You've all heard horror stories of that one friend's-cousin's-classmate who put some random object inside her vagina during a heated moment and ended up in the hospital with an embarrassing story—and maybe even some serious physical damage. So what's actually dangerous to put in there? We talked to a few health professionals to break it down. Here's what to steer clear of...

1. Douches

Some women like to use douches to clean the vagina, but in actuality, this is totally unnecessary. It can also be dangerous because, according to Dr. Alyssa Dweck, M.D., a gynecologist and Assistant Clinical Professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, it can cause "a horrible imbalance of the typical bacteria that is supposed to be in the vagina and actually cause an infection." Douching is a known culprit when it comes to pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and bacterial vaginosis. If you're worried about keeping your vagina clean, the best thing you can do is wash your vulva with soap and water when you take a shower, being careful not to put any soap inside your vagina. See a doctor if you think something smells off. Ultimately, your vagina is self-cleaning, so it doesn't need your help to make it cleaner.

2. Steam

Yes, steaming your vagina at the spa is totally a trend these days, and yes, it's exactly what it sounds like. "They sit on a specific type of spa with no underwear, on special chairs that have herbal infused steam coming out of them, and they steam their bottom," shares Dweck. "And while any sort of warm treatment could feel good and enhance blood supply to the area, we've seen some burns come out of this and irritation from the types of herbs, so I would use significant caution of that. I'm not sure how effective this is to do anything anyway."

3. Tea tree oil

"If you're using household oil as a lubricant, you need high-grade quality oil, not what you use in your kitchen to fry food," says Dr. Raquel Dardik, M.D., a gynecologist and Associate Professor of Gynecology at NYU Langone Medical Center. "And you want to use oil that is pH neutral, so for example, almond oil, coconut oil, olive oil, probably okay." What you don't want to use is tea tree oil, which can cause scary chemical burns: "it's incredibly caustic and will cause a vaginal burn, so probably not okay."

4. Chocolate syrup

"All that stuff has sugar which will change the bacteria and yeast proportions which can cause infections. Those substances can also be irritating to the vaginal skin, so it might seem like a good idea at the time, but you may have either vaginal irritation or a vaginal infection afterwards," says Dardik.

5. Whipped cream

"I would not recommend putting it inside the vagina," says Dweck. "It's really tough to get this stuff out, especially if it's causing a reaction. Fair enough for sexual play if you want to put this stuff on the vulva or other portions of the body and get an erotic experience—that's fine. But I wouldn't advise putting it inside."

6. Vaseline

This is occasionally thought of as an easy form of lubricant, but according to Dweck, Vaseline or any other type of petroleum product can actually be source of infection in the vagina.

7. Yeast infection home remedies, like yogurt-soaked tampons

According to Dweck, "Sometimes when people have a yeast infection and they feel like [yogurt on a tampon] is a more natural way to treat it. Probably not a great idea. Bacteria and yeast love dark, moist places so I think that could be causing of infection." If you suspect you have a yeast infection, get checked out by a doctor and if she gives her okay, treat it with Monistat, an easy over-the-counter treatment, instead of yogurt.

8. Fruits and vegetables

For starters, the old wives' tale is a lie: vegetables cannot take root inside your vagina and grow. There are some major concerns with putting veggies in there, though, according to Dardik. "Vegetables have pesticides, so you're putting pesticides in your vagina which I don't really recommend, and you can have them break off and have little bits and pieces that stay there for rather unhealthy amounts of time which, again, I don't recommend. But nothing takes root, it'll just rot."