Proper genital hygiene: how, when and why. What is feminine intimate hygiene

Intimate hygiene is such a delicate topic that people usually try not to touch upon it. However, such silence can lead to big troubles.

Rules of intimate hygiene

To wash, you should not use soap, but only warm water or special compositions for intimate hygiene that contain substances that do not disturb the acidity of the vaginal environment and create conditions for the growth of lactobacilli. You need to wash yourself with clean hands, at least twice a day.
The direction of the water jet when washing and hand movements should be directed from front to back, so as not to introduce infection into the vagina from the anus (by the way, after bowel movements, the movement of toilet paper should be in the same direction). After washing, moisture is not wiped off, but blotted so as not to accidentally scratch the delicate surfaces.
The area around the anus should be washed with regular toilet soap, because intimate hygiene gels do not provide the necessary disinfection for this area.
The towel should be clean, soft, and should only be used by its owner.
During menstruation, you should not take a bath or swim in a pool or body of water. It is better to avoid sexual intercourse. During menstruation, sanitary pads should be changed at least four to five times a day.
If you use vaginal tampons, remember that you need to change your tampon every two hours. In most developed countries, doctors do not recommend using tampons regularly.
It is advisable not to constantly use sanitary pads unless there is a special reason for it. Women's daily discharge is normally so insignificant that they do not require the use of pads. If you are concerned about increased vaginal discharge between periods, it is better to consult a gynecologist.
Douching (rinsing the inside of the vagina with various solutions) should only be done if prescribed by a gynecologist. They are not only unnecessary for regular hygiene, but can also seriously damage the vaginal microflora.

Why is it necessary to pay so much attention to such seemingly simple things?

The fact is that the “center” of the female reproductive system - the uterine cavity - should normally be sterile so that the developing embryo is not damaged by bacteria or viruses.

The vaginal opening is anatomically located near the anus, so it is necessary to pay increased attention to the peculiarities of feminine hygiene in order to avoid infection in the woman’s internal genital organs. It is also necessary to avoid creating favorable conditions for the proliferation of pathogens in the perineal area.

The uterus becomes especially vulnerable to infections during periods such as menstruation, since during menstruation there is no protective plug of mucus in the cervix.

In addition to the mucus barrier in the cervix, the path to microorganisms is blocked by bacteria that inhabit the vagina. The normal microflora of this organ consists of 90% lactobacilli that secrete lactic acid. The acidic environment of the vagina inhibits most pathogenic bacteria. If for some reason the environment in the vagina becomes alkaline rather than acidic, the number of lactobacilli is greatly reduced, and other microbes can occupy the vacated space. This condition is called dysbiosis, and if the anaerobic flora predominates - bacterial vaginosis.

The simplest and most common cause of a violation of the acid-base balance in the vagina is the entry of alkaline soap suds into it while washing. It's okay if this happens once. But constant alkaline “blows” lead to serious disturbances of the microflora, the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria, and, accordingly, inflammatory disease of the female genital area.

The protective capabilities of the genital organs depend on the woman’s age. Until the age of 17-18, that is, before the onset of puberty, the microflora of a girl’s vagina is easily disrupted by any adverse effects. Its stability also decreases in women who have reached menopause. During these periods of life, the rules of intimate hygiene must be observed especially carefully.

Often men do not think about basic hygiene standards. But not only male strength, but also health depends on their observance.

As practice shows, not every man is competent in matters of personal hygiene. Taking a shower once every few days is not enough, and sometimes even unsafe for your health.

Cleanliness Skill

Parents should familiarize their child with the first hygiene rules in infancy, and he must follow them throughout his life. With age, when a boy’s hormonal background begins to change, observing simple hygiene standards will help him avoid many troubles, including inflammatory diseases of the skin and genital organs.

Personal hygiene includes a set of hygienic actions, such as a daily general shower, care of the genitals, perineum and armpits. By the way, it is better to remove hair in the groin and armpits - this will allow you to more thoroughly care for the skin of delicate areas.

Water procedures

Many inflammatory diseases of the male genital area can be avoided if you take your usual water procedures seriously. A man's day should begin and end with a shower.

The water temperature can be adjusted as desired, you just have to remember that it is advisable to rinse the groin area with a cool stream - the genitals should not be overheated.

A bidet is a necessary thing that can greatly facilitate daily hygiene. As a cleanser for intimate hygiene, it is best to choose special gels and foams that have a neutral pH. It is advisable not to use feminine products - they have an acidic environment, while men need an alkaline one. In this case, neutral products with plant extracts are suitable.

Intimate hygiene

A man, like a woman, needs to perform personal hygiene at least 2 times a day - morning and evening. During the day, smegma accumulates under the foreskin of the penis - a mixture of excretory secretions, dead epithelial cells and moisture. It is a favorable environment for the development of pathogenic microbes. This is why thorough toileting of the genitals using warm water and a gentle detergent is so important.

Penile hygiene

Before you begin the procedure for hygienic cleaning of the penis, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and dry them with a clean or paper towel. A few recommendations:

the water should be moderately warm and the foam should be plentiful in order to remove all discharge from the penis;
It is not advisable to use regular shower gel or soap: the fragrances included in such products can cause irritation to the delicate area;
pull back the foreskin and rinse the glans; Rinse the whisk and bridle especially thoroughly;
Finally, rinse the groin and perineum area with cool water.

Testicular hygiene

The reproductive function of a man largely depends on the health of the testicles, because it is in them that sperm are formed. It is important to know that the temperature of the testicles should be 4 degrees below body temperature, and therefore overheating of the scrotum should be avoided. For example, immersing the testicles in hot water for just a few minutes can prevent a woman from being fertilized for six months! After a warm shower, urologists recommend rinsing the scrotum with cool water.

If a man has a sedentary job, he needs to get up and walk periodically so as not to overheat the scrotum. Ideally, it is advisable to perform simple exercises to improve blood circulation in the pelvic organs.

Perineal hygiene

It is also important to take care of the perineal area, thoroughly cleaning it after defecation with soft toilet paper from front to back or using a bidet.

In the summer, in order to avoid inflammatory processes in the perineum that occur due to excessive sweating, a man needs to wash the groin area with cool water and use powder or baby talcum powder.

Hygiene before and after sex

Before sexual intercourse, as well as after it, be sure to take a shower, thoroughly washing the genitals and penis from accumulated smegma and urine residues. This will save partners from many diseases of the genital area.

The range of gels for intimate hygiene for men is quite wide. Options: Intimo gel with chamomile from Nivea (approximately 160 rubles); organic gel with plant extracts from Melvita (approximately 735 rubles); Green Mama gel (approximately 186 rubles); Epigen gel (approximately 650 rubles).

The right underwear

Choosing the right underwear plays a big role. Experts consider wide cotton panties, popularly called “family panties,” as such. They do not put pressure on the genitals and do not overheat the testicles. Linen must be changed daily.

What can result from failure to comply with simple hygiene requirements? To the most unpleasant thing, namely, serious health problems: from inflammatory diseases such as phimosis, prostatitis, cystitis, balanoposthitis, to syphilis, gonorrhea and even HIV infection.

In the US, 80% of men are circumcised. Not long ago, scientists suggested that such a procedure could protect against HIV infection. The thing is that during circumcision the foreskin is removed, where there may be cells that are especially susceptible to the immunodeficiency virus.

Expert: Galina Filippova, Candidate of Medical Sciences, general practitioner

Photos used in this material belong to shutterstock.com

Unfortunately, the rules of intimate hygiene for men in our modern society, oddly enough, are still a closed topic. Unlike feminine hygiene, very little is talked about and not much is written about it. But in vain.

What is hygiene in general and men's hygiene in particular? The all-knowing Wikipedia says that hygiene (from the Greek hygieinos - bringing health, healing) is a whole set of measures aimed at maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Hygiene of the male genital organs is part of the direct personal hygiene of a man, and includes hygienic rules, the implementation of which helps to preserve and strengthen the health of a man, ensures the normal function of the genital organs, and also prevents their diseases. Hygiene of the genital organs and sexual life, depending on the age and physiological state of the body, occupies an important place, because failure to comply with hygiene requirements is fraught with various diseases and complications, including oncology!

Male genital hygiene involves regular care of the genitals, perineum and anus from an early age. Keeping the genitals and perineum clean should be the norm of behavior for boys and adult men throughout their lives.

So why should this be done? To begin with, let us remember that the male genital organs are equipped with many specific sweat glands that produce their secretions abundantly.

The area of the glans penis deserves special attention, the surface of which is structured and functions like ordinary skin, but with its own characteristics. On the surface of the glans and in the skin of the foreskin there are glands that secrete a special lubricant - smegma, which does not allow the foreskin and glans to stick together.

Several drops of clear liquid are formed per day, covering the head with a thin layer. If for several days you do not wash off this lubricant, which covers the head and inner surface of the foreskin in the form of a scant gray-white coating, as well as drops of urine that fall after urination, then microbes and In the preputial sac (the space between the head of the penis and the inner layer of the foreskin), inflammation develops - a disease called balanoposthitis.

It is accompanied by redness of the skin of the foreskin and the glans itself, as well as the formation of abundant plaque with a pungent unpleasant odor. As long as the inflammation is limited to this area, a man is bothered by itching and even pain in the head of the penis, both at rest and during sexual intercourse, and discharge. Sometimes, around the base of the head, dilated and reddened openings of the inflamed glands are visible. When pressed, pus can even come out of them!

The introduction of infection into the preputial sac can be facilitated by: in addition to irregular toileting of the head of the penis (which we have already mentioned), the use of dirty underwear and even dirty hands! Less commonly, the cause of a man’s illness is either non-compliance with hygiene standards by his sexual partner, or gynecological diseases she has.

Infection can also be caused by unprotected anal and oral-genital contact, in which the genitals come into contact with the mucous membrane of the oral cavity or rectum. We will not dwell on the harmful abilities of microorganisms living in the intestines, but inflammatory processes occurring in the oral cavity (periodontal disease, caries, stomatitis and tonsillitis) can, just as easily as sexually transmitted diseases, spread to the glans penis and urethra and often require longer and more serious treatment.

But you shouldn’t place all the blame on women: the state of sexual health of a man and a woman, whether sexually transmitted or non-venereal diseases, depends equally on both partners.

All these unpleasant moments interfere with sexual life, introducing into it not only psychological difficulties and discord between partners, but in the future can also lead to gross physiological changes in the foreskin and the inability to open the head of the penis.

But, unfortunately, that’s not all - the infection can progress upward, involving the urethra, prostate gland, and subsequently the epididymis.

Treatment of balanoposthitis is mainly local: 2-3 times a day, the exposed head and foreskin are treated with aqueous solutions of local antiseptics. In especially severe cases, it is necessary to use antibacterial ointments. The course of treatment is from 5 to 10 days.

Balanoposthitis often accompanies such severe systemic diseases as diabetes mellitus. The discharge is purulent and so abundant that as a result, after a few months, the foreskin literally grows to the head and a more serious disease develops - phimosis. This condition requires specific treatment, including surgery. In the USA and European countries, it is believed that circumcision is considered the only simple and most effective method of male hygiene, and at the same time a means of preventing inflammatory processes in the genitourinary system.

It should be remembered that balanoposthitis is a disease common in men of any age, even in children whose head has not been exposed since birth. Therefore, parents of boys should open the head of the penis of their infant sons, starting with the first baths in a home bath. If you were unable to do this yourself, you should definitely contact a specialist - a pediatric surgeon or urologist.

In order to avoid all these serious problems, you just need to follow basic hygiene rules. A man in the morning and evening during a general shower or bath simply needs to wash his naked head with warm water without soap.

It is even better to wash the head after each urination to prevent the discharge from accumulating. Sometimes increased formation of lubrication is an individual characteristic of a man, which requires the use of mild soap (hygienic, Vaseline) or special products when washing.

Regular soap is not used for washing the head - it dries out the mucous membrane. It is mandatory to comply with these simple requirements when traveling to hot countries.

Sometimes inflammation of the skin of the scrotum and penis can be the result of traumatization of these organs by tight clothing; in this case, in addition to local medicinal effects, you should temporarily change trousers and briefs to looser and softer ones made of cotton fabric.

A common factor predisposing to perineal skin irritation is excessive sweating. These men can be advised to toilet the perineum with cold water 2-3 times a day, especially in hot weather, and use powders.

In addition to the genital organs themselves, men deserve special mention for the abundant hair that begins to appear under the influence of male hormones in adolescence: on the pubis, on the legs and arms, on the face and in the armpits. Russian men, unfortunately, lag behind European men in terms of grooming.

Short hair is much easier to wash in any conditions, it does not contain an unpleasant odor, it does not get pinched by the foreskin and underwear, it does not create an unfavorable microclimate for the testicles, and it does not interfere with the intimate caresses of the partner. A man just needs to pay attention to the hair in the genital area and armpits. Removing armpit hair will reduce sweating and odor. Cutting the hair around the penis and giving the hair a shape will leave a favorable impression of the man as a well-groomed person. This is especially important in situations where you have to be naked - in a sauna, at a doctor’s appointment, and, especially, in intimate relationships.

Excess hair on the penis, scrotum, and armpits can be shaved or depilated using special creams. The male genital organs are equipped with many specific sweat glands, which produce their secretions abundantly. Therefore, to avoid unpleasant odor in the perineal area, it is necessary to wash it daily. In addition, daily washing will prevent the formation of diaper rash. Summarizing all of the above, we can highlight the following recommendations for men on hygienic care of their bodies.

How to properly wash and care for the penis

To avoid dripping urine on your panties, immediately after urinating, gently squeeze the penis at the base - this should help remove residual urine from the urethra. Do this very carefully at first until you determine the amount of force needed. After emptying your bladder, wipe the head of your penis dry. To do this, slide the foreskin towards you and wipe the head dry with toilet paper or a special sanitary napkin.

Try to change your underwear daily, and even more often if it gets wet. In underwear at body temperature, after a short period of time, bacteria begin to develop, which contribute to the appearance of an unpleasant odor. If you have a long day or a long journey ahead of you and you know you won't be able to shower, consider bringing extra underwear with you.

Try to wear underwear made of loose fabric that easily absorbs moisture. This type of underwear facilitates air circulation and regulates temperature in the perineal area. Cotton or cotton-blend fabrics wash well and dry quickly. Do not use synthetic underwear - it tightly fits the body and impedes air exchange, which can cause irritation on the skin. In this case, treat the skin with alcohol; As for talc, it absorbs moisture, but can clog the pores even more.

If you can’t take a shower, then try to at least wash your genitals properly. To do this, first of all, wash your hands thoroughly and dry with a clean, dry towel. First, wash your penis and groin area. Pull back the foreskin and rinse the glans. Wash especially thoroughly the folds of the foreskin, frenulum and coronal sulcus. Use warm water and a large volume of liquid soap that produces a rich lather. The water should be warm enough to wash away smegma, which contains a significant amount of sebaceous secretions. Do not use scented soap - it may cause an allergic reaction. At the end of the procedure, thoroughly rinse the entire genital area with plenty of warm running water.

How to properly care for your scrotum

Too high a temperature in the testicles disrupts sperm production. The temperature of the testicles should be 4 degrees below body temperature. Therefore, avoid anything that directly or indirectly leads to a prolonged increase in temperature in the groin and perineum. A single immersion of the testicles in hot water can disrupt the ability to fertilize for the next 6 months! Long hot baths give the same result.

Some experts recommend rinsing the scrotum with cold water daily. Men whose professional activities lead a predominantly sedentary lifestyle must get up and walk from time to time so that the testicles move away from the hot body. If it is hot, it is recommended to use special breathable mats on the car seat to avoid overheating and sweating in the groin and perineum.

Try to wear loose cotton, so-called “family” panties. Avoid any tight-fitting clothing: elastic briefs, jeans, or other tight pants. At home and wherever possible, wear loose clothing.

Try to lose weight. Excess fat on the buttocks, inner thighs and lower abdomen raises not only the temperature in the groin area, but also the temperature of the entire body.

Hygiene of the perineum and anus

After defecation, cleaning the anus and perineum area should be done only with soft toilet paper (hard paper can damage the delicate tissues of the anus) from front to back until complete removal of feces remains. This will help prevent particles of feces and intestinal bacteria from getting on the genitals. The best thing is to replace “wiping” with paper with washing with running water.

Nowadays, the most hygienic method of perineal care has become available using a bidet. Small children should be washed with running water in the bathroom or over a sink.

Hygiene and sex

It is necessary to take a communal shower and thoroughly wash the penis, perineum and anus before and after sex. Teenagers, given their shyness, need to be informed about the rules of hygiene after wet dreams and masturbation.

All these medical details are given solely for one purpose - to show the need to observe hygienic rules.

Andrey Selivanov, Ph.D., Associate Professor of the Department of Surgical Diseases of the REAVIZ Medical Institute, urologist-andrologist at City Clinical Hospital No. 31 of St. Petersburg.

Particular attention should always be paid to intimate hygiene of the genital organs, but statistics show that it is most often neglected by men. The reason for this lies in the fact that men do not have time for intimate hygiene; many of them simply do not know about the consequences that can result from failure to comply with hygiene rules. Television, magazines, the Internet, newspapers talk a lot about the importance of caring for the female body, but practically nothing about the male one. After all, at the slightest disturbance in the health of female organs, a girl immediately feels discomfort, but a man may not feel anything, since it has been proven that most inflammatory infectious diseases in males are asymptomatic. But caring for male organs is very important, because it is directly related to erectile and reproductive functions. A very small number of males shower twice a day, use gel for intimate hygiene, many do not change their underwear for several days in a row, while very few guys rinse their penis after each use of the toilet. This lack of hygiene has a negative impact on health.

Maintaining good hygiene is a must for a healthy life.

Men's self-care includes several components:

Depilation or hair removal.
Washing the penis and scrotum.
Water procedures before and after sexual intercourse.
Choice and periods of changing underwear.

Depilation or hair removal?

Removing unwanted hair in the perineum and on the scrotum indicates that the guy monitors his health and takes care of himself. In addition to aesthetic, this procedure also has a septic function. In the hair part, harmful bacteria and microorganisms develop very quickly, which can cause inflammation of the urethra or the head of the penis. The hot season becomes especially dangerous, when the most comfortable conditions for the proliferation of microbes are created: high temperature, accumulation of sweat and secretions of the excretory glands, pollution. Therefore, you must always maintain hygiene, regardless of seasonality or weather outside.

Maintaining intimate hygiene is very easy!

Depilation- this is the removal of the cutaneous layer of hair without the root (bulb) using a razor. Very often after this procedure, irritation occurs or random cuts bleed, so men really don’t like to shave their hair.

Epilation is a cosmetic procedure that involves removing hair from the subcutaneous bulb. This process causes not only severe pain (especially for males, because their pain threshold is much lower than that of women), but also psycho-emotional stress. Most cosmetologists who perform this procedure are female, and since hair removal of intimate parts of the body involves complete undressing, this causes confusion among males.

The most acceptable method remains cutting the hair. Thanks to special clippers (trimmers), this procedure becomes easy, fast, and painless.

Water procedures

Not every man is interested in the questions: how often should you take a shower and wash your intimate organs? What hygiene products are best to use? What temperature should the water be for the male organs? But reproductive function and erection depend on these issues. Let's go in order.

Failure to comply with hygiene rules can lead to serious consequences, including those of an intimate nature.

Ideally, a man should take a shower twice a day - morning and evening, and wash his penis after each urination or bowel movement. But since very often there are no conditions for carrying out water procedures, you must at least use a damp antiseptic wipe or toilet paper. When washing the genitals, it is necessary to remember that by the end of the day, smegma, bacteria and dirt, often invisible to the human eye, accumulate under the male foreskin.

Smegma is a combination of secretion secreted by the gonads, dead cells and condensation. In order to completely wash it off, it is necessary to retract the foreskin, whip up a rich foam of the hygiene product, rinse it thoroughly, and also apply special attention such intimate places as the genital frenulum, corolla. The water for the penis should be warm, not hot. It is important for men to give preference to specially developed gels for intimate hygiene.

It is better to wash the scrotum with cool water, because the temperature of the testicles is 3-5 degrees lower than other organs, in addition, they should not overheat - the ability to fertilize depends on this. That is why experts do not recommend that the stronger half of humanity often take hot baths for a long time and stay in the steam room for a long time.

Care before and after sexual intercourse

Personal care for male organs before and after sexual intercourse takes on special intimate significance. The “after” part is obvious: after intimacy with a woman, her cells, lubricant and microorganisms remain on the penis, not to mention infection and pathogenic microbes. The female epithelium is often perceived by the male body as foreign and because of this, even in the absence of pathogens, there is a possibility of inflammation, redness and discomfort. To avoid this, it is necessary to rinse the frenulum, corolla and foreskin with the scrotum immediately after sexual intercourse.

Genital hygiene is a very sensitive topic for both women and men. However, knowledge of the basic rules will help to avoid problems in the form of inflammatory processes. Hygiene after sex is also mandatory. Let's take a closer look at the features of cleaning procedures and some recommendations from experts.

The importance of intimate hygiene

It is not customary to talk about intimate hygiene in society. Parents introduce their children to some knowledge in this area at an early age and that, in most cases, is where it all ends. The body's needs change as we grow older, and the rules for caring for the body also need to be reconsidered. Compliance with them will help avoid serious problems in the sexual sphere.

Lack of hygiene negatively affects not only physical health, but also psychological well-being. Moreover, both women and representatives of the stronger half of humanity suffer from this. By the way, for some reason men treat the issue of intimate hygiene irresponsibly, which often leads to the development of inflammatory processes in the genital organs.

Hygiene and sexual intercourse

Cleanliness of the genitals before and after sexual contact is not only a necessity, but also a sign of respect for yourself and your partner. You could even say that this affects the quality of pleasure received during intercourse. After all, few people will be pleased to kiss a sweaty body, not to mention more intimate caresses.

Before sexual contact, you must take a shower. Indeed, during the day, a huge number of bacteria accumulate in the genital area, which, when they come into contact with the mucous membranes of the vagina or penis, cause the development of various pathologies. But this does not mean at all that you need to spend half a day in the bathroom. A few minutes are enough to freshen up and cleanse your genitals.

If it is not possible to take full water procedures, you should at least wash yourself or wipe the external genitalia with a damp cloth.

Should you shower after sex?

Intimate hygiene after sex is a mandatory procedure. Firstly, a light shower using special products will help get rid of the feeling of discomfort, and secondly, it will minimize the risk of developing inflammatory processes. Of course, many may think that running to the bathroom immediately after sexual contact is completely unromantic. But, on the other hand, no one said that you need to do this alone. Taking a playful shower with your partner will be much more enjoyable!

Are there certain hygiene rules after sex? According to doctors, just taking a warm shower is enough. Moreover, it is strongly recommended to use products for washing that will not disturb the pH level. Regular shower gels and soaps are absolutely not suitable for these purposes. If you don’t have a special intimate product at hand, just use warm running water.

Features of intimate hygiene in women

Currently, you can still meet girls and women who are not always competent in matters of intimate hygiene. At the same time, knowledge in the sexual field can be very great. To consider yourself a truly experienced priestess of love, you need to know not only about all kinds of poses, but also about elementary

Before love games, every self-respecting girl takes water procedures. As a last resort, you can clean the external genitalia using wet wipes designed for intimate areas. Indeed, in some situations there may not be access to running water. This often happens when traveling in nature.

Hygiene after sex should not be the main method of contraception. After ejaculation, sperm enter the cervix within 30-40 seconds. And this time is barely enough to run to the bath. Therefore, if pregnancy is not desired in the near future, you should be sure to use condoms every time you have sexual intercourse. In addition, this is a reliable way to protect against diseases transmitted through sexual contact.

Features of water procedures

To cleanse delicate skin in intimate places, it is necessary to use cosmetics specially designed for this purpose. Ordinary shower gels and soaps reduce the alkaline pH level, which means they can cause itching and inflammation. In the intimate area of women, the environment should be extremely acidic, which is necessary to maintain normal microflora.

Timely hygiene will provide protection from infection after sexual intercourse. Women should definitely take water procedures after sex. By the way, when cleansing intimate areas, you must follow some rules:

It is best to wash with running water. In this case, the stream of water should be directed towards the vagina from top to bottom, and not vice versa.
Do not use washcloths or sponges. Such devices should be left for cleansing other parts of the body.
A woman needs to wash herself at least twice a day. Hygiene procedures are also indicated after each sexual contact.
Douching is not a method of washing. The procedure is more therapeutic in nature and is used only as prescribed by a specialist. Otherwise, this may lead to an imbalance in the acid-base balance.

Hygiene after sex for men

Modern men who care about their health should understand that maintaining hygiene of intimate places is the key to a high-quality level of sexual relations. But, unfortunately, not all representatives of the stronger sex keep cleanliness and often neglect the rules of personal hygiene. This attitude towards caring for the genitals can lead to the development of chronic inflammatory processes and erectile dysfunction. You should also understand that the health of their sexual partners directly depends on maintaining intimate hygiene in men.

Hygiene after sex is also responsible for the normal functioning of the genitourinary system. Every man should clean his penis before and after sexual intercourse. This is especially true when a condom is not used. At the same time, you need to be confident in the health of your partner.

It is not recommended for men to have sex with a woman during her period. Blood clots lodged in the urethra can cause inflammation. In addition, during endometrial rejection, the cervix in women opens slightly and becomes vulnerable to pathogens. A barrier method of contraception and timely cleansing of the genitals will help protect against infection.

How to wash properly for men?

Personal hygiene after sex involves thoroughly washing the genitals. After all, men have a more alkaline genital area, and when in contact with an acidic environment, an imbalance may occur. To cleanse the penis, it is better to use running water, the temperature of which should be several degrees lower than body temperature. Hot water interferes with normal sperm production.

Regular soap is not suitable for genital hygiene. It has a pH of 5.5-6, while the intimate area of men needs a more alkaline product. Special intimate hygiene products are produced for men, which can be used both before and after sexual intercourse. It is important to thoroughly wash the organ, retracting the foreskin and paying attention to the frenulum and scrotum. After this, you need to rinse off the hygiene product with warm water and rinse the penis with cool water.

What means should I use?

If women can choose an intimate hygiene product in almost any pharmacy or cosmetic store, then men will not have it so easy. Such products are extremely rare. But you shouldn’t be upset, because for hygienic purposes, representatives of the stronger sex are allowed to use soft products with a neutral pH level that do not contain fragrances or additives. As a last resort, you can use wet wipes for intimate hygiene.

Hygiene after oral sex

During oral sex, there is a risk of infection by pathogenic bacteria that are found on the oral mucosa. This type of intimacy should be abandoned if the partner suffers from sore throat, stomatitis, herpetic rash, gum and dental diseases.

It should be borne in mind that this type of lovemaking is more suitable for regular sexual partners. Otherwise, there is a high risk of infection with various ailments. To avoid this, experts recommend using special condoms designed for oral sex.

Before engaging in oral sex, it is only recommended to rinse your mouth with clean water or a special dental rinse. After blowjob and cunnilingus, hygiene must also be observed. After sex, both partners should take a shower and thoroughly clean their mouths. When contacting a non-regular partner, it is recommended to sanitize using medical disinfectants.