On TikTok, more and more women are followers of the “vaginal sauna”, a practice that is nevertheless dangerous

According to a gynecologist, the steam released during this strange practice is harmful to the intimate flora.

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Have you ever thought of placing your vagina on top of a container filled with boiling herb-infused water? It's normal. However, this practice, called vaginal sauna or “yoni steam”, is more and more trendy, especially on the TikTok platform.

Indeed, for several weeks, hundreds of women and young women have filmed themselves preparing their sauna, squatting without underwear on top of their mixture for several minutes, before posting their video with the hashtags #yoni #yonisteaming or #femininehygiene. The keyword "yoni steam" alone has 51.8 million views on the platform.

Risk of mycosis and burns

The purpose of the vaginal sauna according to its followers? Purify your vagina, prevent dryness, soothe menstrual pain or even boost your fertility, explains an article published on the Elle magazine website. Except that this practice, popularized by Gwyneth Paltrow in 2015, is actually bad for our vaginal flora. Nasrine Callet, gynecologist at the Curie Institute, interviewed by the women's media, even strongly advises against it. No scientific study has recognized the benefits of this method.

On TikTok, more and more women are followers of the

"The water and heat mixture is not good: the mucous membranes inside the vagina will keep the humidity, which is a factor in the proliferation of mycoses and fungi", explains the gynecologist. The “yoni steam” can thus disrupt the vaginal flora, cause dryness and facilitate infections. It is also important to remember that the vagina is a "self-cleaning" organ and therefore does not need to be purified.

While heat does reduce menstrual pain, which comes from the uterus and not the vagina, Nasrine Callet points out, the vaginal sauna method can create burns when the water is too hot. This high temperature "can also aggravate pelvic circulation, which promotes the appearance of varicose veins", adds the specialist. It is therefore preferable to stick to our good old hot water bottle placed on the lower abdomen… And never do a vaginal sauna.

On the same subject ⋙I tested the vaginal sauna that Gwyneth Paltrow loves

⋙"I really have a beautiful vagina" (Maeva Ghennam): What if we finally learned to love our vulvas?

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