You probably already know that the most popular time of the year to catch a cold or come down with the flu is during the fall and winter seasons (if you want a brief rundown on the differences between a cold and the flu, you can check a list out here). However, were you aware of the fact that the flu virus actually moves, full speed ahead, right around October?
If you add to that the fact that late August thru late March/early April is when the common cold prefers to show all the way out the most, this is the perfect time to talk about what happens to your body whenever you catch a cold — oh, and to add a bit of “the more you know” to this piece, I’m going to also share what your vagina goes through whenever a cold decides to temporarily take over your body.
Why is this relevant? Well, the way I see it is, if whenever you find yourself getting sick, it seems like your vagina isn’t “at its best” either, you should know that it’s definitely not all up in your head. When your immune system is working in overdrive to get your viral infection under control, sometimes your vagina has to struggle (just a bit) to get through that.
And now that you know, for a fact, that oftentimes there really is something up with your “her” whenever you are under the weather, you can learn about what you can do to make dealing with a cold easier when it comes to your vagina — and, ultimately, you too.
What Happens to Your Body, Overall, When You Catch a Cold
GiphyIsn’t it wild that there still appears to be no cure for the common cold (that partly may be because there are over 200 different viruses that can give you a cold)? This means that if you happen to catch one, all you can really do is treat the symptoms and hope that it lasts closer to two days than two whopping weeks (which tends to be the sliding scale of how long a cold chooses to stick around).
And although I’m sure that you are very well aware of the fact that a cold brings with it things like coughing, congestion, and sometimes a fever, have you ever stopped to think about what is actually going on inside of your body when you have a cold?
From what I’ve read and researched when a cold-causing virus gets into your nasal passages/sinuses, it takes a couple of days for your immune system to get the message that something is up. Chemical messengers within your body, known as cytokines, are what put your immunity on notice. As your blood vessels start to swell up in order to fight off the virus/infection, that’s what causes congestion.
Then, as your white blood cells begin to get involved, that can lead to inflammation which sometimes results in things like a runny nose and cough. Some other things that can happen to you while you’re dealing with a cold are you may experience body aches, a sore throat, headaches, sneezing, and a fever.
What Happens to Your Vagina, Specifically, When You Catch a Cold
GiphyNow as far as what happens to your vagina while you’re dealing with a cold, the main thing that transpires is your blood vessels become wider in order to make way for more white blood cells to fight the virus. As a result, you may see an increased amount of vaginal discharge. On the flip side to this, if your cold ends up dehydrating you (which isn’t uncommon), that could result in you experiencing a noticeable level of vaginal dryness.
Also, something else to keep in mind is, that if you are stressed out a lot, that can actually make you more susceptible to catching a cold, and if stress is your “cold culprit,” that can significantly increase your chances of having a yeast infection — and both at the same time is the absolute worst.
Now, here’s where it really gets kinda wild. Although it makes no sense to take an antibiotic for a cold (because antibiotics treat bacterial infections, not viral ones; you can read more about thathere andhere), if you do end up with a yeast infection and a cold at the same time, the antibiotics could end up throwing off your vagina’s pH balance even while treating the yeast overgrowth; unfortunately, that could still lead to some level of vaginal irritation.
Oh, and as far as antihistamines and decongestants that you may be taking to treat your cold? Those typically will narrow your blood vessels, even in your genital region, which can also result in vaginal dryness. The same goes for any sedatives that you may take to make it easier to sleep more soundly while you’re healing from your cold.
It should also go on record that certain cold medications can come with side effects like rashes, redness, and itchiness — and that could include your vagina and/or vulva. Yeah, like I said, your vagina and vulva are not always or automatically exempt from the cold that you may be experiencing.
How to Soothe Your Vagina While You Have a Cold
GiphySo, even if you can’t cure your cold, is there anything that you can do to either lower the chances of your vagina experiencing all of what I just mentioned or make the symptoms far more bearable? Indeed, there is.
Consume probiotics and vitamin D.
As far as preventative measures go, something that you and your vagina need are probiotics and Vitamin D. Probiotics are dope because they help to fill your gut with the good bacteria that it needs to fight viral infections (you know, since 80 percent of your immunity is in your gut, to begin with) and vitamin D is awesome because it helps to make your immunity “activate” quicker; plus, it helps to prevent viral infections from transpiring in the first place.
As far as your vagina goes? Probiotics decrease the chances of your pH balance being thrown off (which could lead to a yeast infection) while vitamin D reduces the risk of vaginal-related infections as it also helps to decrease vaginal dryness.
Hydrate.
Since having a cold can cause you to lose fluids and electrolytes (including in your vaginal region), it’s wise to drink more water and orange juice while you have a cold. Not only will that help to replenish what has been lost, but it can also help to flush out toxins. Plus, orange juice contains a lot of vitamin C, which is an antioxidant that can help strengthen your immunity. By the way, other drinks like a turmeric latte or matcha tea can help your immune system to get to a better place as well.
Take (and apply) some flaxseed oil or grapefruit seed extract.
As far as vaginal dryness goes, something else that you can do is take some flaxseed oil as a supplement and/or apply it directly to your vulva. Not only will it provide moisture to both your insides and “outsides” without any chemicals, but there are also properties in flaxseed that help your skin retain its pH balance.
Oh, and if you gargle with some grapefruit seed extract, that can fight your viral infection up top, while if you add a bit of it to your vulva (with the help of a carrier oil), that can help to rid your vulva of any cold-related germs down below.
Use a lubricant.
If you’re the only one who is sick, it’s probably best that you try and steer clear of your partner as much as possible because colds are hella contagious. However, if you’re both on the icky side yet you can muster up the energy, sex can give you the kind of endorphin boost that will help you to feel better while orgasms can temporarily clear up your congestion (just sayin’).
That said, since oils and latex don’t exactly get along if you do have some vaginal dryness going on and flaxseed isn’t going to work for you personally, try a silicone-based lubricant — just to get you over the hump (umm, so to speak). Because even if a cold has the rest of you feeling kind of blah, at least your vagina can get a bit of a pick-me-up, right? Yeah…that’s what I’m sayin’. LOL.
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Featured image by svetikd/Getty Images
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The pair often says they’re two sides of the same coin. Skylar is an Aquarius. She attended art school, paints, and loves poetry. She’s more than happy to let the couple’s management firm and agency, Kensington Grey, handle their admin work. And, she loves to sleep in. Temi, on the other hand, wakes up early. He’s a Virgo. He loves a to-do list and regularly checks in on the couple’s brand partnerships spreadsheet to make sure everything is on track.
Because his storytelling was steeped in his love of technology, he didn’t always think of himself as a creative person. “Where I [am] the dreamer who wants to pluck things out of the sky and spend all day with my head in the clouds, Temi [is] so good at grounding me and helping me figure out how to make things make sense on paper. We just work together in such a complimentary way,” Skylar says.
It’s been more than six years since Brooklyn-based couple Temi and Skylar started dating, and nearly four since they cemented their working relationship. On TikTok and Instagram, the couple’s travel, fashion, and home content regularly rack up hundreds of thousands of views. They’ve worked with brands such as Coach, Aesop, Away, and Liquid IV, bringing their vibrant perspectives to every campaign they execute. Still, nearly two years since both Temi and Skylar committed to full-time content creation and creative directing, the couple says their romantic connection remains their priority.
“We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting,” Skylar says.
Working from home can make it hard to separate work from personal life for any entrepreneur. It can be even more challenging when your business partner is also your lover. Temi and Skylar had already used couples therapy as a tool to help them effectively communicate with one another. When they ran into challenges while working together, their therapist helped them set physical boundaries to help combat the issues.
"We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting."
“It actually took us doing very specific physical things to create boundaries between work and play in our relationship,” Skylar says. “So, for instance, we will only have conversations about work when we're out of bed or we're at the table or in the office. Initially, when we started, we had to light a candle to say that, 'Okay, this is a space where we're connecting, we’re not talking about work.' We needed really hard boundaries at the top. And then it became a little bit more organic.”
The boundaries have been crucial to implement, especially because the couple began working together so naturally. When the pair first met, Skylar was NY-based a social strategist for BuzzFeed and was using content creation to drive business to her lingerie company. She was shooting her own content. Temi was working for Microsoft in D.C. He’d recently traded in his DJing equipment for a camera. “I've always loved taking pictures,” he says. “Even when I was a kid, my African mother would wake me up at 3:00 a.m. [during a] party, and be like, 'Come take the family picture.'”
Growing up, Temi says he watched his parents support each other and be the true definition of partners. He knew he wanted the same for his own relationship. But, the couple also wanted to make sure they were being financially responsible. The pair didn’t quit their traditional jobs until they’d saved up two years' worth of their cost of living. And, Temi received his Master of Business Administration from New York University with the knowledge that it could either help him advance in his corporate career or be applicable to his business with Skylar.
Temi and SkylarCj Hart @hartbreakToday, they say their working relationship is more of a “quiet dance.” They still implement some of the boundaries they learned in therapy, but they also lean into their natural strengths and deep love for one another. When we speak, Temi has planned a date for the couple to see Princess Mononoke in 4K IMAX and added it to their Notion so they can factor it into their busy schedules. “I fully plan to date for the rest of my life,” he says.
Skylar says the couple doesn’t just wait for date nights to check in with one another, though. This often happens in the mornings, after Temi has made her peppermint tea and poured himself a cup of coffee. When they ask each other how they slept, she says, it’s not just a “nicety.” It’s a genuine question meant to foster connection.
“A lot of it happens during the day in the midst of work. We'll stop and we'll hug. Or we’ll slow dance in the kitchen,” she says. “Sometimes it's hard to set a whole date night when you have 7,000 things going on. So, we must grasp these moments and check in when we can. And I think it's become so organic to us that I actually didn't even realize how often we do it. But all day long, we're like, 'Are you good? I felt like your energy shifted,' because we're best friends, we just know. We just feel it happen.”
What’s better than being in love? Building wealth while doing it. Watch Making Cents here for real stories of couples who make money moves together.
Featured image by Cj Hart @hartbreak