It’s natural that you’d feel a little freaked out when you get puffy and irritated below the belt. After all, your vagina is kind of important. But experts say a weird culprit could be behind your vaginal irritation: Your toilet paper.
“Toilet paper can irritate your vulva and your vagina, especially if you have sensitive skin,” says board-certified ob-gyn Pari Ghodsi, M.D. Michael Ingber, M.D., a urogynecologist at The Center for Specialized Women's Health, agrees, noting that TP can cause all kinds of infections if you don’t use it properly.
While you’ve no doubt been using toilet paper just fine for years, experts say these are a few TP-induced injuries you should keep an eye out for—and how to prevent them:
Microcuts
You read that right: Wiping too roughly or with a harsh toilet paper can create little cuts on your vulva. “The tissue in that area is very delicate, so you should make sure you’re not being too rough or traumatic when you wipe,” says Jessica Shepherd, M.D., an assistant professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology and director of Minimally Invasive Gynecology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago. These microcuts can lead to irritation, swelling, and even an infection if they’re not treated appropriately, Ingber says. That’s why experts recommend that you dab instead of wiping whenever you can.
You read that right: Wiping too roughly or with a harsh toilet paper can create little cuts on your vulva. “The tissue in that area is very delicate, so you should make sure you’re not being too rough or traumatic when you wipe,” says Jessica Shepherd, M.D., an assistant professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology and director of Minimally Invasive Gynecology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago. These microcuts can lead to irritation, swelling, and even an infection if they’re not treated appropriately, Ingber says. That’s why experts recommend that you dab instead of wiping whenever you can.
UTIs
It seems weird that the stuff you use to get rid of urine can cause a UTI, but here’s the deal, per Ingber: The female urethra (i.e. the spot where pee comes out of) is short and bacteria don’t have to travel far to get into your bladder. When you wipe from back to front, you can push poo particles, which can contribute to a UTI, forward and into your urethra where they can travel to your bladder and cause an infection. That’s why Ingber recommends wiping from front to back, which keeps that bacteria in the back where it should stay.
It seems weird that the stuff you use to get rid of urine can cause a UTI, but here’s the deal, per Ingber: The female urethra (i.e. the spot where pee comes out of) is short and bacteria don’t have to travel far to get into your bladder. When you wipe from back to front, you can push poo particles, which can contribute to a UTI, forward and into your urethra where they can travel to your bladder and cause an infection. That’s why Ingber recommends wiping from front to back, which keeps that bacteria in the back where it should stay.
Puffiness
A lot of toilet papers have fragrances, dyes, and other chemicals that can irritate your skin and cause you to puff up down there, says Ingber. And, he points out, if your TP is white, it may contain bleach, which can bother your vagina. Excessive wiping can also cause you to puff up, Ghodsi says, which is why you may want to try a softer toilet paper if you notice swelling down there.
A lot of toilet papers have fragrances, dyes, and other chemicals that can irritate your skin and cause you to puff up down there, says Ingber. And, he points out, if your TP is white, it may contain bleach, which can bother your vagina. Excessive wiping can also cause you to puff up, Ghodsi says, which is why you may want to try a softer toilet paper if you notice swelling down there.
Yeast Infections
Fragrances in your TP can make your vagina puff up, but the chemicals in them can also disrupt the normal pH of your vagina and lead to a yeast infection, Shepherd says. If you think your TP is causing repeat infections, switch to a hypoallergenic type, Ghodsi recommends.
Fragrances in your TP can make your vagina puff up, but the chemicals in them can also disrupt the normal pH of your vagina and lead to a yeast infection, Shepherd says. If you think your TP is causing repeat infections, switch to a hypoallergenic type, Ghodsi recommends.
If you notice your vagina is having issues and you recently changed toilet papers, stopped using the new one immediately, says Ghodsi. But, if the problems persist, it might be time to visit your doctor—she can prescribe something to help with the symptoms and look into whether something else is going on down there.
