- Vaginas host billions of good bacteria that keep them healthy.
- Periods, semen, and infections can alter the scent of your vagina.
- If you're concerned about the way your vagina smells, try probiotics or go to the gynecologist.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Every vagina has a smell. Its scent can shift with menstrual cycles or sexual activity, but these changes are normal, experts say.
"A lot of women are told from an early age that the vagina is dirty and smelly," Dr. Lauren Streicher, gynecologist and author of Slip Sliding Away: Turning Back the Clock on Your Vagina, told Insider.
When Streicher sees patients that are concerned about their smell, most of the time, nothing is wrong.
"It doesn't smell like perfume or something like that, but it doesn't have a foul odor," Dr. Mary Minkin, a clinical professor in the department of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences at the Yale University School of Medicine, said.
That's because the vagina is home to billions of healthy bacteria that keep it "healthy and happy," Minkin said.
These healthy bacteria in the vagina create an acidic environment, which fends off bad bacteria.
Periods and semen change your vaginal scent
Your vaginal scent may change for many reasons, one of which is sex.
Semen has a different PH level - a scale to measure acidity and basicity - than your vagina. The fluid can cause an "overgrowth of funkier organisms," Minkin said, which can alter your vagina scent.
Blood has a different PH level, too, and can change your smell during menstruation. Especially if the blood is old.
"Fortunately, in most cases, it's a temporary thing," Streicher said.
Infections, too, trigger a change in scent
Although antibiotics are great for killing bad bacteria, it "ends up killing some of the good guys in the vagina too," Minkin said, which can lead to a yeast infection that emits a sweet odor.
If your vagina smells fishy, it's possible that you have other infections.
"The most common description that I hear for people as far as what's the stinky odor that they don't like is dead fish," Minkin said. This odor can be caused by an overgrowth of bad bacteria, otherwise known as bacterial vaginosis.
Trichomoniasis, and an amoeba-like organism that swims around and spreads through sex, is another infection that emits a fishy smell.
The vagina is a "self-cleaning oven"
Even though the vagina is a "self-cleaning oven," Minkin said, there are a number of steps you can take to clean your vagina if you're worried about odor.
Because vaginal tissue is sensitive, Minkin suggests gently rinsing the inner labia with soap and water, but "I discourage people from doing too much in the vagina itself," Minkin said.
If you suspect that the bacteria in your vagina is off-balance after sex or a period, Minkin said you can buy RepHresh, a vaginal gel that restores the vagina back to its healthy, acidic environment. You can also use RepHresh in the pill form, too.
If your vaginal odor gets worse, or there's irritation, Minkin said you should see a gynecologist. Especially because if you do have bacterial vaginosis, it can help gonorrhea or chlamydia grow.
Streicher recommends going to the gynecologist if an unpleasant odor persists.