What is a Healthy Vaginal pH?

 

pH isn't just for chemistry and swimming pool safety; your vagina actually has a pH and it plays a very important role in your overall vaginal health. RepHresh wants you to be aware of your vaginal health and empowered to maintain your pH. Read on to see why vaginal pH is so important and what your vagina has in common with beer (seriously!).

What is Vaginal pH?

The pH of a substance is a measurement of how acidic or basic it is, on a scale of 0 to 14, with the lower numbers representing greater acidity. Vaginal pH is a measure of the acidity of the vaginal environment and in healthy women vaginal pH is typically 3.5 to 4.5. This of course is slightly acidic, falling a little below a neutral rating of 7.

The Importance of pH

We all know that yeast and bacteria affect the vaginal environment. But, did you know that a major factor in vaginal health is pH? An important part of keeping everything in balance "down there" is the vaginal pH. When your vaginal pH becomes unbalanced, odor-causing microorganisms can flourish causing vaginal odor and discomfort (no fun!). Studies show that vaginal issues often occur when vaginal pH is unbalanced. By maintaining a healthy vaginal pH, you can help reduce your risk of vaginal issues.

Causes of Elevated pH

An elevated pH can be caused by normal everyday events, like the following:

  • Your Period: Blood has a pH of 7.4
  • Intercourse: Semen has a pH of 7.1 to 8
  • Hygiene Products: Soap can have a pH of over 8
  • Hormone fluctuations: This includes menopause, pregnancy and your monthly cycle
  • Diet and exercise
  • Tampons: Since tampons retain the "fluids that cause pH to increase, [they] can contribute to the problem, especially if you 'forget' a tampon and leave it in too long." (Dr. Oz)

What Your Vagina and Beer Have in Common

In the words of Dr. Lauren Streicher, Associate Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern University, your vagina and beer have something in common, and it isn't just that they both make men have bad judgment! Believe it or not, the pH of common beer is actually similar to the pH of your vagina. Remember that a healthy vaginal pH is 3.5 to 4.5 and the pH of beer is 4.5. As shown in the episode of Windy City Live featuring Dr. Streicher, your healthy vaginal pH is closer to that of beer than water, soy milk and egg whites.

Maintaining a Healthy Vaginal pH

It is very important to maintain a healthy pH of 3.5 to 4.5. RepHresh Gel is clinically shown to maintain your healthy vaginal pH in the optimum range. Maintaining vaginal pH within the healthy range can help reduce risk of vaginal issues. Just one application of RepHresh Gel lasts for 3 days, so you can use it a couple times a week to constantly maintain a healthy pH or you can use RepHresh Gel when unbalanced pH is most likely to occur:

  • After your period
  • Before or after sex
  • After douching
  • For freshness anytime

Who would have thought that your vagina was so delicate? Keeping pH balanced will help maintain health and happiness of your vagina. For help maintaining your vaginal pH, try RepHresh Gel.

Learn more about vaginal pH (and beer) with Dr. Lauren Streicher on Windy City Live.