- 23 hours ago
A branded episode of Taboo for Vagisil
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Vagina.
00:00Do I have your attention?
00:02Have you ever thought about how women are constantly told
00:04to spend a ton of money on their face, hair, and wardrobe,
00:08but don't even feel comfortable saying the word vagina?
00:10What is that about?
00:11It's definitely time for a change.
00:13On today's episode of Taboo,
00:15we're finally taking the stigma away from vaginal health.
00:17I've asked some fellow R2-9ers to join me
00:19in sharing their experiences around this very taboo subject.
00:23Then we'll chat with Dr. Minkin,
00:24Vagisil's expert gynecologist,
00:27to get answers to all those questions
00:29some of you might be afraid to ask.
00:31You're welcome.
00:36I grew up very Catholic,
00:38and I went to a public school
00:40that had abstinence-only sex education.
00:42I did not get a lot of information
00:44about vaginal health from anyone.
00:46Once I was about 15 or 16 years old,
00:49I started to see a gynecologist,
00:51and that's when I really started to learn about vaginal health.
00:54I was probably around 17,
00:56and my sister and my mom both had a conversation with me saying,
01:00just because you're not sexually active doesn't mean that, like,
01:03you're not going to need to go to GYN.
01:05My grandma was the one who introduced me,
01:06but my friends were the ones I had those conversations with.
01:11I feel like I could not talk about vaginal health at all
01:15until I was probably near the end of college,
01:17just I grew up in an environment where, you know,
01:19you couldn't even really say vagina.
01:21Vagina.
01:22Vagina.
01:22Vagina.
01:23Vagina.
01:23I'm an open book when it comes to everything,
01:25and I enjoy giving advice if I can,
01:29but I think it's definitely something that you should at least talk to your friends about,
01:33if nobody else.
01:34Talking about vaginal health and learning about it is really good,
01:38and it can make your life and your health and your relationship with your body a whole lot better.
01:44My grandma would buy me these pouches.
01:47They kind of look like long pill containers,
01:50just to hide, like, tampons and pads in when I would go to school.
01:54Or even when you're in school and you ask your teacher if they have a tampon or pad,
01:58they, like, slip it into their sleeve and, like, walk over and, like, hand it to you under your desk,
02:02like it's contraband or something.
02:04I would get BV a lot, and I didn't know what that was for a long time.
02:09And when you're a kid, you're like,
02:11I don't want any of my friends to think that I'm smelly.
02:14So to deal with my BV, my grandmother would go and buy me Vagisol wipes and pH balance wash,
02:21and I still use it pretty often to this day.
02:24Stop calling your vagina your lady parts.
02:28Stop calling it the flower.
02:30Just say it with me.
02:31Vagina.
02:32What is there to be afraid about?
02:34It's a body part.
02:35Come on.
02:36Just say it.
02:37Say vagina.
02:38Just in terms of odor, that one's still a tough one.
02:41I was doing birth control for an extended period of time.
02:45After I stopped taking it, my pH balance completely was thrown off.
02:49So it took me a minute to go to my doctor and ask what was going on.
02:55I thought it was an infection or something, and turns out it was just my hormones readjusting.
03:00Now I feel really comfortable talking about my period, vagina, sex, everything with my friends.
03:06I'll even give them lube recommendations and sex toy recommendations,
03:09and we'll talk about different sexual things we do and don't like.
03:14If you're not comfortable talking to your friends, please talk to the doctor.
03:18Like, don't do what I did, and stress yourself out for no reason.
03:21I could talk about it with my friends all day long, but with my doctor I would get kind of
03:26shy.
03:26I see a lot of, is my vagina normal? Is it supposed to look like this? Is it supposed to
03:32smell like this?
03:33And yeah, your vagina is supposed to have a smell, just like your armpits emit a smell,
03:38or your feet emit a smell. We're all human, we all look different, we're all different shapes,
03:43sizes, and colors, and same with our vulvas, and they're all one of a kind and they're all beautiful.
03:48It was something weird for me to be like, these are the people I'm sleeping with,
03:52and this is like, I'm really itchy and gross. I shouldn't be ashamed to tell my doctor about
03:57my vagina woes, because they're the ones that are gonna help me fix it.
04:01I definitely talk to my doctor about vaginal odor, as well as my period.
04:08But sexual pleasure, probably not. I feel like I probably should.
04:12If you're ashamed to talk to a friend or a family member, like, the doctor is your safe space.
04:18Dr. Minkin, what is the most commonly asked question you get from your female patients?
04:22Probably the most common and perhaps the most interesting one is, am I normal?
04:26I get that question all the time from very young women and very old women.
04:29And your answer is? Yes, because almost everything I see is normal.
04:34There's such wide variation and it's great, it's normal, but so many people,
04:38they see somebody else and they want to look like her. No, you want to look like yourself.
04:42Right, I love my vagina the way it is. That's fabulous.
04:44I find that sometimes women are a little ashamed to talk about their vaginal health.
04:48How can we inspire women to feel more confident?
04:50I encourage women and men to think that this is just a normal part of one's life, normal anatomy.
04:56How important is pH level when choosing a cleanser for your vaginal area?
05:00It's very important. We actually want to maintain what we call a low pH or an acid pH.
05:06pH actually is sort of a measure of acidity or the opposite of acidity is basicity.
05:11Many soaps that we use, especially the ones that are cleansing soaps and things like that,
05:15are very basic and those are very bad for the vagina and for the vulva.
05:19So we want a cleanser that's on the acidic side, sort of as a lower than 7 pH and products
05:25like
05:25the Vagisil Sensitive Sense products are a pH balanced product that's favorable for the vagina.
05:31So what do you tell women who are interested in using
05:33intimate health products specifically for freshness?
05:36We want a product that's hypoallergenic. We want products that are parabens free,
05:40MIT free, without the preservatives that women don't want. These are the kind of products we're interested in.
05:48Feeling fresh after the gym is definitely important for me. I need something that I can just grab and go.
05:53Odor control. It can get pretty smelly. Hypoallergenic that help restore pH balance.
06:00If you have a piece of advice for women who are feeling a little shameful or who are not
06:04open to discussing or have a question but might be too afraid to ask, what would you say to them?
06:08Don't be ashamed. Get yourself involved with a health care provider that you feel comfortable with.
06:14You want to be with somebody that you don't feel ashamed or embarrassed to ask a question.
06:18Are you taking new patients?
06:19Yes.
06:21There's absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about when it comes to all things vagina.
06:25Remember that it's normal and it's natural, so let's be proud.
06:28In fact, I encourage you to say vagina out loud right now.
06:32Vagina!
06:33It feels good, right? See you next time.