Women of America: Do Not Steam Your Vagina
And you thought the anti-vaxxers were idiots.
The Oscar winner and lifestyle maven has been touting the benefits of vaginal steam treatments on her GOOP website, your go-to destination for $40 underpants and tastefully mystical bromides. In singing the praises of holistic spa Tikkun, Paltrow enjoins her readers to get the Mugwort V-Steam.
“You sit on what is essentially a mini-throne,” she writes, “and a combination of infrared and mugwort steam cleanses your uterus, et al. It is an energetic release—not just a steam douche—that balances female hormone levels. If you’re in LA, you have to do it.”
Ladies of Los Angeles, you most certainly do not have to do this. Those of you who live elsewhere need not grieve your deprivation.
Let’s start with the idea that one’s uterus needs cleansing. (I’m a bit distracted by that “et al” there. Does Paltrow think her fallopian tubes are getting tidied up in the process, too?) It does not. The female reproductive tract does not need to be cleaned at all. In fact, methods of feminine cleansing like douching can do more harm than good. Women should no more steam their vaginas than flush them with Lysol.
