Like a healthy face that acts as a clean canvas to take care of itself, a healthy vagina shields its extremely delicate areas from bad bacteria through a natural protective mechanism – needing very little effort on your part. It’s easy, because keeping the vagina healthy is simply maintaining it in its natural state.
The natural vaginal environment
The vagina has a natural protective layer which is acidic in nature, to help prevent infection. This layer is maintained when good bacteria called lactobacilli breaks down glycogen contained in the secreted vaginal mucus. Lactic acid (or milk acid) is then produced and an acidic environment is formed. This promotes the growth of lactobacilli, inhibiting the presence of harmful bacteria and preventing infection.
Which means your vagina takes care of itself as its walls continually produce secretions to provide lubrication, cleanse itself, and maintaining its proper acidity to prevent infection.