Health Talk! Ladies, it’s unhealthy to wear panties to bed!

Hello Kfbers, we have got a very important topic today on Know Your Own Health.
For the newbies, KFB Health Talk is a column where health–related issues are examined to help us get more conscious about our health.

Ladies, do you know it is unhealthy to wear panties to bed?

 

 Except when you are having your monthly period, you have no business wearing pants to bed!

What reasons do doctors have for this ‘prescription’? These ones…

• Physicians say the female genital needs to ‘breathe’ in order to maintain its pH balance and prevent fungi and odour. So, going to bed without your pants on will aerate your nether region.

• Family Physician, Dr. Grace Obong, says during the day, women wear a variety of panties and tight outfits that hardly allow their privates to breathe. She says though it’s advisable and absolutely preferable to wear cotton panties, many women still opt for polyester panties, with the attendant heating up of the genital area while the day lasts.

• For those who may not like to go to sleep without having pants on, Obong recommends wearing of boxers or pyjamas.

• Experts at womenshealth.gov say the vagina normally has a balance of mostly “good” bacteria and fewer “harmful” bacteria. However, a condition, called bacterial vaginosis, develops when the balance changes. This may lead to abnormal vaginal discharge with an unpleasant odour, while some women may complain of a strong fish-like odour, especially after sex.

• Other symptoms may include burning when urinating, itching around the outside of the vagina, and irritation; while some women with bacterial vaginosis have no symptoms at all,” Obong adds.

• Wearing panties to bed can lead to too much moist in the female genital area, and this can lead to vaginal yeast infection, most commonly due to the fungus Candida albicans.

• Again, Certified Sexuality Counselor, Evelyn Resh, says, “I do not recommend that women wear underwear to bed. Taking a break from underwear for the eight or so hours that you’re asleep gives you an opportunity to ‘air-out’ down there! Best to have an underwear-free zone while sleeping.”

• And while yeast infection is not a sexually transmitted illness, physicians say some men will develop symptoms such as itching and a rash on the penis after having sexual contact with an infected partner.

• The online physician, Dr. Mehmet Oz, counsels, “It’s time to go au naturel. You don’t want it to be so moist down there. Let it dry out a little bit.” The reason for this timely advice, Oz says, is because the underpants can abrade on your skin a little bit, and can cause pimples. And you don’t want that.