A sensitive area: the care products your private parts like – and dislike

I could probably sum up this article in two sentences: «How do you keep your pubic area clean? Just add water.»

That being said, two sentences isn’t enough to do this important health matter justice. With this in mind, here are some facts about the pubic area (regardless of gender), and what it takes to be well-groomed and healthy down there.

Why the vagina is acidic

The skin’s microbiome consists of a multitude of bacteria, fungi and viruses. They live on the acid mantle, a surface-level film of sweat and skin lipids with a slightly acidic environment – a pH level of 5.5.

The vagina, however, is even more acidic. Its average pH level is about 3.8, which is mostly down to the presence of antimicrobial lactic acid bacteria. These bacteria protect the vagina from other bacteria and fungi, basically burning them with acid. As a result, the vaginal microflora is kept in balance.

However, you’ll mess with this process if you scrub it with soap when you shower. Feminine washes, foams, hair-removal creams or even water-based douches destroy the protective environment.

Overwashing can damage your health

Studies show that bacterial vaginosis or even yeast infections can be triggered by going overboard with cleansing or by using soaps or shower gels that irritate the vaginal flora. A Canadian study carried out in 2018 demonstrated that vaginal moisturisers, creams, wet wipes, shower gels, suppositories and sprays have no place down there. Participants who used these kinds of products were 3.5 times more likely to get a bacterial infection and 2.5 times more likely to get a urinary tract infection.

Meanwhile, another study found that regular douching increases the risk of an HPV infection by 26 per cent, with the risk of infection by cancer-causing HPV viruses rising as high as 40 per cent. What’s more, a US study revealed that women who douche increase their risk of ovarian cancer by up to 50 per cent.

The vagina cleans itself

So don’t wash or rinse out your vagina (no, not with water, apple cider vinegar or yoghurt) or with any other care products. As the vagina contains mucous membranes, it’s perfectly capable of cleaning itself – so just leave it to do its thing.

The vagina produces about 5 millilitres of discharge a day, a marker of this self-cleaning process. In her book Lips Unsealed (book currently only available in German), gynaecologist Sheila de Liz calls vaginal discharge «a little post-it note from the vagina» to let us know all’s well down there. Basically, it’s a sign the vagina’s bacteria are quite happy. As long as this discharge isn’t itchy, unpleasant smelling, crumbly or greenish, everything’s A-OK.

It doesn’t take much to keep the vulva, i.e. the external genital area, clean either. It’s best to wash the skin around the labia with warm water. You don’t need shower gel or feminine washes for this either. Quite the opposite, in fact. When German consumer issues magazine «Öko-Test» reviewed a large number of them in 2022 (in German), the majority fell short. They were found to contain problematic ingredients that «can irritate the mucous membranes or skin, accumulate in fatty tissue or trigger allergies.» The review went on to say, «Shockingly, the test discovered lilial, a substance suspected to put fertility at risk.»

Of course, whether or not you feel clean down there is purely psychological. However, if water really doesn’t cut it for you, use a very small amount of mild wash lotion for the external pubic area. In other words, go for unscented synthetic detergents with a pH level of 5.5 to match the skin’s protective acid mantle.

Washing the penis and testicles correctly

The «less is more» rule also applies to the penis. All you need is warm water. In her book «Haut nah» (only available in German), dermatologist Yael Adler explicitly says: «Sweat, dust and exfoliated cells are extremely water soluble. At the same time, we want to preserve the skin fats our epidermis painstakingly produces over a four-week period, not deplete them with soaps.»

It’s a good idea to wash the penis and testicles every day to get rid of sweat, flakes of skin, urine, sperm residue and sometimes bacteria. That being said, you should avoid using aggressive soaps – especially under the foreskin, which, like the vagina and mouth, consists of mucous membrane.

When smegma poses a health risk

The more important thing is ensuring you pull back your foreskin when washing to rinse away the deposits underneath. Not only does smegma smell unpleasant, but it also puts you at risk for penile cancer. Although the disease is rare, penile cancer is difficult to treat, and poor hygiene is one of the causes. «Poor hygiene» being failing to regularly remove smegma from the foreskin. «Residual smegma can promote the development of penile cancer,» says the Kantonsspital Winterthur (English: Winterthur Cantonal Hospital of ) (website in German).

Whatever your gender, no amount of washing will rid your genitals of your personal smell. The apocrine sweat or scent glands secrete the body’s own scent. These glands are located in the pubic area, under the armpits and around the nipples. Unlike the eccrine sweat glands, they don’t secrete sweat during physical exertion and heat. Instead, they produce attractants (pheromones) that give each person their own unique scent. Trying to wash away this scent away will prove either counterproductive or impossible, explains dermatologist Yael Adler: «The scent glands constantly reproduce their essential oils (...), driving people into a vicious circle of washing and itching, eventually sending them to the doctor in desperation.»

Your bum’s sensitive too

There’s another region of the body prone to itchiness as a response to overwashing: the anus. As Adler explains in her book: «At our sphincter muscle, the skin and mucous membrane collide and merge into one another. The anus is irritated by soap residue that collects in its crevices. Because of the folds of skin, no air can get it. As a result, all the soap’s irritants are worked right into the skin. The consequences of this range from itching to anal eczema and fungal or bacterial infections.»

If you do use soap on your butt crack, be sure to rinse it off with plenty of water to remove any soap residue from this sensitive area of skin. You can also clean your back door area with a specially designed «butt shower». Natalie from the Editorial Team has already put the handheld bidetthrough its paces.

However, you should avoid using washcloths when cleaning your intimate area. If you do use them, use them once at most and then wash them at 60 degrees. Why? Because they can be real germ magnets, which can be especially problematic for the sensitive vaginal flora.

Again, when it comes to your private parts, less is more.