Step away from the soap as your vagina keeps itself clean, all on its own. From puberty, your vagina self-cleans with the help of normal discharge and good bacteria, called lactobacilli. These help to keep your vagina healthy and prevent the growth of harmful bacteria.

So avoid anything that can disturb the natural balance of your vagina, including:

• getting soap in your vagina when you're washing
• scented vaginal washes and wipes
• washing inside your vagina (douching)

It's a good idea to wash the area outside your vagina every day. Your vulva is the area surrounding the opening of your vagina. It includes your labia (or vaginal lips) and clitoris.

When washing your vulva:

• Gently cleanse the folds of your labia using a clean flannel or your hands, taking care not to get soap inside your vagina.
• Be careful to wash from front to back, otherwise you can spread bacteria from your anus to your vagina.
• Make sure you rinse well so no soap is left to irritate your skin.
• Dry gently by dabbing with a soft towel. Don’t rub.

You may find that using a perfumed soap makes you feel itchy. Plain warm water, unperfumed soap or a soap substitute are a good alternative.

It might. Some women find that tight-fitting or synthetic underwear can make their vagina and the area around it feel sore or itchy. Tight trousers could also be to blame. Switching to looser-fitting cotton underwear, or roomier trousers, can help to solve the problem. Wearing fresh clean underwear every day is a good idea but you might also want to try wearing no underwear when you're at home or at night.

After sex:

• Have a wee after you've had sex. This will flush out any germs that have got into the tube that carries urine out of your body (called the urethra) during sex.
• You may want to gently clean your vulva by rinsing with warm water. Don’t douche!