What's that pong? How to fix a smelly vagina
27:00 Share

Hey, ladies. Ah, your vagina's going. Let's run a little checklist, shall we? They feeling good? Mm-hm. Sounding good? And smelling? Yes. How are they smelling? One third of us will have a pongy vagina at some point and that odour is telling you something. No, not that you like blue cheese, OK? LAUGHTER

or a stop sign, it's something that you should probably listen to. It might be a message like, hey girl, your hormones are changing. Or maybe it's saying, babe, you've got bacterial vaginosis.

I wanted to bring you one of my all-time favourite episodes of Ladies We Need To Talk. It's called Pongy Vaginas. We're running it again because not only does it get the nostrils flaring, there's also new research that shows that treating penis owners is the key to treating recurrent bacterial vaginosis. This is a big win for the ladies. Enjoy!

It smelled like a dead raccoon had a fish in his mouth and they both died in the same dumpster midsummer. The key thing is that your vagina does have a normal smell. So it's working out when it's different. I called my gynecologist and I told her, hey, I have a stinky vagina.

Settle in, friends, because we are about to talk about something so taboo that it has taken seven seasons of making this show before we found the courage to peel down our knickers and confront it. It's something that speaks to a fear that exists in nearly all people with a vagina.

Something whose potential existence threatens our ability to consider ourselves acceptable, decent human beings. Something that is so shameful most of us don't talk about it, even with our closest friends. It's a fear of having a stinky minge.

Our vulvas, like our bad attitudes, go everywhere and do everything with us. They're more personal than a handbag, more permanent than a tattoo, and they're with us night and day. So really, it's no wonder that at different times in our lives, they smell different.

Whether that be the influence of our monthly menstrual cycle, our diets, our stages in life, even different times of the day, and that difference can have a bigger range than Mariah Carey's voice. These smells are, for the most part, natural and part of our very human fragrance. But sometimes they can be a sign...

that something is wrong. So how do you know if your vujut has moved out of music box territory and into malodorous mut territory? Or to persevere with the Mariah Carey analogies into full glitter mode, which was universally agreed to be a stinker. I'm Yumi Steins. Ladies, we need to talk about pongy vaginas. MUSIC

When we're talking about smelly vaginas, there's a few main culprits and bacterial vaginosis, or BV, is at the top of the stink list. The bacterial infection is the most common cause of vaginal discharge in women of reproductive age. And according to the research, around one in three women will get BV at some point in her life. I knew after a couple of months of this not going away that this is a problem.

Meet Lacey. For most of her life, her vulva had a perfectly pleasant smell. That was until around a decade ago when she started noticing a strong waft coming from below. Things reached a crescendo on what was supposed to be a romantic getaway. So my husband and I were in Athens, Greece on holiday.

And he leaned across my lap to look out of the window of the bus that we were on. And his eyes got huge and looked at me. And I knew instantly that he could smell it. And I asked him, do you smell it? And he just, as sheepishly as he could, nodded his head and said, yeah, I can. Lacey, can you tell us what it smelled like?

To describe it most accurately, it smelled like a dead raccoon had a fish in his mouth and they both died in the same dumpster midsummer. It had a fishy death smell. It smelled hot. It smelled, it smelled awful. I cannot describe the smell to you. No, you just did. You just did.

Lacey had noticed this putrid odour a while before getting to Greece. And like any of us would when confronted with a dead mammal in her body radiating stench out via her vagina, she tried her darndest to get in front of the problem. The first time that I smelled it, I was like, ah, that's new.

Maybe I should treat that with something. I thought it was a yeast infection. Lacey armed herself at the pharmacy and went to war on her lady parts. And so I tried the lactic acid pills, like the oral pills, but I just put them in my vagina instead. That didn't work. And then I thought, well, maybe I'm not keeping myself clean enough.

And so I was religiously trying to keep my underwear clean. I was very careful about changing out of sweaty underwear and sweaty gym leggings or gym shorts. Lacey lives in Florida in the US and just like here in Australia, it can get pretty hot and sticky. Being in a swimsuit is very common and swimsuits don't really protect much. And I was afraid that if I got in the water,

to go for a swim. I was afraid that that would just emanate the smell, especially in summer. And that fear of stinking out the place haunted Lacey. Let's say I'm not in a swimsuit. I'm at work. If I walked by my co-worker's desk or stood

next to my coworker and let's say my vagina was about shoulder level or nose level with them, it made me worried that they could smell that and they would think that I was dirty or that that was my fault or that I don't take care of myself. Can you tell us like how soon after a shower or a bath would you start to smell yourself again? I think a couple hours probably. I could smell it in the shower with the heat of the shower but

But immediately after and once I'm towel dried off and my body is dry, it didn't really smell. But after a couple hours and maybe it was just because I was sitting at a desk and my nose was directly above it, I could smell it just a few hours later. So when did you know that you had to seek medical attention? Probably after a couple of months of trying everything I knew to try. And it would get worse around my period. And it was...

really obvious after my husband and I had sex. So after sex and, you know, we'd go and wash off, the smell was awful. And so if we combine that with having sex just around my period, that's when I knew after a couple of months of this not going away, that this is a problem. This is something that I, this is above my pay grade. I cannot fix this myself. There's no home remedy for this. Yeah.

The key condition I suppose we're looking out for if someone talks about an off vaginal odour is this condition, bacterial vaginosis. It's got a very characteristic smell. This is Deborah Bateson. She's a professor of practice and an expert in sexual health at the University of Sydney.

Deborah's seen and smelt a lot of bodies in the course of her work. The key thing is that your vagina does have a normal smell, so it's working out when it's different. So how do we know what is normal and what's not?

The key component is this, what we call microbiome, these healthy mix of bacteria in the vagina. And when those change, if there's an imbalance in that bacterial flora, we call it, then that's when you can get that change of smell. And it can indicate, of course, that there's something, you know, there's an infection.

When your husband can smell your fanny from across the other side of the room, like Lacey's could, clearly something's up. When things go really wrong, the culprit is often bacterial vaginosis or BV. I wanted to know how we get BV in the first place.

So that is caused by an imbalance, so a replacement of those healthy lactobacilli by other types of bacteria. So it shifts the pH of the vaginal fluid from slightly acidic to alkaline and it can cause a watery, greyish-green discharge, a very characteristic fishy smell. So that's how people describe it. Deborah, can you explain how bacterial vaginosis is different to thrush? Okay.

Candida, you know, thrush generally doesn't have a strong odour. It can have that sort of yeasty odour. Yeah. But the two are very different. Candida causes an itch. Yeah, OK. But bacterial vaginosis, it doesn't generally cause... Well, it doesn't cause an itch, but it does cause this smelly discharge, which can be very distressing.

After Lacey's home treatments didn't work, she decided it was time to get an expert on the case. I called my gynecologist and I told her, hey, I have a stinky vagina.

And she said, okay, we'll look into it. And the only thing she did was swab the inside of my vagina, smell the swab and say, yep, you have a stinky vagina. And didn't really help me after that. She just said, this is just how your vagina smells. And I knew she was wrong. Gosh.

So what did you do after that? Did you go to a second doctor immediately if you knew straight away that she was wrong? I did. I have a friend and his wife was a gynecologist and I went to her and she did the same test. She swabbed, she sniffed. There's a thing called a whiff test where they swab your vagina and they smell it and they say, yes, it stinks. And then she ran a bunch of tests and one of them was a bacteria panel.

And she came back and said, Lacey, you have no healthy bacteria in your vagina. None. And that's why it stinks. This new gyno diagnosed Lacey with bacterial vaginosis. Finally, she had a label and something she could treat. She prescribed me, I think it was a compounded boric acid calciferol.

Lacey had to insert these boric acid capsules into her vagina every night for a few weeks. Her BV would get better for a little while, but every time she got her period, it would come back again like an unwelcome, pungent house guest. I felt defeated and it was a very isolating experience and there's no better word for it because you don't know who you can talk to about it.

I had my husband and he knew, but he didn't have any answers. He was trying to be as supportive as possible, but he doesn't have a vagina. He has no idea what's going on downstairs. Neither do I. What was it like having sex when you had bacterial vaginosis? Terrifying. It was the last thing I wanted to do.

Because I had to smell it. He had to smell it. If we got any bodily fluids on the sheets, we had to wash the sheets. The smell was all encompassing. It was so strong. It was everywhere. And it was stressful. It was very stressful. Lacey, it seems like your husband was very understanding throughout all of this. After several times of this happening, he just said, well, you know, if this is what we're dealing with now, you know, this is it. And we'll deal with it together. I'll

yeah, it stinks and I'm not going to lie to you. And I'm like, well, I know it stinks. And if you lied to me, I'd be mad if you lied to me. But he was very cool about it. I think there's a taboo around anything to do with women's genitals.

This is Professor Deborah Bateson again. Now, while Lacey's husband was cool and supportive, plenty of other people still turn up their noses, get judgy and work to shame us about women's bodily functions. Vulva is still a taboo word. I think that people feel very anxious around that, not quite sure what it is and what the difference is. And vaginal odour, I think it is part of control of women. I think it's stigmatising, it's keeping, you know, women's sexuality locked away.

Okay, here's the thing. Sometimes it's not the vagina that's smelly. I've used toilets that smelt like the previous inhabitants' vulva. And sorry to be so blunt, but I could smell it clearly and it wasn't BV. It was more like...

B.O. Body odour. When we're talking about odours, sometimes you can mix it up as well with sweat, so the vagina doesn't sweat, there's no sweat glands in the vagina, but the skin of the vulva, the hair-bearing skin, there's sweat glands there. And certainly, you know, if you've been running or wearing tight lycra, and we know that, you know, that can create that sort of sweatiness, and that can obviously also add to the

the odour. Yeah, well, I wanted to talk about that. How does the vagina clean itself? Yeah, so it is this, you know, it's wonderful. There's this wonderful microbiome. I mean, it manages this healthy mix of bacteria, which will have subtle changes throughout the menstrual cycle, but it is your body's own regulation. It's

keeping things in check with this, what we know is a healthy microbiome. It's a microbiome that's got plenty of these, what we call lactobacilli, and they keep the vagina at a slightly acidic pH. Oh, it sounds like a yogurt-making machine!

And even though we've got this whole groovy little microbiome thing going on, there is a whole industry aimed at making us feel bad about how we smell, at making us feel like our vaginas are inherently revolting and trying to sell us odious shit that messes up the purity of our easy-o.

You certainly don't need vaginal deodorants to get your vagina to smell of, you know, rose petals or cucumbers or whatever, because that actually potentially is going to do more harm. Well, it's certainly not going to do any good and it may do harm by disrupting that microbiome and then you get replacement with unhealthy bacteria.

How should we clean our vulvas, Deborah? You can use soap, but avoid really heavily perfumed soap. But yes, you need to keep the outside skin clean and healthy. But just luckily in Australia, we're not so fond of the French, for instance, of douchings. And, you know, that can cause, you can imagine that disruption to the microbiome. Sure, sure.

And what about when we're getting our period? How does that affect the smell? Well, certainly there's a change over the reproductive life cycle. So, you know, that pleasant odour, that odour is going to be different. Say, you know, if you're pregnant, for instance, or after menopause, there's a change with the change of hormones over the reproductive cycle. But there may also be a change over the course of the menstrual cycle as well. And certainly you might notice a different odour, of course, at the time of menstruation.

So now we know, accept and surrender to the way our vag smells can vary. But what about women like Lacey, whose overwhelming odour was really affecting her day-to-day life? Lacey and her new gyno did some detective work to get to the bottom or top or front bottom of the course of her recurrent BV.

I had a copper IUD at the time. And she said, well, if you want to get your tubes tied since you're in a marriage, do you just want to do that? After Lacey had her IUD removed, things started looking up down south. I really think that there's probably a link between copper IUDs and recurrent BV.

It appears as though the bacteria will build up on the strings. It just causes a different environment in there. And that's what a copper IUD is supposed to do. It changes the environment inside your body. So that way it's hostile to sperm. And once I got that taken out,

the problem went away completely. You're kidding. So as soon as it was out, within days, you're back to just smelling like you used to? Yeah. I've had my IUD out for, and I've had my tubes tied for about almost 10 years now. And in the last 10 years, I've probably only had BV...

Two or three times. Side note, the IUD is bloody good contraception for a lot of people. I had one for 10 years and the only side effects were no periods and no period pain and no pregnancies, of course. But keep in mind, if you notice a change in the pong from your undies and you have an IUD, you might want to have a chat to your GP.

Interestingly, Dr Deb Bateson says that bacterial vaginosis presents more commonly in lesbians than heteros, and that is because of the greater use of sex toys, which can carry bad bacteria if used without fastidious attention to hygiene. Even though it might feel like it when you have it, it is not the end of the world if you get BV or thrush.

The key thing to know is that for both of those, there is treatment, so a course of antibiotics that your doctor can easily prescribe. There is a lot of work going on in this because we do know that around half of people will get the bacterial vaginosis back again.

What are some of the other possible causes of BV? Sometimes we know that contraceptive hormones as well as contraceptives, the IUD, for instance, copper IUDs, they can be in association with disruption to the microbiome and even to bacterial vaginosis.

Once someone has BV, the infection can keep coming back from time to time. In fact, around half of women treated for BV will have a recurrence within 6 to 12 months. Bummer. Researchers are working on ways to eradicate it for good, including a trial that's looking into treating sexual partners for BV. But there are some things that you can do right now to be kind to your coochie's microbiome.

Yeah, so I think the main thing is around keeping your vagina vulva as healthy as possible. So tight lycra and wearing cotton underwear and not wearing underwear to bed, all of those things, not using deodorants, just having good hygiene. And so it's just understanding your body, keeping that outside part clean. And again, if you're really bothered by it, then again, it's useful to go and see your doctor about it.

Hey, and since we're talking about women's fears around their vaginas, what about the fear that you've forgotten a tampon and it's sitting in there like a dead body in an ancient tomb? Over the course of many doctors' lives, we will have seen women where they've actually forgotten that they've had a tampon inside and that tampon has stayed there for quite a long time. Sometimes another tampon's been put in on top of the first one and that can cause a profuse, horrible discharge.

So ladies, if things are smelling off, there are things you can do. Check for lost tampons. Avoid wearing tight lycra for long periods.

wear cotton undies, let your baby breathe, wash your sex toys really well, ensure your sex partners wash their hands, and since they could possibly be carriers of BV, using condoms can help. Do not under any circumstances use vaginal deodorant and keep the outside clean with a bit of soap and water. But remember, as long as there are vaginas, they will have a smell.

Deborah reckons that the more we talk about it, the less shame we'll feel. Look, I really don't want to promote necessarily Gwyneth Paltrow's candle that smells like a vagina, but it has, you know, it's great that people are talking about it at the dinner table. And so it does break down that taboo. I think what we really need to do is start a school, in fact. So I think it really is around age-appropriate sex education,

which is understanding our bodies across all genders as well, sort of understanding what the female body is like, what the male body is like, and that vaginal discharge is a normal thing and not a taboo area. For Lacey, treating her BV, which had been hanging around like a bad smell for years...

was life-changing. It was so much more than just a smell. It was her sense of self, her horniness, her inner diva, her Mariah Carey. It all came back. I wanted to have all the sex. LAUGHTER

I wanted to have all the sex. And take off your clothes and just like pirouette and... Run around naked. Yes. When I realized it wasn't my fault and it wasn't anything that I had done to myself, the confidence boost after that, even if no one else could ever smell it, I knew it smelled. And that's really all that mattered to me was I was like, I know something's wrong. And when nothing was wrong anymore...

Just the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders.

Our bodies are amazing, sometimes weird, and often don't behave in the way that we expect them to. You heard Professor Bateson, we've got our own ecosystem down in our pants. We're basically the frickin' Daintree rainforest, okay? If you're worried that things are unusually ripe down there, go see your doctor. And if they do a whiff test and tell you it's stinky but there ain't nothing they can do about it, go and get a second opinion.

As a great singer called Mariah Carey once said, all I want for Christmas is a healthy music box. Hey, speaking of great singers, as a tribute to the Minj, we asked Melbourne-based comedian Sez, S-E-Z, Sez, to write a little ditty celebrating it in all its glory. Why say it when you can sing it, right?

Smelly vagina, here you are again. You visit me every now and then. Smelly vagina, are you okay? You always visit me when I'm just about to get laid. Smelly vagina, I'm not in. In fact, I think it's pretty.

I'm not a fan of you thinking that you run this place My downstairs should smell like flowers and not toxic waste Smelly vagina I'm drinking pineapple juice and tea But now the person sharing my seat on the bus just moved away from me

I already have to put up with you bleeding all the time And now you got the audacity to make my Pusswa smell like stale wine Smelly vagina To be fair you're a reproductive organ Yeah maybe I should be thanking you for all the invisible stuff you do At the end of the day whatever you smell like I got your back and I

And hey ladies, speaking of pongy, have you heard our episode about our fear of farting? Everyone does it, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a whole jar full of free shame when we let out a turd whistle. And that shame is disproportionately attached to women. My husband and I had been invited to a dinner with new families who had just started at the school and we were all gathered around the kitchen area.

I, for some reason, was right in the middle. And as we were talking, it was quite quiet. Out came, out of nowhere, this fart. I died. I died. Our fear of farting. Scroll back in your feed and have a whiff.

This podcast was produced on the lands of the Gundungurra and Gadigal peoples. Ladies We Need To Talk is mixed by Anne-Marie de Bettencourt. This episode was produced by Elsa Silberstein. Supervising producer is Tamar Kranzwick and our executive producer is Alex Lollback. This series was created by Claudine Ryan.