![]() ![]() Ī 2017 survey by Vandenburg and Braun (taking as its title one observer's characterization – "Basically, it's sorcery for your vagina") Īnalyzed "90 online items related to vaginal steaming", including from newspapers and magazines, blogs, and providers of the practice. A report in The Guardian responded by debunking the claim of the heat, steam, and mugwort having any benefit, and noted it could be harmful. In an article for Goop, actress Gwyneth Paltrow in reviewing a Santa Monica, California spa, described several of their treatments and said of one, "ou sit on what is essentially a mini-throne, and a combination of infrared and mugwort steam cleanses your uterus, et al". Not exactly a pseudoscience, v-steaming is a part of many medical practices across the world, countries like South Korea and the Czech Republic actively practice steaming in hospitals catering for women and postpartum care. Vaginal steaming is marketed with the cultural notions of "balancing" female hormones and "revitalizing" the uterus or vagina. In a paper for Culture, Health & Sexuality, Vandenburg and Braun argue that the rhetoric of vaginal steaming mirrors sexist Western discourse about the supposed inherent dirtiness of the female body, and that its claims of improved fertility and sexual pleasure continue the view that the female body exists for male sexual pleasure and childbearing. Side effects and potential dangers include allergic reactions, second-degree burns if the steam is too close, and vaginal infections. Conversely, of the Asian women 26% reported their "feminine identity" was a reason, compared to 0% of the African women. In the two African locations, 37–38% of women said they practiced it to enhance "male sexual pleasure" in the two Asian ones, 0% gave that answer. In Tete, only 10% of women practiced steaming or smoking, "mostly intended to enhance male sexual pleasure by causing vaginal tightening (64.1% of users) and drying (22.9%)". ![]() When it came to vaginal steaming/smoking, very different results were obtained, and very different reasons were given: in Chonburi, 67% of women reported having performed vaginal steaming or smoking, "which they associated with maintaining wellness and feminine identity", especially after having given birth (85.5%). For that study, over 4,000 women in Tete (Mozambique), KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa), Yogyakarta (Indonesia), and Chonburi (Thailand) were asked about their vaginal care. ![]() There is no evidence that vaginal steaming has any benefits, while there is evidence that it can be dangerous.Īccording to a study on vaginal practices by the World Health Organization published in 2011, one of the ways in which women practice vaginal care is by "Vaginal steaming or smoking: the 'steaming' or 'smoking' of the vagina, by sitting above a source of heat (fire, coals, hot rocks) on which water, herbs, or oils are placed to create steam or smoke". It has become a fad for women in the Western world. No empirical evidence supports any of these claims. Vaginal steaming is described in spas as an ancient Chinese treatment for reproductive organ ailments and is claimed to have other benefits. It has been practiced in Africa ( Mozambique, South Africa ), Asia ( Indonesia, Thailand ), and Central America (among the Q'eqchi' people ). Vaginal steaming, sometimes shortened to V-steaming, and also known as wormwood steaming is an alternative health treatment whereby a woman squats or sits over steaming water containing herbs such as mugwort, rosemary, wormwood, and basil. ![]()
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