Ever wondered why your genitals are darker than the rest of the body? Generally speaking for women, nipples, areolas, and labia tend to be a shade or two deeper in color than the rest of the skin. This is completely normal and shouldn’t be misconstrued as something ‘wrong’ with the body.
What is a dark vagina and why this fuss about it?
Dark vagina, you must be wondering what it is, what it comprises of What in heaven’s name is it is the question that pops us. Sounds very odd yet surprisingly something a lot of people relate to. Usually, we experience that the color of our genitals is a tone or two darker than the color of our skin. This is something that goes for all genders and not just females. Another interesting aspect is that it happens gradually over time and hence, can be misconstrued as a sign of illness.
If we talk about the darkened areas in females, we see it is not just the vagina. In addition to the dark vagina, we have nipples, labia as well as areolas that are all about a couple of shades darker. Some people see it as a potential source of discomfort or an unhealthy indication of our health. However, there is nothing to worry about when you experience a dark vagina.
Now that we have understood and got a basic idea of what a dark vagina is, let us now try to understand the reasons that cause a dark vagina.
Here are some reasons why your private area is dark
On the topic of the dark vagina, it is often common for people to not know it but our genital skin is meant to be darker than regular body tone. It may be just a tad bit darker or in some cases even two shades darker. Hence, the dark vagina is not something that happens due to any illnesses and does not indicate any medical conditions.
Although genitalia skin is usually darker than the rest of the body’s skin, there is no reason that it cannot become even darker. Dark vagina getting worse due to medical conditions or imbalances in our body and should be absolutely kept a tab of regularly. Since we are talking about the implications of the dark vagina on your health, let us now try to understand various reasons for a dark vagina:
Here’s why it happens over time:
1. Friction
One of the major reasons behind the darkening of the intimate area is friction. This process is called keratinization. Keratinization can be defined as a means of a physical barrier formation, where the keratinocytes (keratin-containing cells) manufacture more keratin as they move upwards to the top-most skin layer to settle. Once this layer matures, it sheds and peels and is then replaced by the layers beneath it.
What you should know about this process is that Keratinocytes also have hints of melanin (the pigment that gives skin, hair, and eyes color. Dark-skinned people have relatively more melanin in their skin than light-skinned people. Melanin is produced by cells called melanocytes) in them. Melanocytes make tiny pockets of melanin-containing sacs, called melanosomes that are transferred through keratinocytes. The melanosome land on the vital DNA containing the nucleus in order to protect the DNA from the harmful UV rays of the sun.
This brings us back to the areas where the skin thickens because of friction. Over time, everyday activities like walking, exercise, sex, or just moving around cause friction in these areas. The constant rubbing of the skin can cause a change in color, This process can’t be avoided and neither can be reversed naturally.
2. Hormonal Imbalance:
During puberty, sex hormones tend to rise steadily in the body. This sudden surge in hormones in the body stimulates the production of melanin. This means that during this time, both men and women notice a change in color in their intimate areas. While women see a change in their nipples, areolas, and labia. For men, it’s the penis and the testes.
The further darkening of the genitals might happen for women who are pregnant or have just been delivered. This is because, in the interim of the pregnancy, melanin accumulates in the breast tissue and especially is visible in areas like the nipple. This is perhaps the reason why pregnant women have much darker nipples than women who have never been pregnant. The color, once darkened, usually never goes back to its original state.
3. Vaginal Infection:
In the female body, there are several sensitive areas in the body. The vagina is one of them, a very sensitive one indeed. Often we find women talking about their experiences and episodes of vaginal infections. They are especially prevalent in certain medical conditions like diabetes but other factors can trigger them too. Various conditions that develop around our vulva from time to time are what often cause vaginal infections. These might in turn lead to a dark vagina, the darkening of the skin around our vagina.
4. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS):
In the world of today, given the kind of lifestyle we have and the ways in which we lead our lives PCOS is not uncommon. actually, almost every third girl or woman is suffering from it due to various reasons, the lifestyle being an important one. In Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), there is the development of cysts in our ovaries. This condition leads to a turbulent imbalance of hormones in our bodies. It causes excessive production of androgynous hormones (the hormones commonly found in the bodies of males). This can often cause a dark vagina by the darkening of our private parts.
5. Waxing or Bleaching Your Vagina:
As is the trend these days, most girls and women have indulged in waxing pubic hair or using chemical creams for hair removal. These are major contributors to the dark vagina. Waxing leads to a dark vagina by causing skin burns although chemical creams can cause a dark vagina for the same reason too. Apart from waxing our vagina, often many women bleach it too, we believe in attempting to whiten their dark vagina. Although bleaching does cause your genitals to whiten temporarily, in the long run, it actually does more damage than good but permanently worsens the color of the dark vagina. Also, although we don’t talk about shaving here, too frequent or excessive shaving can cause dark vaginas too.
6. Insulin Resistance:
As long we are exploring and learning the reasons causing dark vaginas, ruling out certain important medical reasons is a bad idea. Inulin resistance is one such condition. In this, the patients gain a lot of weight due to resistance to insulin. This can further lead to a medical condition that causes the skin in regions around our vulva and on the inner thighs to darken. Hence, it ultimately leads to a dark vagina too.
7. Age:
As we age, it is only natural for the elasticity and texture of our skin to change. This change does change the vaginal skin too. This change is often accompanied by the change in color of vaginal skin as well, often called the dark vagina. The dark vagina is often accompanied by the darkness of other parts of our skin as well. Hence, aging is an important contributor to the dark vagina.
8. Physical Factors:
Although we have slightly mentioned this contributor to the dark vagina, let us discuss this further. Certain factors can prevent proper air ventilation to our vagina. This, coupled with silly hygiene habits that we normally don’t even take notice of can lead to ill vaginal health. This is hence, an important factor to bear in mind while monitoring the dark vagina.
9. Harsh Soaps:
loaded with hydrating proteins and fatty acids. Using harsh cleansers can destroy this barrier easily leaving the skin inflamed, prone to abrasion, and hyper-reactive. So, these cleansers, in fact, catalyze the process of darkening of the skin. Make sure to choose products that you wish to use down there with a neutral pH. When it comes to products specially designed for the intimate area.
Can we manage dark vagina and how?
1. Let your skin breathe:
As we saw above, one of the reasons for the dark vagina is the lack of air that vaginal skin gets to be able to breathe. Wearing well-fitted underpants instead of ill-fitting and tight ones can help a lot. This can really help in preventing friction too which again is a big contributor to this.
2. Lookout for maintaining a healthy pH balance:
Vaginal skin pH balance is essential for skin tone. Balanced pH themselves promote color lightening along with anti-bacterial and other medical properties. Balanced pH levels can also help a lot with dark skin patches by helping in the removal of excess dead skin cells. Hence, it helps in dealing with a dark vagina.
3. Use natural and organic products for your vaginal care:
It should not come as a surprise when one mentions the sensitivity of our skin near the vagina. Apart from sensitivity, it is imperative to keep it healthy. Using natural and organic products that are friendly to your vaginal skin can go a long way in keeping healthy and away from the dark vagina.
4. Using homemade cures and remedies:
Like for every problem, what better to treat dark vaginas than homemade cures for the same?
- Yogurt: Yogurt contains vitamin B12 which is essential in helping lighten the skin tone. It has long been in use for years and helps to treat a lot of skin woes. The lactic acid not only helps do away with the patchy and dark vagina but also aids in healthy skin through deep moisturization.
- Aloe vera with turmeric: Together, these two wonders work beautifully on your skin. Being a rich source of minerals, amino acids, and whatnot, they don’t just help to treat dark vagina but also various other skin problems.
- Papaya: Being a rich source of Vitamins A and C, papaya shows great benefits to give healthy skin. Hence, it helps with patchy skin and a dark vagina.
- Lemon juice and potato juice: It is essential in treating spots and patches on the skin and hence, works well to treat dark vaginas.
- Intimate hygiene care: It may not seem as important but using intimate hygiene care products is essential for treating dark vaginas. Why do you ask? Intimate hygiene care ensures healthy vaginal skin and genitalia in the long run. Due to this, it is absolutely important to choose intimate hygiene products very wisely. Check for organic and natural products because chemicals do more harm than good for you.
Hi-Life is one such brand that strives to provide organic and natural intimate hygiene care to women. Our intimate hygiene sprays have been one of the favorites for a long time. Grab yours today and share the experience of healthy happy intimate care!
At the end of the day, there are cosmetic procedures out there that can help you lighten the skin for these areas. However, embracing your body for how it changes over time and matures is also important. Amid the ongoing body positivity movement, skin positivity talks about how the skin shouldn’t be pressured to look a certain way. What you see on screen in films or even adult films is a minute representation of what women’s bodies look like, women come in all shapes and sizes and even varying skin colors. It’s time we start to embrace the bodies we’re born with.
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