My vagina smells after oral sex
I am 26 years old. Two years ago, I got another boyfriend after separating with the first one. Unfortunately, after him performing oral sex on me, my vagina gets a foul smell. Does he have an STD?
Faith
Dear Faith,
Every woman has a natural vaginal odour with the normal scent changing throughout a woman’s menstrual cycle. Because the presence of smell after sometime will not be detected by the nose, having had a smell at one time a person will fear that the smell still exists even when it doesn’t.
A number of women even when they have a normal odour will want to do away with it including using scented products ending up with a worse odour and allergic reactions among other problems. It is likely that you actually have no serious vaginal odour because then, your boyfriend would not perform oral sex on you. That said, a strong odour can be a sign of a sexually transmitted infection, particularly trichomoniasis.
A woman’s vagina naturally has some small organisms known as normal flora with good ones that make protective acid (Dordelins lactobacilli) balancing out the bad ones like Gardnerella vaginalis. If the balance is upset with the bad bacteria overgrowing, a condition known as bacterial vaginosis will happen, leading to a foul fishy odour. Using saliva in the vagina, too much sex with the new partner, too many sex partners or just a new sex partner can upset the natural bacteria in the vagina, risking a vaginal odour.
Not all vaginal odours are caused by an infection, with cancer of the cervix, poor hygiene or tight-fitting non-cotton undies that do not breathe causing sweat and bacteria to get trapped resulting in a bad odour. Also eating spiced foods, onions, asparagus, broccoli, red meat, and dairy can alter the normal acidity of the vagina, producing an unusual vaginal odour. Eating fruits such as pineapple may reduce this smell.
Smell can also come from semen of a man who has taken long without being intimate, one eating the above foods or one with a prostate infection all which require addressing by a doctor. Please visit your doctor for a checkup because you may have a disease condition which may be causing the vaginal odour.
