Is sex throwing off my pH balance? How to look after your vaginal microbiome

The good kind of bacteria.

We all remember high school sex education in its awkward and sometimes mortifying glory. Think tampon insertion tutorials, condoms on bananas and traumatising videos of births. I remember learning a lot in health class, but one thing I definitely didn’t learn was how to look after my vaginal health. 

I don’t recall ever being told how to engage in sexual aftercare or that my vagina even had its own microbiome. I always associated microbiome with Goop-esque wellness, like gut bacteria and prebiotic drinks. The microbiome (of which your body has multiple communities) is a collection of microbes that naturally live on our bodies and inside us. We’re talking bacteria, fungi and viruses. These work to mitigate the relationship our bodies have with our environment.

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It wasn’t until the last couple of years that I started tuning into the discourse surrounding genital hygiene. This is when I found out vaginas are supposed to smell (no more Femfresh, PLEASE), that it’s okay for my discharge to bleach my undies, and essentially, that I don’t have to try and control every aspect of my vagina, I can kind of just let her do her thing. 

All this messing about with our nether regions could actually be harming our vaginal microbiome. According to Dr Raelia Lew, a Melbourne fertility specialist and reproductive endocrinologist, our vaginas have their own sort of ecosystem; a “normal mix of bacteria” that live in the vagina and “contribute to maintaining vaginal health”. Here’s what Dr Raelia had to say about what the vaginal microbiome is and how to best care for it.

Can you explain a bit about the importance of a vagina’s pH balance?

pH is a numerical expression of how ‘acid’ or ‘alkaline’ a solution is on a logarithmic scale. [On this scale], seven is neutral, values below seven are acidic and values above seven are alkaline. The optimal natural vaginal pH is acidic at 4.5 [and is] maintained by lactic acid secretions made by bacteria called lactobacilli.

Is it true having sex can affect the wellbeing of your vagina? 

The pH of semen is slightly alkaline (7.2 to 8.0), so having unprotected [heterosexual] sex transiently elevates vaginal pH. This helps protect sperm, helping spermatozoa to survive ascent via the vagina [and then] through the cervical canal. However, sex can increase the risk of developing vaginal flora imbalance or infections. 

What are some symptoms that something’s off with your vagina microbiome? How do you know when you need to see a doctor?

Vaginal symptoms… can include an unpleasant or fishy odour, itchiness or irritation and unusual discharge which can be grainy, cheesy, yellow or green in colour. Normal vaginal secretions should be clear to creamy in colour and do not have a pungent or offensive smell.

So, seeing as intercourse can affect your pH balance, how can I keep enjoying sex, while also ensuring that my vaginal health is at its best? 

To maintain a healthy vaginal microbiome, it’s important to eat a healthy diet, avoid douching or excessive cleansing, and use only pH-balanced lubricants to assist in comfortable sex. When designing Lovers’ [lubricants], it was important to me to ensure our products matched the optimal natural vaginal pH to help our customers maintain a healthy vaginal microbiome while enjoying better sex.

Looking for more advice on caring for your vaginal microbiome? Try this.