Do you have beef with your queefs? Chill. Queefing is normal and common — but there are some simple ways to avoid them.
Whoever said owning a vagina was easy? *Checks list.* Oh yeah, no one.
Though annoying to some, queefing is painless and has likely happened to everyone with a vagina at some point or another.
Here’s everything you need to know about queefs, including why they happen and how to prevent them.
Queef is slang for vaginal flatulence, which sounds like we’re saying that vaginas fart, but they don’t.
Though queefs can sound like a fart, it’s actually what researchers call “vaginal wind,” and it happens when air is trapped in your vag.
The farty sound you hear is the sound of the trapped air escaping from your vagina.
That air got caught up in your vagina somehow, and there are a few culprits to point fingers at.
Most of these are physical festivities you may have participated in that involve your vagina opening up enough for airflow:
- penetrative sex (penis and fingers alike)
- (receiving) oral sex
- masturbation
- exercises or physical activities, especially those that engage the core or stretch the vagina
Plus, there are a few risk factors that boost the chances of queefing:
- if you’ve given birth vaginally
- if you experience urinary incontinence (loss of bladder control)
- if your pelvic floor muscles are on the weaker side
While we cannot promise you a cure for queefing (because there is none!), we can point you in the direction of an exercise as old as time that may help prevent queefing for certain vagina owners — Kegels!
Kegels are the go-to exercise for boosting pelvic floor power, AKA they help strengthen the muscles around your bladder, bowels, and uterus.
You can perform Kegels by simply engaging (squeezing) your pelvic muscles for a few seconds, getting in a few reps throughout the day. You can also find machines at your gym that guide you to engage your pelvic muscles or use one at home (it’s usually called a “thigh master,” and it requires pelvic squeezing, which should do the trick).
So, if you’re one of the folks with a less-than-mighty pelvic floor, you may find you queef less often after Kegeling on the reg.
But again, it’s not a fool-proof plan to remove queefs from the picture. Remember, queefing is nothing to blush at — it’s natural and part of vagina-livin’.
Unfortch, you can’t exactly sneak your way out of queefing during sex. And queefing during sex is not a sign that you’re doing it wrong.
But in theory, you could try having sex that requires the least amount of vaginal opening, which means less air flowing into your vagina and a lessened chance of air releasing in a queef.
But is avoiding queefs worth potentially boring sex? Most of us would vote not.
Nope.
Everyone’s sh*t stinks (well, maybe not Beyoncé’s). So farts, which involve our digestive system working its way out our booties, usually have that famously unpopular odor.
Queefs, on the other hand, are not farts (again, it’s just trapped air), so they don’t leave a scent trace behind — just a sound wave we can learn to love.
Queefing is part of life and is pretty much unavoidable. Yes, you can kegel to your heart’s desire to boost your pelvic floor power, but it’s not a proven method for eliminating queefs from your life.
Queefs are trapped air grooving its way out of your vagina and back out into the world. Pay it no mind or have a laugh at it, and don’t let it kill a good time.
