145 | Vagina Hygiene, Health and Rehab with Dr. Janelle Howell

We're dropping the facts on Vaginal health with Dr. Janelle Howell. With an overarching emphasis on addressing the root cause, Dr. Janelle kicks off the podcast on the topic of normalizing the "tabooness" around the pelvic floor and vaginal health. Then, she debunks common myths about Vaginal Hygiene, highlighting the history and consequences of Lysol- use and toxic chemicals to clean the vagina. Furthermore, Dr. Janelle discusses the basic anatomy of the female reproductive system and what different odors indicate, emphasizing an analogy comparing vaginas to armpits. She explains which products and ingredients to avoid, and how to prevent infection by maintaining vaginal acidity. Moreover, she describes how fibrous foods can support Vaginal pH levels, the use of lubrication during painful sex, the use of lubrication for dryness, and how urinary tract infections can occur from sex. Also, she addresses how sex is a two-way street, honing in on the importance of postural function on pelvic health, erections, and ejaculations for females and males respectively. Dive into Vaginal fitness and optimize your Vaginal health! Kick off your shoes and try spreading your toes? We have intrinsic foot muscles that connect up from the toes through the bottom of the feet. These muscles provide strength and function of the foot, articulate how the arch is moving, how the foot responds to the ground, and how it supports everything ip the chain. The wide toe box in VivoBarefoot shoes allow your toes to spread and your intrinsic foot muscles to feel the ground. Use code TOB for 15% off your new pair of shoes (affiliate link). What You Will Learn In This Interview with Dr. Janelle Howell 5:27 - Normalizing conversations about pelvic health 7:30 - Debunking myths about Vaginal Hygiene 9:55 - Anatomy 11:52 - Addressing Odors 13:21 - What are some products to stay away from? 15:20 - What can impact the Vaginal internal environment? 19:27 - Foods that can support a healthy Vaginal PH 21:48 - Lubrication, Pain During Sex & Dryness 24:42 - Does dryness indicate more lubrication? 31:06 - How pelvic floor muscles affect erections in males 33:54 - How to improve pelvic floor muscle function 37:45 - Vaginal Fitness & Kegels 39:20 - How to learn more with Dr. Janelle About Dr. Janelle Howell Dr. Janelle Howell is a Pelvic Physical Therapist on a mission to revolutionize vaginal health by providing quality vaginal education through social media. She teaches others about less commonly understood topics such as vaginal pH, vaginal fitness, and vaginal nutrition. She is a Women’s Certified Specialist and Board Certified by the National Physical Therapy Board. Items mentioned: Dr. Janelle's Website Join Dr. Janelles Class - Oct 24 2021 To learn more about Dr. Janelle and view full show notes, please visit the full website here: https://www.docjenfit.com/podcast/episode145/ Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Optimal Body Podcast. If you haven’t done so already, please take a minute to subscribe and leave a quick rating and review of the show! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tobpodcast/message