(Picture: Ella Byworth/Shutterstock)

I pride myself on three things: my ability to apply liquid eyeliner without breaking down in tears, the fact that I can confidently say I drink enough water, and my knowledge of vaginal care.

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But I’d never considered that two of these three things could play into each other – and that an inability to do one thing correctly could damage another.

Then I saw an article from Glamour, which proclaims: ‘if you’re dehydrated, your vagina might be too’.

Women’s health expert Sherry A. Ross told Glamour that when you don’t drink enough water, the vulva and the inside of the vagina are likely to be drier.


She went on to note that failing to drink enough water can cause not only vaginal dryness (which makes sex tricky and painful), but also itchiness, burning, and pain down there.



I’ll be honest. I’d never considered that I needed to be drinking eight glasses of water specifically to make sure my vagina was lubricated. I just assumed it’d do that by itself.

We reached out to Dr Vanessa Mackay, spokesperson for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), to find out if we really can expect to cure ourselves of vaginal dryness by upping our water intake.

Her advice? Nah. Probably not.

‘The human body needs water or other fluids to function properly and to avoid dehydration,’ Vanessa told metro.co.uk.

‘While there are many health benefits of drinking water, there is no correlation between dehydration and vaginal dryness.’

So that’s us told.

Dr Mackay went on to note that vaginal dryness is a common issue caused by all sorts of things, such as breastfeeding, childbirth, not being aroused before sex, contraception side-effects, and cancer treatment – so it’s important we don’t wellsplain it away by telling women to ‘just drink more water’ rather than tackling the root cause of the issue.

(Picture: Minerva Freire/metro.co.uk)

Not that we’re recommending skipping water, obviously.

Drinking plenty is good for keeping the entire body running smoothly – and that includes your vagina.

But it’s not a magical fix for vaginal dryness, which can often be a sign of something else going on (which you shouldn’t ignore in favour of keeping a big Evian bottle on your desk).

Our advice? Yes, drink water. But not because you think it’ll transform your vag into a lush rainforest of lubed up perfection.

If you’re experiencing uncomfortable dryness, that’s an issue that you should bring up with a healthcare professional, rather than attempting to power through and fix it yourself with water and the power of positive thought.

‘There are several self-help treatments for vaginal dryness including lubricants and vaginal moisturisers,’ says Dr Mackay.

‘If these aren’t effective, or if symptoms are severe, women should seek advice from a healthcare professional who may recommend vaginal oestrogen or hormone replacement therapy.’

Look after your vagina.

If it’s not looking after itself, talk to a professional instead of trying at-home remedies or spending money on fancy, unnecessary, and often damaging, products. It’s really that simple.



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