Choose carefully—your vagina will thank you.
When women buy a vaginal lubricant, they often grab the first product they see . In most cases, the lube of choice is a water-based one, not only because that’s what the shelves are loaded with but also because women assume that kind is the most vagina-friendly.
After all, it’s water!Here’s the thing: On top of the fact that water-based lubes are gloppy and sticky and don’t last very long during sex, most popular ones can, with continued use, damage vaginal tissue. Yes, the lubricant your doctor, pharmacist, or friend recommended can actually harm your vaginal tissue. The reason has to do with the ingredients. Why are water-based lubes not ideal?Most water-based lubes contain glycerin and other additives to keep things on the slippery side. Another common ingredient is a preservative known as propylene glycol. Glycerin, propylene glycol, and other additives in water-based lubricants increase their osmolality.A quick reminder from seventh grade science: Osmolality is the measure of dissolved particles in a fluid. Water has an osmolality of close to zero. The vagina normally has an osmolality of around 300. If you put a lubricant with a high osmolality in the vagina, the vaginal cells will push water out of themselves in an attempt to maintain a low vaginal osmolality. So lubes with high osmolalities not only dry out tissue but also increase the chance of irritation, burning, and infection. Many women avoid lubricants with glycerin, thinking they will cause yeast infections, and parabens, because they’re concerned these will cause cancer . The real reason to avoid water-based lubes with those additives, though, is that those ingredients bring a high rate of osmolality. An ideal osmolality for a lubricant is a maximum of 300, but it’s truly shocking how many popular brands have sky-high osmolalities. A top-selling brand offers a warming lubricant with a jaw-dropping osmolality of over 10,000! There are good brands available, but you need to look for them. If a lubricant does not list its osmolality, it’s probably safe to assume it is very high, as the ones with low osmolalities brag about how few they have. Why I recommend silicone lubeEven a vagina-friendly water-based lube may not be long-lasting or slippery enough. Silicone lubricants, on the other hand, are very slippery, last longer, and are nonirritating. They don’t have osmolality issues because they don’t require preservatives or other irritating ingredients. And because they don’t break down in water, they are the best choice if you like having sex in the sauna, tub, or shower. The main downside to silicone lubricants is that there may be fewer options in the store, and they’re generally more expensive. But a little bit goes a long way—and your vagina deserves the best.
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