Foul odor around clitoris

[Dreams4444]

I am 19 years old and for a few years now i have had a foul, fishy odor around the area of where the clitoris is. I haven't had any problems with odor in the vagina though. I don't experience redness or itching either. I always wear clean clothes. I bathe everyday and use a gentle feminine cleanser but even right after a shower or bath the smell is there and it gets worse as the day goes on. I have been prescribed a cream to be used in the vagina to get rid of bacteria, but it doesn't help with the odor...I'm assuming because the odor is not coming from the inside of the vagina. I am not sexually active at this time but i am worried about when i am, because the odor is embarrassing. Any ideas or thoughts?

[siren of the sea]

yes you need to see your gyno. it sounds like an infection and some meds will help you. dont delay, some infections could impair your fertility if left untreated for too long.

[sparkeler]

Have you been to the gyno?  Who prescribed you the cream?  It sounds like bacterial vaginosis.  Women with bv often complain of a strong fish like odor.  If it's accomponied by discharge, its usually white or gray.  (Discharge may not always be present, alot of women w/bv have no symptoms at all.)  Also, if you are douching that increases your liklihood of acquiring bacterial vaginosis.  Douching is not good for you.  I think you do need to see a gyno.  Good luck.

[sk2006a]

when you see your gyno, make sure you ask if it's okay to use the feminine cleanser.

[grounded]

Gentle unscented/white soap should be a lot better than "femenine cleansers" which mask odors...just like spraying flower scented spray to a room smelling of rotting fish making it even worse... keep area clean and dry, you may want to use 100% cotton underwear and NO panty liners. Anyway, how can you blame your very own clitoris for all this?

[glad2bamom]

Maybe I'm a little out of touch (pardon the pun) but how can you be sure exactly where the odor is from?  I am extremely familiar with my body, and odor is odor is odor...unless I'm putting my hands down there and touching specific body parts, and bringing my fingers up to my nose on a regular basis.  The moisture and discharge from that area seems to spread, so I wouldn't know for certain where the odor is coming from.  Outside vs. inside I understand, but specifically the clitoris?  I don't know about that.  I have visions of the girl from Saturday night live smelling her armpits with her hands....the Catholic girl.  What's her name?

[siren of the sea]

HAHA when i get real nervous i put my hands here and smell!!!!!!!

[oceans3]

hah ha ha!! the other night i was at work and kept getting a whiff of...uh...crotch. it happened each time i got up and sat down. i'm like..what is that? it CANT be me...i do not smell like that! i even bent down and smelled the chair...nope not that (which was gross to do cuz the day shift girl sits there). anyway, then i kept thinking, maybe i have bv? i literally tried to bend down and smell the area. nope...fresh as a daisy. ya know what it was????? coffee that was (and has been) sitting there for lord knows how long. too long. it went from a solid to a liquid. currdled milk.

[oceans3]

sorry...a liquid to a solid but i think you got the idea!

[glad2bamom]

Oceans
You make me laugh sososososo hard.  I can get the mental image of you leaning over to smell yourself!!
hahahahahaha

[oceans3]

yahhhh..good thing i was alone!! thats why i bent down to smell the chair and my own crotch. you can bet that i was gonna get down to the bottom of this!

[kenziesmom]

Sister Mary Catherine Gallagher

[121383]

It's ur Urethra (where you pee from) that the odor is coming from. Your doctor should give you some pills, but stop the feminine products and change out of wet undies immediately. I've had the same problem and the bv will come back if u slip up, so you have to always be careful. Mine would come and go, so I thought it was nothing, but it returned too ofen and the smell gets worse, not only throughout the day, but the longer u take to get it cured. OH! the discharge is coming from the Urethra too, u might mistake it as coming from the vagina, because it is right over it, and the discharge runs down as though it originated from the vagina. The urethra and clitoris are farely close, you might have mistaked the smell as coming from your clit, but its not...

[mohair3]

I have the same thing and I think it is coming from the clitoris too.  So if it is not, I can understand your confusion.  Someone would need to prove to me it was my urethra.  It is a very foul odor and I have read nothing related to the urethra about this bad of an odor.
I have always had a sensation of discharge there as well, above my urethra.  

[jamiedoll]

I know exactly what you are going through.  Here is the test to all those who are not believers.  Take a towel and dab a section around the vagina opening and urethra only.  Smell the towel, fresh as a daisy!  Again take a different section of towel and wipe over and around the clitoris.  Smell the towel, smell of body odour?  I have yet to figure out a solution to this.  I believe it is something to do with the acid secreted through the clitoris.  Very difficult to eliminate with soap or bodywash.  It also becomes heightened with added stress or anxiety.  My suggestions - use a very high quality moisturising body wash.  Before you get in the shower without water just handful of bodywash give yourself a really good scrub around the genitals for a few minutes.  Then wash off and repeat.  Try not to dilute with water too much until you have repeated this three times.  Then shower as normal.  Do this twice a day.  Drink plenty of water, try to stay calm.  A powder with baking soda, or a powder helps.  No feminine hygiene product actually works.  All I have found are hopeless for this problem.  Shave or trim the area, hair traps odor.  Go for a half hour swim at the beach usually gets rid of it.  Use wipes in the loo.  Wear cotton underwear.  Eat parsley and lots of green veg.  Parsley is like mint for the body.  All these things help to manage it but sorry no cure!!!

[js90]

I have this exact problem as well but I have yet to visit the doctor.  Have you been to the doctor and they have not given you anything to help with the odor?  I figured it was an infection and I was going to go to the doctor but I don't want to bother if they can't do anything for me.

[shooting_star]

I have this problem too. I'm glad I found this forum because I was getting worried about it. I started to think I had an infection, but I knew that the smell was coming from my clitoris.

[roseia]

I too have this problem, and it's been bothering me for a few years, as well. I know for a FACT that it comes from the clitoris (I did the towel test that jamiedoll suggested, and sure enough...). I'm nervous about going to my doctor because this is SUCH an embarrassing problem, and I'm worried that he'll have to take a whiff himself (I don't want to have ANYONE smell this...). So has anyone with this problem gone to see their doc/gyno about this yet? If so, what was the problem? If I know what this problem is and how the doc will go about curing it, I'll be much less hesitant to go see my doctor because I know what's going on. Many thanks in advance!!

[jamiedoll]

It's normal fatty acid secretions from the apocrine glands that are digested by microorganisms on the skin.  Otherwise known as bacteria, which then emit a volatile or pungent sweaty smell.  Some people smell more than others.  It is not unusual. More people than you think are affected by this. Try to avoid coffee, tobacco and alcohol as all these are stimulants and make you smell more.  Also foods high in spice and red meat can make you slightly smellier.  Stress-not good either.  AS ABOVE - My suggestions - use a very high quality moisturising body wash.  Before you get in the shower without water just handful of bodywash give yourself a really good scrub around the genitals for a few minutes.  Then wash off and repeat.  Try not to dilute with water too much until you have repeated this three times.  Then shower as normal.  Do this twice a day.  Drink plenty of water. A powder with baking soda, or a powder helps.  I hope this helps.  I understand how embarrassing it can be, but you can manage it!!  Just for the record I still drink coffee and have a glass of wine in the evening and my hubby of ten years never complains.  

[MaraMay]

LADIES I'VE FOUND THE SOLUTION!!! I knew about how the vagina (inside) can have an imbalance of good bacteria vs bad and all of you, like me don't have the problem inside just the clitoris area.  So after reading all of your stories I knew I sooooo wasn't alone.  Like some of you, my husband didn't know what I was talking about, he couldn't smell it, and neither could my doctor and the cultures came back fine, but I knew I wasn't crazy! We all bathe often and well lol, and the problem just won't leave and for me sometimes it'd get even worse the more I scrubbed and concentrated on the area.  Well!! I looked up how I could introduce good bacteria to the vagina and figured I'd try it in the clitoral area.  I found results that said soak a tampon in yogurt or milk and insert it into the vagina for 15 minutes.  So what I did (skeptically I might add) was soak a wash cloth in milk to get it fully saturated then I placed it inside my labia so it'd be up against my clitoris and kept it there for 15 minutes.  IT WORKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Here we are two weeks later now and I'm still stoked because I'm back to my old selft after like 5 years.  I'm sure you guys have taken antibiotics too and we know it kills all bacteria, bad and good and while they will eventually come back, the bad grows faster so while we may have enough good to keep our vagina fine, the vulva area on the other hand, specifically the clitoris, suffers because there isn't enough good.  And everytime we'd wash vigorously, we'd kill the good AGAIN and so each time, the bad grows fast and the good just can't keep up, and it's the bad that causes odor. GOOD LUCK EVERYONE you don't know how happy I am and how HAPPY I AM TO SHARE SUCH GREAT NEWS!!!!!

[Alicebvt]

Hi All,

MaraMay brings up such a good point -- that females are sooo hypersensitive to our own body smells, whilst our partners may not notice a thing. Keep in mind, that the only time a love partner has the opportunity to get close enough to us to detect anything they are already aroused and into lovemaking, so it is doubtful a strong odour would get in the way of that unstoppable force!! (assuming, of course that it IS indeed a healthy strong odour and not something truly pathogenic or illness-related!). I am an advocate of natural, dietary, and non-pharma answers to most problems. When you need drugs, please have your doctor guide you and take them, but realise that often times it is simply anxiety based on perception due to lack of reference. Case in point. I have rarely known a lesbian woman who complains about changes in vulval, clitoral, or vaginal odour unless related to BV, trich, thrush, etc.

Thx,
Ali

[cd27]

To MaraMay & Jaime:

All I have to say is you all are my life savers!!! :) BIG TIME! Thank you so much! You just don't know how much you've helped me. It's comforting to know that I am not alone and that I am not crazy for noticing this same exact problem. This nearly brings me to tears. I signed up to this site just to post this comment! God bless you ladies!

[1centwiz]

It's posts like these that we are here for. Thanks ladies for this simple answer to an embarrassing question and situation.
Yogurt is our friend down there... Yippee!!!!!

[MaraMay]

You just dont know that what you say makes me teary eyed!  I've been searching blogs for a couple years now searching for help and while some ideas seemed pretty good, I wasn't enthusiastic about trying them because I knew that at one point I was fine so why do I suddenly need to make these radical changes washing the area lots of times a day and drinking weird tinctures lol.  I knew that the bad bacteria was overtaking but didnt know how to allow the good one to grow faster.  I was soooo ecstatic when I googled how to introduce good bacteria to an area.  I hope these posts will reach the ladies that posted years ago.  It's tough being a woman sometimes (make that all the time)--our bodies are so delicate. :-)  I'm just so glad we now have a solution.  I've been sharing the news with all the women I can--

[MaraMay]

You are right Alice--we dont' have other vaginas to compare to so we don't know what is "normal" perse since there are no scratch and sniff samples available lol!!  My reference though is how my body was for all those years and then suddenly changed which I think is what happened with some of the other women as well.  I knew something wasn't right.  But it's true when you don't know what you should be smelling or not smelling, it can cause anxiety for sure.