Every now and again, someone will do something that lets down the human race as a whole.
Clapping when a plane lands, using the word ‘moist’, making someone sit through a two minute video on your phone while you watch their reaction; all things that no sane adult human should ever, ever do.
Now we have a new one for the list – sticking garlic in your hoo-ha.
Yes. There are women with vaginas who are putting garlic into their vaginas.
Apparently some people think that because garlic has anti-fungal properties, popping some up there can help with yeast infections.
Now a leading gynaecologist is warning ladies that it’s really not a good idea to do that.
Dr Jennifer Gunter wants you to know that garlic, while it is anti-fungal, does not belong in your vag.
Here’s exactly why, as per her Twitter thread.
Why you should not put garlic in your vagina.
A thread.
Garlic contains allicin, in THE LAB it MAY have antifungal (i.e. anti yeast) properties. This is in a lab, not even in mice. Just a dish of cells. Your vagina is not a dish of cells. #vaginaisanogarliczone 1/8— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 23, 2019
Lots of vaginal garlic aficionados (I SHOULDN’T HAVE TO TWEET THAT IN 2019, BUT HERE WE ARE) recommend inserting a clove. This means they don’t understand for allicin to be released the garlic has to be cut or crushed. Sigh. #vaginaisanogarliczone 2/8
— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 23, 2019
Garlic could have bacteria from the soil. Bacteria from the soil can be pathogenic — bad for the body. That’s why we clean wounds. If you actually happen to have an inflamed yeasty vagina that soil bacteria would be more likely to infect #vaginaisanogarliczone 3/8
— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 23, 2019
So for garlic to work you would have to crush it and stuff it up somehow. There is still the dirt thing. And the cut up garlic on raw tissues thing (OUCH). And the fishing of the garlic out by the gyno thing. #vaginaisanogarliczone 4/8
— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 23, 2019
Garlic can cause biofilms on braces, so could garlic contribute to biofilms in the vagina? Biologically plausible. Biofilms are bad. You do not want them to form especially when you have yeast. Effect of garlic good bacteria also unknown #vaginaisanogarliczone 5/8
— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 23, 2019
As 50-70% of women who self treat for vaginal yeast never actually had a yeast infection you can’t say much, except half of them never had yeast to begin with so the irritation they had may have been a temporary thing and resolving wasn’t garlic related #vaginaisanogarliczone 6/8
— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 23, 2019
And the placebo effect is strong. If you think vaginal garlic is going to make you feel better, you may very well feel better temporarily. #vaginaisanogarliczone 7/8
— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 23, 2019
We don’t know who needed to hear that but we really, really hope they heard it and will take heed.
In conclusion, your vag is a sacred place and you should be careful what you put in there.
