Do you know your way around ‘down under’? Doctor busts common myths about women’s bodies
HOW well do you know your bits?
Most women, it turns out, are shockingly ill-informed.
A new book, The Gynae Geek, is meant to change that. Author Dr Anita Mitra is an NHS gynaecologist determined to help women better understand their reproductive system.
Here she debunks 20 myths about the mysterious “down below”.
MYTH: My cycle is five weeks, so I’m not normal. Many women believe anything outside a cycle of 28 days is irregular. But only about 15 per cent of women have this length of cycle. If your period comes, for example, every 26 to 30 days, that is regular for you. An “irregular” cycle is one there is no clear way of predicting.
MYTH: Fallopian tubes stay rigidly fixed in place. Actually, fallopian tubes flap around, picking up eggs like a Mexican wave. Even with just one tube working, they are mobile enough to pick up eggs from either ovary and you can still get pregnant.
MYTH: Toxic shock syndrome is caused by the chemicals in tampons. TSS is actually caused by bacteria and has nothing to do with any kind of chemical in the tampon itself.
Insertion or removal can cause tiny little micro-tears in the vaginal wall, which allow bacteria to enter the bloodstream. But it is incredibly rare, with only about 40 cases a year in the UK.
MYTH: My periods will stay the same my whole life. Teenagers often worry if they are only having periods every two or three months. But this is quite common when your periods start because the hormone cycles are still synchronising, and also coming up to the menopause when you have fewer eggs left.
Cycles are typically shortest and most regular in your twenties and thirties.
MYTH: I’ve not had a period for ages. I must be ill or pregnant. There could be many reasons for this. Your body is very clever and able to stop your periods if you are stressed, over-exercising or not eating well. This is a survival tactic to conserve energy for more important things than making hormones.
Do visit your doctor to be on the safe side, but do not assume the worst.
MYTH: I have cysts on my ovaries. I must have PCOS. About a quarter of women have ovaries with a polycystic appearance and it is particularly common in younger girls who have started their periods in the last few years.
However, it does not automatically mean you have polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) if you do not have any of the other classic symptoms.
MYTH: I can’t get pregnant during my period. Sadly, blood is not a contraceptive. Yes, you are most fertile around ovulation.
But you can still get pregnant during your period, particularly if you have a short cycle, meaning you will ovulate very close to your period. There is also a slightly higher risk of getting an STI during your period, due to changes in the immune system of the cervix. Use contraception.
MYTH: I should buy special products to clean my vagina. No, your vagina is self-cleaning. Discharge, containing old cells that need to come away, does this and gravity helps it along nicely.
Wipes and washes can just irritate the area and kill off healthy bacteria. Do not even think of a “steam clean” either — you could end up with burns to your labia.
MYTH: Smoking won’t affect me down there. When you smoke, your vagina smokes too. Nicotine has been found in the vaginal discharge of smokers (even passive smokers).
Smoking increases your risk of thrush, bacterial vaginosis and vaginal dryness too.
MYTH: A “designer vagina” will look better. Despite some interest in surgery to “neaten up” the labia, symmetry is overrated. No other body part is truly symmetrical — we have all got one foot that’s bigger than the other, eyebrows that do not match.
There is little evidence to show that surgery improves pain, sexual function or how women feel about their genitals either.
MYTH: Having lots of sex means I will lose elasticity. Regardless of what teenage boys in the playground said, this is not true. Your vagina is very elastic and can expand enough to let a baby out (and other objects in) but it always shrinks back. While having a baby may change the shape of your vagina slightly, having sex will not.
MYTH: The clitoris is a tiny bud. Actually, your clitoris is shaped like the wishbone of a chicken. The clitoral head, about the size of a small pea, is the bit you can see but extending down either side under the skin are two “arms”, each up to 7cm long.
MYTH: The withdrawal method is pretty sound. It really isn’t. The withdrawal method is like playing Russian roulette with a penis instead of a gun.
The quoted failure rate of withdrawal is up to 24 per cent and one study showed that 37 per cent of pre-ejaculatory fluid contains healthy, mobile sperm, ie the kind that get you pregnant.
MYTH: Condoms are the best way to prevent pregnancy. Actually, it is the Pill. Yes, condoms are 98 per cent effective with perfect use, but the average person’s clumsy or lazy efforts make them only 82 per cent effective.
MYTH: Being on the Pill will make it harder for me to get pregnant in future. Hormonal contraception is completely reversible and does not have a long-term impact on fertility after you stop using it. Pill users do not take any longer to get pregnant after stopping, compared to condom users. The same is true for the contraceptive ring, implant, Mirena and copper coils.
The contraceptive injection is the one to avoid if planning on getting pregnant straight after using it.
MYTH: Abortions make you less fertile. There is no evidence to suggest this. For a start, more than a third of women who have an abortion each year have had at least one previously.
MYTH: You can’t get an STI through oral sex. Gonorrhoea, herpes and HPV can infect the mouth and throat as tissue there is very similar to that found in the vagina or penis. Chlamydia, syphilis and HIV can also be transmitted, although the chances are lower.
MYTH: Only dirty stop-outs get HPV. I always describe HPV as the common cold of the cervix. By the age of 50, at least 90 per cent of women will have been infected with a high-risk HPV. But only 0.75 per cent get cervical cancer because the immune system clears the infection in most women. If you do not clear it, you will start to get changes in the cells — and that is what your smear test is there to pick up.
MYTH: I’ve tried for more than three months to get pregnant so I must be infertile. You should try to get pregnant for a year before going to see a doctor — 84 per cent of couples will conceive within one year of having regular, unprotected sex, 92 per cent within two years. So don’t panic if it doesn’t happen straight away.
MYTH: I should freeze my eggs as early as possible. Your eggs decrease in number and quality as you age, which makes it more difficult to have a baby either naturally or through IVF.
But if you freeze your eggs at the age of 30 and use them at 40, your risk of miscarriage and genetic abnormalities is the same as a 30-year-old’s.
But you can only legally keep frozen eggs for ten years (if frozen for social not medical reasons) so pick your time wisely.
- The Gynae Geek: Your No-Nonsense Guide to “Down-There” Healthcare by Dr Anita Mitra is out now (Harper Thorsons, £14.99).