TikTok bath trends that are actually dangerous for your intimate health - Gloucestershire Live

Social media video app TikTok is known for its ability to create viral trends and boost songs into the charts. It is also used to share hacks and tips meant to improve your beauty routines but not all of these are good for you.

BathTok has over 795million views and is full of fun and makeshift ways to improve your restorative soaks. Many of these videos claim to restore pH balance and remove intimate odours but instead could cause burns and other health issues.

Lemon, apple cider vinegar and excessive bath products can all disrupt your vaginal health, according to Drench.co.uk bath expert Polly Shearer. She said: ""While many popular #BathTok trends look good and follow a certain aesthetic, bathers could be harming their health - and bath suites - by doing so."

Apple cider vinegar

One popular video on the app with 2.5 million views and 529k likes suggests adding apple cider vinegar to bath water. Apple cider vinegar is a popular home remedy for lots of beauty issues and this video claimed that it could restore pH balance.

Polly shared that this is completely wrong and could even cause burns to sensitive areas. She said: "Apple cider vinegar, while often used as a product to kill harmful bacteria, can often cause irritation or worse, burning of the skin if exposed to it for a longer period."

Comments on the video worryingly showed that people were trying out the hack and encouraging others to do the same. They noted that the water smelled particularly bad due to the vinegar smell.

Lemon slices and salt

Another video with 45k views showed lemon slices and Himalayan salt filling a bathtub. The poster claimed it would even out skin tone, relax muscles, balance pH and remove toxins from the body.

Health expert Dr Shirin Lakhani told Drench.co.uk: "I would strongly avoid bathing with lemons and it's a myth that this can help your pH in that area. Using lemons could cause more problems and cause the vagina to smell worse."

Odour around your intimate area is normal and should only be a concern if that odour changes drastically. If you are concerned about a particular smell, contact your doctor rather than attempting this home remedy.

Excessive bath bombs

Another trend encourages users to create a unicorn bath which is filled with a variety of bath products. Bath bombs, salts, liquids and even bath spaghetti are combined in this aesthetic trend.

Polly said, "While bath bombs look great, heavily fragranced products can cause intense skin irritation. Not only that, many bath bombs with artificial colourings can actually leave stains behind in your tub and could leave you with a hefty cost of repair."

Even if you don't have sensitive skin, this amount of product can be irritating to the skin. Plus in the cost of living crisis this is a waste of products which can often be expensive for little gain.

Bath flowers

Flowers can be very pretty and aesthetic creating this trend of ritual baths or 'Bali baths' filled with bright and colourful petals. The idea is that herbal flowers can add nutrients to baths as well as being visually pleasing.

"While flowers are used in medicines and herbal remedies, their original form may do little for your skin," said Polly, "Though relaxing and aesthetically pleasing, large quantities of petals heading down the drain can actually cause pipe blockages if not appropriately removed."

Dr Lakhani said: "Many of these trends can cause more harm than good. Just because it's on social media does not mean it's true. Your vagina naturally hosts thousands of good bacteria that help maintain health and I would be very wary about upsetting that balance."

"The vagina has a pH value of approximately 3.8 to 4.5. This pH range is necessary to protect the vagina against harmful bacteria which can lead to infections. Your vagina is self-cleaning. It really is. It doesn't need anything to assist it in the cleaning process."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Keto crotch: Is it real and how to treat it

Image
hpv vaginal discharge :: Article Creator Cervical Cancer: Signs & Symptoms Your cervix is the lowest part of your uterus. It connects your uterus to your vagina. Cervical cancer is when cells in your cervix grow out of control. Cervical cancer is an overgrowth of cells in your cervix, which is the opening between your vagina and uterus. (Photo Credit: iStock/Getty Images) Anyone with a cervix is at risk for cervical cancer. However, the most common cause is long-term infection with certain strains of human papillomavirus (HPV). When cervical cancer is diagnosed early, it's very treatable. In the early stages, cervical precancers or cancers generally cause no pain or other symptoms. That's why it's vital for people with a cervix to get regular pelvic exams and Pap tests to detect cancer in its early stages when it's still highly treatable. The early stages of cervical cancer are stages I and II.  Stage I cancer i
Read more

Shave your pubic hair if you want, but not at these times

Image
thrush on genital area :: Article Creator Vaginal Thrush: What's Up 'down There'? There are a number of myths circulating about vaginal thrush - like that a lack of hygiene is the cause or that yoghurt-dipped tampons are a home remedy. Here's what every woman should know about this common cause for itching and burning. Christin Klose/dpa With symptoms that include itching and burning, vaginal thrush is no fun. Many women are understandably reluctant to talk about it, although medical experts say that three out of four get it at least once in their lifetime. Also called vaginal yeast infection or vulvovaginal candidiasis, vaginal thrush is caused by an overgrowth of candida, a type of yeast, which is a type of fungus. The most prevalent microorganisms in a healthy vagina, lactobacilli, create a mildly acidic environment that inhibits the proliferation of pathogens. When the natural balance of bacteria and yeast is disrupted, infec
Read more