Hello and thank you for your question. I’m sorry to hear that you are currently going through this situation. First and foremost I would like to clear up a misconception about vagina and vaginal douching. Many women, much like you, think that the vagina is a dirty organ and requires “cleaning”. The vagina is a self-cleaning organ. A healthy vagina has a balance of both good and bad bacteria.

The balance of bacteria helps to maintain an acidic environment of the vagina which protects it from infections and irritations. Douching can cause stripping of the good bacteria and leads to overgrowth of harmful bacteria. Douching is different from cleaning the outside of the vagina during shower. Douching refers to washing or cleaning out the inside of the vagina with water or other mixtures of fluids.

Rinsing the outside of the vagina with warm water during your shower will not harm the vagina. There have been no benefits reported from douching of vagina. The symptoms you are currently experiencing are highly likely because of your douching habits. Frequent douching has caused an overgrowth of Candida albicans yeast, which lives naturally in our bowel and in small numbers in the vagina.

The common symptoms are vaginal candidiasis is itching, thick white curdy discharge, pain during urination or pain during sexual intercourse. You are advised to visit a doctor, preferably a gynecologist, and get yourself tested for candidiasis. The doctor would take a swab sample from your vaginal wall to confirm the diagnosis. Fortunately it is a very curable condition.

Your doctor might prescribe you with either an antifungal medicine applied inside the vagina, or a single oral antifungal tablet. You are also advised to lose the habit of vaginal douching and wear cotton panties to reduce risk of getting the infection again.