As women,
we do a lot to keep our nether regions in shape: monthly waxes, birth control,
and yearly checkups—and that's just for starters. Recently, Gwyneth Paltrow
recommended another to-do for your hoo-ha maintenance checklist: the V-steam.
On her
lifestyle site, GOOP, Gwyneth writes that steaming your V is when you
"sit on what is essentially a mini-throne, and a combination of infrared
and mugwort steam cleanses your uterus, et al.
It is an energetic release—not
just a steam douche—that balances female hormone levels."
Interesting,
right? Since gynecologists generally frown upon any kind of douching, we
wanted to see if that the same held true for the GOOP-approved procedure.
The
short answer: "It's complete bull," says Mary Jane Minkin, M.D.,
clinical professor of ob-gyn at Yale School of Medicine. Minkin says that the
alleged benefits of getting your vagina steamed are totally bogus and that
undergoing a treatment like this could even harm your lady bits. Here's why:
1. It
Burns
"My first concern is that someone would burn
themselves because steam is hot," says Minkin. "And I certainly
wouldn't want someone to get a burn in their vagina." Fun fact: Your
hoo-ha sits right next to the bladder and rectum, so a bad burn could
damage the lining between the two of them and cause a lot of issues. "That
would be a worst-case scenario," says Minkin.
2. It
Can Mess With Your Vagina's Good Bacteria
Just like
regular douching, trying to "cleanse" your vag with steam can be
drying and disrupt the natural bacteria that lives up in there, says Minkin.
And since the vagina is a self-cleaning machine, you don't need to take any
action to keep it that way, she says. However, one thing you could do to boost
your vagina's natural cleaning abilities is to eat more yogurt, which contains
the good bacteria that keep your vag fresh yeast infection-free.
Minkin
also questions the steam's effectiveness as a uterus cleanser since it's hard
to say whether the steam could actually reach that far. She says that even if
it could, there are very few bacteria in the lining of the uterus and that
those bacteria absolutely do not need to be cleaned out.
3. It
Won't Balance Any Hormones
First
off, Minkin says, there are no hormones produced by the uterus or the vagina.
"The hormone factory is in the ovaries, and there's no reason why steam
would affect the hormones produced there," she says. And again, it's hard
to say if the steam even makes it that far.
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