The 7 summer vagina sins you're definitely committing.

The smell of hot chips, the grit of sand stuck to your skin and the sensation of forgetting what day of the week it is.

Summer in Australia is a time to let go of structure, turn activewear into everyday wear and start happy hour well before midday.

But with all the extra temptations the warm, festive months bring, come some serious risks for your vagina.

So, consider this your women's health confessional where we unpack the seven summer vagina sins.

But first, watch how the doctor explains how allergy medications can dry out ALL your body's membranes — including down there. Post continues after video.

Gluttony: Living in wet swimmers all day.

Those bikini bottoms that you've had on since your sunrise ocean swim have now turned into a warm, moist, synthetic breeding ground for yeast and bacteria. I understand changing them can feel like a big effort, however, leaving them on is sin number one.

Wet togs are linked to increased risk of thrush, bacterial vaginosis, skin irritation and UTIs. Chlorine and saltwater can also disrupt the vaginal microbiome and irritate the delicate vulval skin.

Ready to absolve yourself? Change out of swimmers as soon as possible. Keep spare undies in your bag and rinse the vulva with fresh water.

Vanity: Over-washing in the name of freshness.

I get it. Heat, sweat and the fear of body odour can drive women to scrub harder and clean their vulva more than in the cooler months.

The irony is this: your vagina is self-cleaning.

Over-washing your vulva, especially with fragranced or feminine hygiene products, can disrupt your pH, strip the protective oils that you produce naturally and can increase irritation, odour and infection risk.

Ready to absolve yourself? Wash your vulva externally with fresh water (your actual vagina requires no washing — zilch, nada). If you feel like you must, opt for a gentle, fragrance-free cleanser on the vulva (the exterior part that looks like skin) only.

Sloth: Holding your wee because who can be bothered to find a bathroom?

Long car trips, flights, festivals and questionable public toilets make bathroom avoidance very tempting. But holding for too long (or too often) overstretches the bladder, disrupts the signals between your brain and bladder and increases risk of urgency (when you have to go, you have to race to the toilet immediately), frequency (needing to wee more regularly) and incomplete emptying (when your bladder doesn't evacuate all the urine).

Combine this with hot days and a lack of water? You can get dehydration, which significantly raises your UTI risk.

Ready to absolve yourself? When your bladder asks, you go. A stinky toilet is never as bad as bladder dysfunction. Side note: don't hover over the toilet. It's far better to lay toilet paper down and sit on the seat than it is to try and push out a wee (or poo) while you're squatting.

Greed: Dehydrating yourself with summer cocktails.

This hot weather can you have you screaming for an iced latte or dirty marg — I get it.

However, salty, caffeine and alcohol-laden drinks can dehydrate you.

When you're dehydrated (or haven't been drinking enough water), your pee becomes more concentrated. This irritates the bladder lining, which can worsen urgency (the need to rush to the toilet as soon as you need to go) and burning when you wee.

Ready to absolve yourself? Drink water. You want to aim for pale yellow urine — anything brighter or darker is a sign you're not drinking enough H2O.

Wrath (of the bowel): Ignoring your holiday constipation.

Your bowel is a bit of a diva — if you step out of your routine, if you're travelling or if you're not drinking enough, she can throw a real tantrum and leave you with constipation.

Why is this a vaginal sin? Well, constipation increases pressure on the bladder, worsens leakage and urgency and places a chronic load on the pelvic floor. Straining and pushing are known contributors to prolapse and pelvic pain.

Ready to absolve yourself? Repeat after me: fibre, fluids and movement.

Grab some blueberries, drink your water and move your body. And, when you do go to do a number two, use a toilet stool (or prop your legs up onto a toilet bin). This position helps reduce straining by improving the anorectal angle.

Lust: Beach-to-bed sex without a rinse.

Sand, salt, sunscreen and bacteria don't belong in your vagina (shock, horror).

So, for my frisky ladies, please make sure we're rinsing off before engaging in a bedroom romp. Leftover sand and chemicals from sunscreen or pool water can increase friction, risk of micro-tearing and infection. And, if you add dehydration or alcohol to the mix, it's a fast track to post-sex pain or UTIs.

Ready to absolve yourself? Rinse in fresh water, wee before and after sex and use lubrication (because, as Sebastian says in Little Mermaid, 'darling, it's better down where it's wetter').

Pride: Pushing through pelvic discomfort.

You're travelling, you're juggling work and kids who are home from school, and you're still trying to recover from the Christmas mental load — it's easy to place your own health, pelvic heaviness, vulval irritation, bladder urgency or painful sex into the "too hard basket."

But these symptoms are signals that something isn't right. The summer heat increases blood flow and tissue sensitivity, which can amplify underlying pelvic floor dysfunction.

Ready to absolve yourself? Use this time to reach out for help via an email to your gyno or an appointment with your pelvic floor physio. Stop putting yourself at the bottom of the priority list and make 2026 the year your health comes first.

Heather is a passionate advocate for women's health and owns Core Restore Co, a group of core and pelvic floor rehabilitation clinics across NSW. With degrees in Communications and Health Science, a Diploma in Pilates, Masters in Women's Medicine and Masters in Sexology (in progress), Heather is available across all four Core Restore Co clinics and provides educational content through the Core Restore Co Instagram.

Feature image: Canva.