We shared insights from the scientific literature in a previous blog. Vaginal farts are odourless, but they are noisy and sometimes cause a harmless "oops" moment after sex or during sports. But for some women, it's a real nuisance.
Why and in whom these vaginal breezes occur & what the underlying causes are, was not clear enough to us after searching the medical literature.
Time for change and additional research!
Our own research group "Women's Pelvic Health Antwerp" worked on two major research projects.
From an Australian study conducted by Hedwig Neels, under the supervision of a fascinating team of gynaecologists and a renowned professor specialising in pelvic floor ultrasounds, we learned something very surprising!
We examined 570 women, all of whom had pelvic floor problems. They had a clinical examination, answered a whole set of questionnaires and we took a look at their pelvic floor muscles with ultrasound. Transperineal pelvic floor echography is what it is called. The head of the device, is held against the pubic area and through the 3D/4D technology, we were able to do a very good analysis of how far women's pelvic floor muscles were "intact", the way they used their muscles, the strength of the connective tissue and the "suspension systems" in the pelvis; or just how far that bladder, uterus and bowel would sag a bit.
What did it turn out to be?
One in three of the 570 women we surveyed occasionally let out vaginal breezes.
Sometimes barely once a month, but sometimes several times a day. Day in, day out...
Vaginal farts are a moderately difficult problem (average "difficulty score" of 4.2/10). But for some women, it was the worst and most troublesome thing they could imagine.
Younger women have more complaints and are also more bothered by it.
The breezes are also more frequent in lean women.
Women who have already given birth vaginally suffer more.
But ... the "intactness" of the pelvic floor muscles was not a problem for the women with vaginal flatulence.
On the contrary... women who regularly let out vaginal farts are women who also keep their pelvic floor muscles stronger and more tightly stretched.
Also noteworthy:
Women who had more symptoms of uterine prolapse or bowel movement have less of a problem with this wind!
So the sign that you are bothered may mean that your organs are hanging well, but you may be keeping your pelvic floor muscles a little too tight.
This can cause you to suck in air during some movements. Air that temporarily remains between the "folds" or "wrinkles" you may have in the vaginal wall. And if that air is pushed out again during other movements, against a tightly stretched pelvic floor, it can make the sound of a breeze!
A soft or loud "pffrr"...
What do we take away from this?
However, a lot of open questions remained. It is important to emphasise that younger women appear to suffer more. But our subjects in this Australian group had an average age of 58.
So in a younger group, might it be more prevalent?
This was also shown in our second study.
A study by the University of Antwerp questioned 209 women on the basis of a questionnaire. Many young and sporty women participated. The average age in that group was 30.
And as many as 81% (171) sometimes let out vaginal breezes.
This study confirmed again: younger and leaner women suffer more.
Most women experience it once a week or month and it doesn't bother them much. But for one in ten of the women it occurs weekly or even daily and has a negative impact on their self-image.
And... as many as one in three women would like a solution or treatment for the problem!
Just what we are trying to achieve with The Pelvic Floor.
With these results in hand, we have to be honest and say that we still have much more to investigate!
But we can already explain and reassure many women that it is actually harmless!
Every woman is unique.
Talk about it and find the right solution for you.
Is this blog enough for you?
Or are you looking for more information? Then also read the other blogs.
Are you looking for a good professional who can give you further research and personal tips? Check out our links!
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References
1. Neels H, Mortiers X, de Graaf S, Tjalma WAA, De WachterS, Vermandel A (2017) Vaginal wind: A literature review. Eur J Obstet GynecolReprod Biol 214:97-103. doi:10.1016/j.ejogrb.2017.04.033
2. Neels H,Pacquée S, Shek K-L, Gillor M, Caudwell-Hall J, Dietz HP (2020) Is vaginalflatus related to pelvic floor functional anatomy? InternationalUrogynecology Journal. doi:10.1007/s00192-020-04371-9
