This 8 Rules For A Healthy Vagina

All women should be concerned about their vaginal health, but what constitutes a healthy vagina? While it depends somewhat on a woman’s age, the vagina generally has an acidic pH, contains rich quantities of beneficial bacteria that help fend off infections, and is naturally lubricated.

A healthy vagina also secretes small amounts of discharge. While some women might not even be aware of it, others “can notice anywhere up to a teaspoon or tablespoon of discharge a day,” says Leah Millheiser, MD, director of the female sexual medicine program at Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, California. “Discharge is a normal physiologic reaction — it’s essentially shedding of cervical and vaginal cells.”

But “if women experience changes in vaginal odor, a change in color of their discharge that may be associated with discomfort — whether it’s pelvic discomfort or vulvar discomfort, itching, or burning — any change needs to be evaluated,” says Dr. Millheiser. Follow these rule to keep your vagina healthy.