Vagina myths have been around for generations. In ancient times, there were gruesome tales about vaginas with teeth. In the 20th century, sexist ads warned women that they'd lose their husbands if they didn't douche. Today, there are Instagram ads and wellness gurus pushing vaginal jade eggs and glitter capsules.
It's easy to dismiss these examples as ridiculous, but plenty of vagina myths aren't just abstractions: When real people believe them, they can have real, often damaging, consequences.
So INSIDER asked gynecologist Alyssa Dweck, author of "The Complete A to Z for your V," to debunk enduring vagina myths that hinder reproductive health. Here are 10 to stop believing.
MYTH: You need to clean your vagina with special products.
"I hope that in my lifetime we can really break the myth that the vagina is a gross place," Dweck said. "That's myth number one in my eyes."
For decades, makers of feminine hygiene products have exploited the sexist myth that vaginas are inherently dirty — and that they should be scrubbed of their natural odor with perfumed douches, washes, wipes, and more.
The truth is that the vagina is designed to clean itself, and adding in harsh products may do more harm than good.
"When you start adding tons of fragrant products, wipes or douches in particular, you really disturb the natural balance of microbes that are supposed to be in the vagina," Dweck said.
These products may cause irritation and itching, for starters, and they can also increase the likelihood of yeast and bacterial infections in people who are prone to them, she explained.
"If women want to clean their vulva — the external genitalia — using a mild soap and warm water, that is fine," Dweck added. "But thinking that you need to get the loofah and some highly fragrant, harsh detergent and use them in the vagina — that's not necessary."
MYTH: Tampons can get "lost" inside your body.
Technically this isn't possible. Dweck explained that the opening of the cervix is too small to allow a tampon to go through it.
"However, women often will forget to remove a tampon and it can get lost in the sense that they can't get it out," she added. "It basically gets caught up in the top of the vagina and the string is no longer easily felt."
Luckily, a forgotten tampon will probably announce its presence with a really bad smell.
"Someone comes in and says, 'I have the worst odor of my life. I don't know what it's from,'" Dweck said. "We usually can tell from down the hall that there's a retained tampon that might have been there for a long time. It's not that uncommon."
MYTH: You can cure a yeast infection with garlic or yogurt.
Burning, itching yeast infections are caused by an overgrowth of the Candida fungus inside the vagina. Antifungal medications, which you can buy at a drugstore or get through a doctor, are an effective way to treat them, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).
But online sources claim you can cure yeast infections with natural remedies, like yogurt and garlic. Dweck explained, however, that neither is a proven cure.
She did say that plain, unsweetened yogurt might help you manage the symptoms of a yeast infection — it can provide a cooling sensation when applied to the vulva — but it doesn't have special fungus-fighting powers.
If you're really searching for a drug-free cure, you can always try good old-fashioned waiting.
"The most natural remedy that will work is time," Dweck said. "Some women are going to get rid of a yeast infection on their own, whether it's because they wait a week, get their period, their [vaginal] pH changes, and things get better, or because their natural immune processes get things back in order."
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