A gynecologist has taken to social media to warn women about the dangers of placing cloves of garlic in their vagina.

The basis for this new attempted health trend relates to the supposed anti-bacterial qualities garlic can reportedly have on a vagina, but Dr Jennifer Gunter has strongly refuted the idea on Twitter.

In an eight-part thread, she explained exactly why women should definitely avoid placing it in their vaginas.

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"Why you should not put garlic in your vagina. A thread," begins Dr Gunter, before detailing the numerous reasons your downstairs should stay as garlic-free as possible.

First, she directly addressed the idea behind garlic as an antibacterial agent, saying: "Garlic contains allicin, in THE LAB it MAY have antifungal (i.e. anti yeast) properties. This is in a lab, not even in mice. Just a dish of cells. Your vagina is not a dish of cells."

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"Lots of vaginal garlic aficionados (I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO TWEET THAT IN 2019, BUT HERE WE ARE) recommend inserting a clove. This means they don't understand for allicin to be released the garlic has to be cut or crushed. Sigh," continued Dr Gunter, before going on to explain the health risks.

She added: "Garlic could have bacteria from the soil. Bacteria from the soil can be pathogenic -- bad for the body. That's why we clean wounds. If you actually happen to have an inflamed yeasty vagina that soil bacteria would be more likely to infect."

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But what if you crush up garlic, and have hypothetically done everything you can to ensure it's clean? Dr Gunter once again explains why this is still a bad idea, writing: "[There's] the cut up garlic on raw tissues thing (OUCH). And the fishing of the garlic out by the gyno thing.

"Garlic can cause biofilms on braces, so could garlic contribute to biofilms in the vagina? Biologically plausible. Biofilms are bad. You do not want them to form especially when you have yeast. Effect of garlic good bacteria also unknown."

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In her Twitter thread, the professional also touches upon another medical phenomenon that may have caused the idea of vagina garlic to proliferate: the placebo effect.

"The placebo effect is strong. If you think vaginal garlic is going to make you feel better, you may very well feel better temporarily," she explained. "As 50-70% of women who self treat for vaginal yeast never actually had a yeast infection you can't say much, except half of them never had yeast to begin with so the irritation they had may have been a temporary thing and resolving wasn't garlic related."

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Dr Gunter finished off her tweet storm by recommending her book The Vagina Bible, which is out August 27. But before signing off, she had a bonus tweet for everyone looking to improve their vaginal health.

"I’m adding one more tweet," she wrote. "You know why you refrigerate homemade garlic vinaigrette? So any clostridium bacteria laying around on the garlic doesn’t produce botulinum toxin. Right. The vagina is an anaerobic environment, so perfect for clostridium. You’re welcome."

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So to conclude, for anyone who is concerned about their sexual health and has a few cloves in the pantry, Dr Jennifer Gunter has one thing to say: don't do it.

These days, it seems that people will go to some fairly extreme lengths in order to achieve what they believe to be a perfect body. Some folks go the healthy route, sticking to a sensible diet and a regular exercise routine, while others splash out on surgery, extreme food fads, and top dollar lotions and potions which claim to make you look 10 years younger.

Unsurprisingly, a lot of these alternative methods of staying in shape and looking sharp can leave people will some potentially nasty damage. Tanning beds, in particular, are notorious for causing damage to people's skin, and have been known to cause cancer before.

And nobody knows that better than Mallory Lubbock.

Lubbock had been using tanning beds since she was just 16 years old, sometimes going in for sessions every single day. Unfortunately, after years of subjecting herself to the ultraviolet rays, she developed skin cancer.

"So, today I got my first cancerous spot removed," said Mallory in an honest Facebook post. "I now get to go back for suture removal/wound check, an appointment to get my WHOLE body checked out, VERY routine check ups for a long while, and then routine check ups for life, and almost 100% certainly many more painful ass appointments of getting skin cancer taken off my body."

She went on:

"Damn it 16 year old Mallory that went tanning every single day for two years. I will try like hell to make sure my daughter will not be laying in a single tanning bed while she is under my roof and I hope her just hearing about and seeing Mama go through this will be enough.

 

"You guys. Get your daughters out of tanning beds. Get your 16 year old sister out of them. Hell, get out of them yourselves! It’s so not worth it. Is tan skin REALLY worth it? This sh*t will scar and this sh*t HURT. I am now the mom at the beach with the umbrella and my spf 100 HEAVILY applied. Never ever ever did I think this would happen to me (who does?)"

Not only does Lubbock now have a gnarly scar on her upper lip, then, she also has to worry about recurring skin cancer for the rest of her life.

Since she was so young when she started the treatments, she had no idea of the risk she was putting herself under. In fact, what many people haven't been told is that many sunbeds actually give out stronger UV rays than a midday sun in a tropical location. Plus, as people obviously don't put on any sun cream before they climb into one of the beds (whereas they probably would if they were heading for a day at the beach), they receive a much higher concentration of radiation than they usually would.

All in all, tanning beds seem to do basically the opposite of what they're intended to do. Sure, they might give you a natural-looking glow for a little while, but excessive use can cause cancer, premature aging, and damage to the eyes.

So, if you're really desperate for that bronzed look, perhaps consider going for the bottled option.

A woman has left social media users horrified after appearing to eat a piece of salmon raw on the bus - with many fearing for her health.

The TikTok user, who goes by @aggiedayx, shared footage of her proudly holding up a packet of uncooked salmon on what appeared to be a party bus, before tucking into it raw.

She overlaid the video with text reading: "Anyone else or am I just a wrongen?", adding in the caption: "just missing the soya said :( banging #happynewyear."

Understandably, seeing a woman chomping down on uncooked fish in a moving vehicle did not sit right with most of the viewers.

Let's think of the practicalities first - this woman is clearly dressed for a night out, and anyone that's ever cooked salmon knows that it comes with a pretty pungent odor.

Then there's the fact that the fish is generally a bit slimy and wet when removed from the packaging, which could lead to fish juice all over her and the bus. That and the fact buses are also generally not the cleanest or most hygienic of places to be eating if you can avoid it.

Oh yeah, and the small fact that eating raw salmon can be extremely dangerous for your health of course.

Viewers took to the comments to share their disgust, writing: "Bruh I am all for raw salmon but you can't be having this kind," and "Get some worm tablets ASAP."

Others added: "Omg that's so dangerous it's not sashimi grade," and "My jaw literally dropped and stayed like it the entire time."

Credit: TikTok Credit: TikTok Credit: TikTok

While raw salmon can be eaten in some dishes including poké or ceviche, whether or not it's safe to do so is largely down to how it is treated and stored and whether or not the fish has been smoked.

Salmon can contain parasites that can make you seriously ill, which are destroyed by heat when the fish is cooked.

There's also the chance of bacteria - including salmonella - which can cause food poisoning, as well as potential for the fish to have been contaminated when it was cut or packaged.

Some people - including pregnant women, those with compromised immune systems, children, and the elderly - should stay away from raw salmon entirely.

Either way, it's definitely better to cook salmon before you eat it, just to be on the safe side.

Aggie told the Independent that she'd "posted [the video] as a laugh" and that she only chows down on raw fish on the odd occasion rather than as a staple part of her diet and is aware it's "unhealthy". Thank the lord.

Featured image credit: Zoonar GmbH / Alamy

The internet is a weird and wonderful place, especially when it comes to differences in opinions.

Funny, weird, sad (or just downright gross), you're guaranteed to find all sorts of interesting perspectives.

However, some are certainly more unique than others, including this recent post on motherhood forum Mumsnet, about a woman who uses her dishwasher to clean one popular household item... A toilet brush!

"I clean my toilet brush in the dishwasher every few months," the post, written by the user Swizzle007, began.

Credit: Robert Kneschke / Alamy

"I just put the brush and holder in, on their own, on a hot wash and they come out like new. A friend popped by this morning for coffee, and I opened the dishwasher to get out a couple of mugs, forgetting that I had put the toilet items in last night," the woman continued.

"She totally freaked out, saying this is totally disgusting, and re-washed the mugs I had then taken out from the cupboard AND poured boiling water on them before she would allow me to make her coffee!! Was my friend being unreasonable? The mugs and loo bush were washed in separate loads," the post concluded.

Unsurprisingly, the people had some hilarious responses in the comments section, including one person who wrote: "Just take the toilet brush in the bath with you, that's what I do."

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Though, most people were pretty unimpressed, including one person who wrote: "I don't care how hygienic it is, just NO."

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While another added: "I'm with your friend here. How on earth could you even contemplate putting a toilet brush and holder into your dishwasher?"

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On a more serious note, washing toilet brushes in the dishwasher is probably not the healthiest decision, as dishwashers are not hospital-grade steamed sterilizing units. In fact, home appliance brand Whirlpool wrote on their blog that the temperature level of regular home dishwashers is simply not hot enough to adequately sterilize dishes.

"No. To kill microorganisms on dishes, a minimum temperature of 250°F must be maintained for several minutes in order for sterilization to occur. Because this temperature is much higher than most home dishwashers are capable of achieving, running dishes through a sanitize dishwasher setting will not cause sterilization," the blog read.

Home appliance brand, Whirlpool, wrote on their blog that the temperature level of regular home dishwashers are simply not hot enough to adequately sterilize dishes. Credit: Realimage / Alamy

Whirlpool added that there's a stark difference between sanitization and sterilization: "While sanitization and sterilization are both antimicrobial processes, the degree to which each method kills harmful germs and bacteria varies."

"Most commonly used in professional settings like hospitals and pharmacies, sterilization methods aim to eliminate all traces of bacteria. The sanitizing process aims to lower bacteria. Unlike the sterilization process, sanitization can be achieved through a variety of non-commercial technologies–like those used by your home dishwasher," the post concluded.

So, essentially, the dishwasher will sanitize your dishes, but is definitely not hot enough to kill microorganisms through sterilization - especially the same microorganisms that are responsible for Hepatitis E (which can be found in fecal matter).

Well, I don't know about you, I'll be checking my friend's dishwasher next time I pop over for a cuppa!

Featured image credit: Realimage / Alamy

I imagine working on the design side of a marketing campaign is pretty tough. You've got deadlines to meet, and all your creativity is going to be rushed through in order to get a project done in time. But while the things that catch our eyes, whether they be products or their advertisements, often look simple, coming up with the concept can be incredibly difficult. That's partly why there are so many rubbish ideas out there, or ads you would happily fast-forward through or head to the kitchen to grab a snack instead of watch. Yet even these eye-rolling or forgettable commercials tend to not be too bad. No one's going to lose a job over them, they just might not get the promotion. This is absolutely not the case with this latest public debacle, as the message on this condom wrapper ended up meaning the exact opposite of what it intended. Posted on Reddit this week by user wrags23, along with the caption "Safe sex campaign on my campus handed these out", this design is truly atrocious. In all honesty, it took me a very long time to figure out what it was actually trying to say. In fact, it would be more accurate to say that I never discovered the real message myself, but instead saw a commenter handily explain it to me. Now that's good marketing! Did you realise it first time? If you did, your brain is running a lot faster and more efficiently than mine. And if you still haven't seen it - take another look at the donut at the beginning of the sentence. Still don't get it? Well the idea is that you are meant to see this image and say it out loud - so "donut go further without consent". Doesn't exactly work does it? I can kind of understand why they chose to use emoji speak, hoping to remind people to treat one another with respect without being too serious and alienating millennials or something. But really, the text alone would have been fine, and there would be a lot less people thinking that the condoms are advocating non-consensual sex. The fact that people signed off on this design without seeing the issue is bizarre. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/gabrielenguard/status/906523132722155520]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/DanNerdCubed/status/906523983880826881]] Apparently the condoms were made by a company called Say It With a Condom. They design "consent condoms" start a conversation about how to ask for consent before sex. I guess they got what they wanted in the end. We are all talking about it, but there's a lot more bewilderment than I imagine they were expecting. The condoms have since been removed from the online store, and the company's CEO, Benjamin Sherman, told Us Weekly about how it came to be: "We went through our normal checks and balances with this design. Whenever we create a new campaign we send it out to universities and domestic violence shelters for feedback and we didn't receive any negative feedback. If we're not given the green light, we redesign or just choose a different tagline." It's a shame, since the aim of the game was do something positive, but the checks these guys go through need some extra steps at least. Hopefully in the future other companies will stay far away from using an image of a donut instead of real words.