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 help to ensure balance between the microorganisms. Most of your vaginal lactic acid bacteria are good (probiotic) and are part of the body's natural defense against bad bacteria, which can create imbalance. A predominance 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 pH value of the vagina to rise. Among other things, this can mean that you experience an imbalance that shows itself as itching, burning, odor and discharge, but also dry skin and pimples.
In the intimate area there is a great risk that foreign and harmful bacteria can live and multiply. They can come from visits to the toilet or intercourse and have optimal growth conditions in warm, moist and blood-filled surroundings. This means that you are particularly exposed when you have your period and keep the skin enclosed behind pads and panty liners. Make sure, therefore, to change often, even if you do not bleed very much. Also always make sure to wipe backwards after a bowel movement and to wash or rinse after sex. That reduces the risk of harmful bacteria settling in and becoming predominant..
Nourish your good bacteria
There is a lot you can do yourself to maintain, stabilize and nourish the good, probiotic bacteria in the vagina:
- eat a varied diet with as little sugar as possible (sugar nourishes 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 perfume
- if you supplement your diet with a supplement of probiotic lactic acid bacteria, feel free to choose a supplement with as many active, living microorganisms as possible.
If you experience symptoms of imbalance in the vagina, you should try to counteract dryness, tears and sores. Use e.g. a lubricant during intercourse and be extra gentle when you wash and dry yourself.
If you cannot remove the symptoms of imbalance yourself, you must see a doctor and possibly be treated with antibiotics. Make sure you have a culture taken so you know which bacteria need to be fought. And possibly take a supplement of probiotic bacteria afterwards to restore the useful bacteria that the course of antibiotics has knocked down.
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 cane or rod.
- The body contains 10 trillion cells and 90 trillion bacteria.
- All of one person's body bacteria weigh approx. 2 kg in total
- Researchers have found 2375 different types of bacteria in navels, of which 1500 have not been known before.
- The gastrointestinal tract, which is our microbiome for digestion, contains more than 1000 different types of bacteria.
Ref.:” The big book of Kombucha” by Hannah Crum, Alex LaGory
