A sex educator has sent a strong warning to women who bleach their vagina. The health expert warned women to stop bleaching their vulva.
The sex educator who is also a public health physician, Dr Yemi Adeyemi made this known to PUNCH HealthWise.
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Adeyemi said that some women are in the habit of bleaching their vulva to get a “perfect” vagina.
She defines vaginal bleaching as the use of products to lighten the skin around the vagina.
“The vagina itself is inside. The outer part of the female reproductive system is the vulva. When people say ‘vaginal bleaching’, what they really mean is changing the colour of the vulva,” she said.
Adeyemi further noted that it is normal for the color of the vulva to be different from the normal skin color.
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She said that the “extreme and unrealistic standards of beauty” is the reason some women resort to bleaching their vulva.
“This procedure is born out of extreme and unrealistic standards of beauty because the skin around the vulva is not meant to be the same colour as that of your skin. It is done by using products like cream or oils which are applied with the aim of lightening the skin around the vulva.
“The vulva shouldn’t be bleached. What is important is keeping great hygienic practices. It is normal to have a darker vulva. There are different colours, shapes, and sizes.
“There isn’t any standard or way it must look. The colour of its skin is influenced by hormones and changes with age; but if you are extremely worried, please see a healthcare professional, rather than using bleaching products,” she noted.
Benefits of bleaching products
The sex educator said the benefit of bleaching products is that they alter the quality of the skin. She added that they expose the skin to infections over time.
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In an article published online by the United Nations Africa Renewal Magazine and compiled by the World Health Organization in 2011, 40 per cent of African women bleach their skin.
See the figures in some African countries of women who bleach their skin:
Nigeria – 77 per cent.
Togo – 59 per cent.
South Africa – 35 per cent.
Senegal – 27 per cent.
Mali – 25 per cent.
Meanwhile, the WHO has warned against bleaching of the skin. The organization said that skin bleaching can cause the following:
