Every few months, a misguided product or treatment meant for vaginal rejuvenation makes the rounds, usually because it’s being touted by Gwyneth Paltrow. Vaginal steaming, jade eggs, herbal tampons — whatever it may be, the internet’s favorite gynecologist, Dr. Jen Gunter, emerges shortly afterward to tell you that it’s a very bad idea. Her latest warning is simple and straightforward: Do not put ground-up wasps’ nests in your vagina.
While this seems like an obvious thing to avoid, Gunter points to “oak galls,” which are advertised as an herbal remedy to help tighten your vagina. In reality, they’re small balls of bark that grow when a wasp deposits larvae inside. While you’re not supposed to just pop ‘em in there, one of the suggested uses involves grinding them up into a paste and applying it to your episiotomy cut after childbirth. Gunter says it’s quite harmful and can increase your HIV risk, kill good bacteria, and make you more prone to abrasions while having sex.
All that aside, if reading “wasp” and “your vagina” in the same sentence doesn’t set off some warning signals, I can’t help you.