Happy International Women’s Day! Tried the new acidic tampons, yet?

I was reading all about vaginal flora today.

Perhaps it’s not a coincidence, since it kind of sounds like a bouquet of flowers one gets for the International Women’s Day. And, incidentally, it is International Women’s Day today.

As you might already know, vaginas are at their best when they are on the acidic side. That way, vaginal flora is healthy, bacterial overgrowth is at a minimum, and any foreign bodies that want to pass through are firmly discouraged, writes Dr. Kate Clancy on her Scientific American blog.

The trouble is, things like menstruation, semen and douching can increase pH, and flush out normal, good bacteria.

So, what is a self-respecting vagina to do?

It must try to decrease pH anyway it can. Banning semen would be a good start, but not exactly a good sustainable solution, shall we say.

That’s where RepHresh comes in.

The company that makes pH-balancing gels and cleansers for women recently came out with a new product, RepHresh Brilliant, which is a pH-balancing tampon that makes your vaginal flora at least as acidic as the post-midnight emails you wrote to your ex-boyfriend. Which, apparently, is a good thing.

It makes one wonder what women used to do about the acidity of their vaginas in the pre-industrialized age.

How did they regulate their vaginal pH? Why have we lost that ability?

One argument is that women nowadays menstruate a lot more – since they have far fewer pregnancies – and because menstruation increases pH, a typical vaginal flora needs a bit of acidic help.

Well, on that note, happy International Women’s Day! 

May your vaginal flora always be healthy. (And may you never, ever possess vaginal fauna.)