Can 'Yoni Teas' Really Make Your Vagina Smell Nice? A Doctor Weighs In
What's the deal with so-called 'yoni teas'? Here's what Health's medical editor Dr. Raj thinks of the wellness trend.
Yoni teas, made with a variety of herbs and flavors, like pineapple and kiwi, are touted as helping cleanse the vagina and making it smell nice. Select spas also use these concoctions to create a steam infusion that supposedly goes into the vaginal canal to reap the same benefits. But the short answer to your second question is no, you don’t need to sip yoni teas or do steams to detox your vagina.
RELATED: How 'Yoni' Became the Wellness World's Go-To Word for Vagina
Your vagina has natural lubricants to keep it clean. Simply rinsing the outer genital area with water should be all you need to keep it fresh. There’s also no research to prove whether consuming certain sweet flavors can have any effect on the smell or taste of the vagina. More important, inserting herbs or hot liquids or even exposing your genitals to steam for a prolonged period could irritate or burn the sensitive tissues or disrupt the healthy flora that reside in your vagina. Just let your V be!
Health’s medical editor, Roshini Rajapaksa, MD, is assistant professor of medicine at the NYU School of Medicine.