What Is Vaginal pH Balance Anyway?

Having a stable pH is key to maintaining ddddssss body’s everyday functioning, including digestion and fighting off infections and diseases. For example, the acidity of your stomach helps it break down food and kill harmful bacteria.

‌The vagina’s natural pH level is about 3.8 to 4.5, which means it’s on the acidic side. Your vagina is home to different types of healthy, acid-producing bacteria and it also regularly produces acid-containing fluid that prevents dryness and maintains the delicate balance of its environment. This acidity serves a protective function, as it inhibits the growth of harmful bacteria, parasites, and fungi. Therefore, maintaining your vagina’s pH balance (i.e., keeping it within the optimal range of around 3.8 to 4.5) allows the beneficial bacteria to flourish while making the environment less hospitable to unwanted, potentially harmful organisms.

Many factors can contribute to these imbalances, so we’ve outlined a few of the most common ones. 

A little-known fact is that semen’s pH levels vary from your vagina’s, so having unprotected sex can temporarily alter its pH balance and encourage the growth of harmful bacteria. However, individual responses can vary, and many women have unprotected sex without experiencing pH changes that lead to infections. So while this is not a reason not to have sex, it’s definitely a reason to be picky about who you let in 😉

Another factor involves the products that go into your vagina.Indeed, douching your vagina, using lubricants that are not made to match your vagina’s pH levels, or washing with chemical soaps or other products with highly artificial ingredients disrupts this natural balance and may cause unwanted bacterial growth.

Lastly, antibiotics can also affect the flora of your vagina, both the “good” and “bad” bacteria

An unpleasant smell, unusual discharge, itching, and burning are all signs of unbalanced vaginal pH levels.

If you’re someone whose vaginal flora is particularly sensitive and you notice some of these symptoms regularly after sex or after periods when you’re having more sex than usual, barrier methods likes condoms will help keep your natural vaginal pH balanced – not to mention protection from STIs.

You can also keep your vagina healthy by choosing underwear that’s made of natural, breathable materials, like cotton.

Choose lubes that are intentionally created with your vaginal pH in mind, like our Sayl Intimacy Serum.

Similarly, be very mindful of how you clean your vulva and vagina and intentional about the products you use — remember: your vagina is self-cleaning and you don’t need to use anything more than water. Any product telling you otherwise or that your vulva should smell of vanilla and flowers  is lying to you. 

Lastly, a good probiotic can help restore balance, especially after a course of antibiotics.