good lactic acid bacteria therefore helps to give you a strong immune system and form a barrier in the mucous membranes and on the skin.
The good, probiotic bacteria also help to maintain the balance in the vagina, so that there is just the right "acidic" environment with a pH value of around 3.8 - 4.5. If the balance and growth conditions change, the harmful, pathogenic bacteria can multiply and cause the vagina's pH value to rise. This can mean, among other things, that you experience an imbalance which manifests itself in itching, burning, smell and discharge, but also dry skin, pimples and eczema.
In the intimate area, there is a great risk that foreign and harmful bacteria can live and multiply. They can come from going to the toilet or intercourse and have optimal growth conditions in warm, moist and blood-filled environments. This means that you are particularly exposed when you are menstruating and close the skin behind pads and panty liners. Therefore, make sure to change often, even if you do not bleed very much. Also always make sure to wipe yourself behind after you have had a bowel movement and to wash or rinse after sex. Then you reduce the risk of harmful bacteria settling down and becoming in excess.
Nourish your good bacteria
You can do a lot yourself to maintain, stabilize and nourish the good, probiotic bacteria in the vagina:
- eat a varied diet with as little sugar as possible (sugar feeds the harmful bacteria)
- make sure you get exercise
- avoid chemicals in your diet and in your care products
- keep yourself clean and well-groomed and use natural products without added chemicals and perfumes
- feel free to take a supplement of probiotic lactic acid bacteria, and choose a supplement with billions of active, living microorganisms in it.
If you experience symptoms of imbalance in the vagina, you must try to counteract dryness, tears and wounds. Use e.g. a lubricant during intercourse and be extra gentle when washing and drying yourself.
If you cannot remove the symptoms of imbalance yourself, you must see a doctor and possibly be treated with antibiotics. Make sure you get vaccinated so you know which bacteria to fight. And feel free to take a supplement of probiotic bacteria afterwards to restore the useful bacteria that the antibiotic course has killed.
Fun facts:
- In 1838, the German researcher Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg discovered a microorganism in his microscope and thought it looked like a root. He therefore named it bacterium after the Greek word [bakterion], which means stick or rod.
- The body contains 10 trillion cells and 90 trillion bacteria.
- All the body's bacteria from one person together weigh approx. 2 kg
- Researchers have found 2375 different types of bacteria in navels, of which 1500 have not been known before.
- The gastrointestinal tract, which is our digestive microbiome, contains more than 1000 different types of bacteria.
Ref.: “The big book of Kombucha” by Hannah Crum, Alex LaGory
