text: my friends say that douching is an excellent clensing ritual? i don't know. is douching for me??? i have a smelly, fat, hairy, vagina.  i have tried all the creams and ointments but to my misfortune that pesky fish-like smell persists.  i have recently been informed, via the oprah winfrey show, of the tradition of douching and am unsure of the safety of my vagina and what i do with the used douche water afterwards.  but it is my beleif that if it is good for oprah's giner it good for mine.  please help me sort through the pros and cons of douching and how to deal with the difficulty of the dreaded "rotton crotch!" is douching healthy? simply stated, the answer is "no."  according to a study published by the american journal of public health, douching may reduce a woman's chance of becoming pregnant during a particular month by approximately thirty percent.   regular vaginal douching changes the delicate chemical balance of the vagina and can make a woman more susceptible to infections. douching can introduce new bacteria into the vagina which can spread up through the cervix, uterus, and fallopian tubes. researchers have found that women who douche regularly experience more vaginal irritations and infections such as bacterial vaginosis, and an increased number of sexually transmitted diseases.   furthermore, regular users of vaginal douches face a 73% greater risk of developing pelvic inflammatory disease (pid) -- a chronic condition that can lead to infertility, or even death, if left untreated. bacterial vaginosis and pid can have serious adverse affects on pregnancy including infections in the baby, labor problems, and preterm delivery.   for these reasons, douching is no longer recommended as a safe or healthy way to routinely clean the vagina. the only safe and healthy way to clean the vagina is to let the vagina clean itself. the delicate chemical balance of the vagina is very sensitive and easily disrupted by routine vaginal douching.   how does the vagina clean itself? the vagina cleans itself naturally with its own mucous secretions. when bathing or showering use warm water and gentle unscented soap to cleanse the outer areas of the vagina. feminine hygiene products such as soaps, powders, and sprays are not necessary and may lead to irritation of sensitive tissues