The vagina is the whole genital area
FALSE
“The word vagina only refers to a specific internal part: the muscular tube leading to the cervix. The outside part, including the labia (or lips) and clitoris, is called the vulva,” says Zoe Williams, interim director at the Vagina Museum. “There isn’t really a good word to describe both … apart from slang words,” she laughs. It’s no wonder that 45% of women couldn’t accurately label the vagina in a 2019 YouGov survey. “The recommendation is that children know the proper terms by the time they’re 10,” says Dr Maureen Whelihan, an obstetrician and gynaecologist and fellow of American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. “But parents can only teach them what they know.”
Tampons can get lost inside your vagina
FALSE
“It’s a common fear, but the cervix is at the top of the vagina and only has a small opening, which a tampon can’t pass through,” says Dr Shazia Malik, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at London’s Portland hospital. “This myth can cause unnecessary anxiety and deter people from using tampons, which are safe and effective.”
You should clean your vagina with soap
FALSE
“It’s good to wash the vulval area with water but we don’t need to clean inside the vagina,” says Clare Bourne, a pelvic health physiotherapist and author of Strong Foundations: Why Pelvic Health Matters. “The vagina is a unique self-cleaning part of the anatomy that maintains a healthy pH balance,” says Malik. This is between 3.8 and 4.5 – similar in acidity to an orange. “Using soaps can disrupt this balance and lead to vaginitis, bacterial vaginosis (BV) and yeast infections.” A healthy vagina will have a mild scent that varies throughout the menstrual cycle, during pregnancy or after having sex or exercising, she adds.
If you have vaginal discharge something’s seriously wrong
MOSTLY FALSE
Most discharge is a sign that the vagina is doing its thing: preventing and fighting off infections, says Ashfaq Khan, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Harley Street Gynaecology. “If it’s a clear mucousy or off-white discharge in the middle of the menstrual cycle, it’s normal,” he says. “A lot of my patients don’t accept that. They have an idea that there should be no discharge at all.”
But a change in colour, smell, or texture, could signal an infection. “If it’s very white or grey and has a ‘fish odour’ it could be bacterial vaginosis. With green or yellow discharge there’s a chance it could be a sexually transmitted infection (STI) such as trichomoniasis or gonorrhoea. And if there’s any blood mixed up in the discharge it should be investigated,” says Khan.
A normal vulva is one that’s tucked in and neat
FALSE
“I’ve been looking at them for 27 years and the tucked in ones are the least common,” says Whelihan, who gets up close and personal with about 5,000 vulvas every year. “Variety is the norm, not the exception. The vulva is as unique as someone’s face.” Dr Shirin Lakhani, a former GP turned aesthetic physician, shows patients her “wall of vulvas” to hammer this point home: “Some labia minora [the inner lips] may extend beyond the labia majora [outer lips], while others may not. Both are perfectly normal and largely determined by genetics and individual physiology.”
Having sex makes your vagina looser and your labia longer
FALSE
“The vagina is an elastic organ capable of stretching to accommodate a baby’s head, so something as small as a penis isn’t going to make it looser,” Williams chuckles. Lakhani agrees: “Sex doesn’t cause permanent changes to the vagina or labia. They return to their usual shape afterwards and the appearance of the labia is not determined by sexual activity.”
Dr Sarah Jenkins, a former GP who now specialises in postnatal support and pelvic health, adds: “The heat and friction from sex actually maintains our skin and prevents atrophy [where the skin thins and the vaginal canal gets shorter and drier].”
It’s more hygienic to remove pubic hair
FALSE
“Removing pubic hair is a personal preference and not a medical necessity,” assures Sachchidananda Maiti, a consultant gynaecologist and obstetrician at Pall Mall Medical and senior lecturer at Manchester University medical school. “This myth is widely believed, especially in western cultures where hairlessness is often associated with cleanliness and attractiveness,” he adds.
A 2024 study found that about 80% of women groom their pubic hair. But the humble bush has a very important job: to trap sweat, bacteria and oil. “Unless the hair is infested with lice or other harmful elements, its removal can actually lead to irritation and a higher risk of infection, especially if done with unclean razors,” Maiti adds.
If you’re turned on, your vagina will get wet
FALSE
Like the inside of the mouth, vaginal tissue is a mucous membrane, meaning it is somewhat moist at all times. “We have Bartholin’s glands at the vaginal opening that get activated by arousal and give us extra lube. But there are many things that can interfere with natural lubrication even if you’re aroused,” says Whelihan. Age, menopause and a loss of oestrogen, vaginal infections and medications such as antihistamines can all dry the vagina out.
Best not to use how wet you get as a barometer for horniness, says Silva Neves, a psychosexual and relationship psychotherapist accredited by the College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists: “It’s important not to focus on wetness as the only evidence for being turned on because other parts of the body can react to being turned on, too.”
There’s something wrong with your vagina if you never orgasm through penetration
FALSE
“Most women report requiring clitoral stimulation to climax,” says Nicole Prause, a sexual psychophysiologist and founder of sexual biotechnology company Liberos. “And the vast majority cannot experience orgasm through vaginal penetration alone.”
Only 18% of women do, according to one study. “Well that makes sense,” says Whelihan. “It feels good for him when he’s rubbing his penis on the vaginal wall and getting stimulated but the clitoris is on the outside wall getting ignored! A study said if the distance between the clitoris and vaginal opening is less than 2cm, there’s a possibility of having vaginal orgasms. If it’s more than 2cm, you may never have one.”
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Vaginal birth stretches your vagina out and it never goes back
FALSE
“Usually after one normal-sized baby everything goes back nicely,” says Whelihan. “After two, three and four, the muscles may lose a bit of memory. If it’s a nine-pounder, that’s a big stretch, but the vaginal tissue can take the hit,” adds Whelihan, although the muscles may need a bit of retraining. “I wouldn’t get hung up on laxity [lack of firmness].” A 2023 study found that post-birth vulva changes didn’t make the participants enjoy sex any less.
Yoghurt cures thrush
FALSE(ish)
“Yoghurt shouldn’t be used to treat thrush because the evidence is so patchy,” says Khan. Thrush, a yeast infection, is caused by the candida fungus and can develop if the balance of vaginal bacteria changes. Yoghurt is thought to redress that, but often imbalance isn’t the cause. “It works only on a very small group of people mostly because yoghurt doesn’t address the problem. It doesn’t kill the thrush, it just makes the environment more difficult for the thrush to grow in,” Khan explains.
While he wouldn’t prescribe yoghurt to cure thrush, he doesn’t mind patients using it to treat mild symptoms or help prevent a recurrent infection – but only after receiving proper treatment. “The frequency of application can vary,’” he says. “Most women use it every night during a flare-up but some may choose to apply it several times a week, especially during periods of recurrent symptoms or after antibiotic use.”
Pelvic floor exercises stop you peeing yourself
TRUE
Great news: “Pelvic floor exercises [or Kegels] treat incontinence and are recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) as a first line treatment. They’re an amazing part of recovery for people with incontinence,” says Bourne. The exercises – squeezing and releasing the muscles you use when you pee – can be done 10 times a day.
But they must be done correctly, warns Bourne: “After any squeeze or contraction of the pelvic floor, it is essential to fully let the muscle relax. If we focus too much on the squeezing element and not on letting go, it can even aggravate or worsen symptoms.”
The clitoris is tiny
FALSE
What you see is not what you get. “Most of the clitoris is invisible,” says Prause. “The rest is inside the body and even the external portion is typically covered by a clitoral hood.” To the 29% of women who don’t know what or where the clitoris is: it’s the small nub at the top of the vulva, but also boasts an internal wishbone-like structure that can range from 8cm to 10cm long.
The clitoris is a mini-penis
TRUE(ish)
This is where experts disagree slightly. “At nine weeks, babies look exactly the same and all have a little genital tubercle. Under the influence of testosterone it grows and becomes a penis; in the absence of testosterone it becomes a clitoris,” says Whelihan. It’s in exactly the same location and has the same structure, except in a penis the shaft goes up into the long tip, while in a vulva the crura [which fill with blood when you’re aroused] tuck in behind the outer lips.”
Dr Christine Ekechi, an acute gynaecology and early pregnancy specialist and obstetrician, feels differently. “The function differs as it doesn’t contain the urethra and isn’t for penetration,” she says.
Prause is in the middle: “There’s some truth to this one. The clitoris shares many features of the penis, including a type of foreskin and a shaft that responds to long stroking. But it cannot have the rigidity of a penis as it doesn’t prohibit blood outflow.”
The clitoris has more nerve endings than the penis
YET TO BE DETERMINED
The clitoris was long believed to have 8,000 nerve endings – double that of the penis. These nerves are pretty key for enjoyable sex as they can elicit a whole host of pleasurable sensations (depending on how it is touched and how aroused someone is). But, it has since emerged that this stat came from a study of cows published in 1976. Newer (yet still unpublished) research suggests it could be closer to 10,000.
Among the experts, the jury’s still out over whether clitorises or penises win this particular competition. “The density of nerves in the clitoris and penis isn’t uniform across either organ,” says Prause. Not to mention that “the area of nerve density can vary between individuals”, too.
However, Whelihan reckons it’s a tie. “The number of nerve endings are the same in both but sensitivity differs depending on whether the penis is exposed [circumcised] or not.” Perhaps Ekechi sums it up best: “The clitoris is believed to contain more, but it’s notoriously understudied and researched compared with the penis.”