Vaginal douching can increase risk of contracting HPV, study finds

'The vagina contains more bacteria than anywhere else in the body after the bowel, but the bacteria are there for a reason'

(Rex)

Vaginal douching can increase the risk of contracting human papillomavirus (HPV), a new study has found.

While many women douche to clean their vaginas and rid themselves of unwanted odours, the negative long-term effects can potentially be very serious.

Researchers from the University of Texas studied the relationship between douching and HPV in 1,271 women aged between 20 and 49, who participated in a 2004 nationwide survey.

The study, published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, found douching increased the likelihood of a woman being infected with a greater number of strains by 26 per cent, ACHS reports.

More worrying, douching was found to increase the risk of infection with a greater number of cancer-causing HPV strains rises by 40 per cent.

Vaginal douching has also been found to nearly double a woman's risk of contracting ovarian cancer, according to a new nationwide US survey by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

The NHS adivses women top avoid douching as it can disrupt normal vaginal bacteria and make it more susceptible to infections and inflammations.

Professor Ronnie Lamont, spokesperson for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, writes on the NHS website: "The vagina contains more bacteria than anywhere else in the body after the bowel, but the bacteria are there for a reason.

"I can't think of any circumstances where douches are helpful, because all they do is wash out everything that's in the vagina, including all the healthy bacteria."