Douching should only be performed under practitioner guidance to apply vaginal treatments for a very limited time.
If you are not using a therapeutic treatment, douching is not advisable. Douches can wash away your protective bacteria, leaving the vagina open to microbial imbalances such as bacterial vaginosis (BV).
Always follow the strict instructions of your treatment when using vaginal douching. Do not continually use a vaginal douche without practitioner oversight.
What is a vaginal douche?
Silicone douches come in various shapes and sizes. A classic douche consists of a squeegee bulb at the bottom and a tube that goes into the vagina with one or more holes in it for the liquid to squirt out of.
You don’t have to spend much on a douche, and you can also use a turkey baster or syringe (100-200ml). Be gentle. Hard plastics can be a little rougher than soft silicone, so a purpose built washble, reusable douche device is preferable.
What is the point of a vaginal douche?
The purpose of a douche is to temporarily apply a liquid treatment to the vaginal walls and cervix. The liquid treatment naturally comes out over time with gravity and normal vaginal discharge/fluids.
You are aiming for the greatest surface area for the longest period of time, adjusting for irritation and personal abilities.
How to do a vaginal douche
The treatment liquid is 1 to 1.25 cups in total. Your device should fit all or half of the liquid (use twice if only half).
A metric cup of water is 250ml, so 300ml or 10 fl. oz capacity is about right. This mixture is not an exact science, so don’t worry too much. Near enough is good enough.
Insert the apparatus as far inside your vagina as possible without bumping it on your cervix. The device will naturally stop when you get to your cervix if it’s that long. You’ll feel it. Be gentle.
Slowly squeeze the bulb to empty the contents of the douche bulb, ensuring the walls of the vagina and cervix are bathed in the liquid. It will then naturally dribble out of your vagina. The liquid is not designed to stay inside your vagina, and you will not be able to hold it. It should come out.
Where is the best location to perform a vaginal douche?
You can sit on a toilet to do the vaginal douche or lie down in a bath, or with a towel under your bottom to catch the liquid as it comes back out of your vagina.
Douching while sitting on the toilet
When douching on the toilet, remember to consider the backwards tilted angle of your vagina when inserting the douche. If you aren’t familiar with inserting things into your vagina, you may not realise the angle that is required. See the diagrams in Vag Basics and do some practice.
Douching lying down
Lay back with your legs up on the side of the bath or a wall. You don’t want to be holding your legs up, as this will bear down on your pelvic floor via your abdominal muscles, pushing the liquid out. You want to hold the liquid in for about 30 seconds. Lie on your back with a towel under your butt, or in a bath/shower, as the design allows.
Every organ in your body bears down on your pelvis when you move any muscle, which results in the liquid squirting out. Don’t worry; this is normal, but practice some more to see if you can hold it in.
If you have a bath, great. Lie in the bath, using the wall or sides of the bath ato put your feet on so that your pelvis is tilted slightly back. This creates a ‘cup’ out of your vagina that can hold the liquid for a lot longer than the toilet method.
How to douche if you can’t reach
Some of you are going to be physically more flexible or have different physical abilities, so with the above in mind, figure out what is going to work for you for maximum effect.
If you have any impediments to applying a douche, you may need to ask someone for help, get creative, or try another treatment method.
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