Medical professionals have warned Nigerian ladies to desist from rubbing or inserting random substance into their vaginas, following claims that the practice boosts fertility and sex drive.
In what has become a trend on social media, physicians say they have met women who inserted snuff, marijuana and shea butter into their vaginas to ‘rev up’ their sex drive or achieve conception.
Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Yaba, Lagos, Oliver Ezechi, said it was “really weird stuff,” though he said he was not surprised.
The Chief Research Fellow told PUNCH HealthWise that there were two things a woman could go to any length to solve — unwanted pregnancy and infertility.
“Women can do anything as far as they are convinced that it will resolve the problem.”
“Women can insert anything in the hope that it would get them pregnant, or resolve other gynaecological issues. However, it is a dangerous trend that could often damage the vagina and reproductive tract, either as a corrosive or route to infection, both of which damage the genital tract,” Ezechi said.
The ob-gyn said it was relatively a common practice.
“Some women insert even non-prescription items such as douches and chocolate syrup in their privates for various reasons, including infertility,” Ezechi said.
He warned against “arbitrary use of Clomid,” a prescription oral medication that is often used to treat certain types of female infertility, adding that complications from abortion can result in damage to the genital tract and cannot be treated with the medication.
Speaking in the same vein, a senior obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute-Metta, Dr. James Odofin, attributed the practice to desperation on the part of the women.
When it comes to the issue of pregnancy or fertility, a woman would go to any length, no matter how bizarre or weird the process is. Again, a woman who is desperate to take out a pregnancy would go to any length to remove it. That shows the premium people place on fertility,” Odofin said.
He warned that insertion of marijuana, tobacco or vinegar into the vagina to boost sexuality or fertility has no scientific basis.
The obstetrician lamented that whenever the issue of fertility is discussed, virtually everybody becomes an expert.
“One cannot blame them, though. Sometimes, infertility could be the fault of the man, because it all depends on the quality of the sperm and not just about sexual intercourse.”
