# Anal Doctor warns: Do not use wet wipes. I have so many questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 28, 2020, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-doctor-warns-do-not-use-wet-wipes-i-have-so-many-questions/916650 "2020-07-28T22:18:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-doctor-warns-do-not-use-wet-wipes-i-have-so-many-questions/916650/21 "2020-07-29T05:29:34Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Lysol used to promoted as a douche. I saw a bottle of it in 1979 that still had that as one of the suggested uses. Wipes out Covid-19 virus when used internally! [https://www.reddit.com/r/vintageads/comments/csjfo1/lysol\_disinfectant\_which\_was\_sold\_as\_a\_douche\_in/](https://www.reddit.com/r/vintageads/comments/csjfo1/lysol_disinfectant_which_was_sold_as_a_douche_in/) ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-doctor-warns-do-not-use-wet-wipes-i-have-so-many-questions/916650/22 "2020-07-29T06:39:09Z")
Okay, just to clear this up, I believe the “tragedies” prevented by douching with Lysol were in fact not some evil odor but pregnancy. I think most women at the time knew that, probably some of the men did too, and I have a feeling that it didn’t actually work that way a lot of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-doctor-warns-do-not-use-wet-wipes-i-have-so-many-questions/916650/23 "2020-07-29T06:42:29Z")
The article linked by needscoffee at Post #11 makes that explicitly clear. “Feminine hygiene” was a blatant euphemism at a time when birth control was largely illegal. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-doctor-warns-do-not-use-wet-wipes-i-have-so-many-questions/916650/24 "2020-07-29T07:06:57Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > The article linked by needscoffee at Post #11 makes that explicitly clear. “Feminine hygiene” was a blatant euphemism at a time when birth control was largely illegal Not that evil odors aren’t also tragic in their own sad way. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-doctor-warns-do-not-use-wet-wipes-i-have-so-many-questions/916650/25 "2020-07-29T08:23:10Z")
> [@Dr.Colossus](#): > > Yes, I don’t know about you guys but I make sure I scrub all of the undercarriage nightly with soap. > > How can a flushable wipe be worse than that? Soap and water don’t clog the plumbing. “Flushable” wipes do. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-doctor-warns-do-not-use-wet-wipes-i-have-so-many-questions/916650/26 "2020-07-29T19:04:50Z")
> [@Dr.Colossus](#): > > Yes, I don’t know about you guys but I make sure I scrub all of the undercarriage nightly with soap. My gastroenterologist said to never use soap near my anus. My gyn says to use only very mild soap and to make sure none gets inside me. Both discourage the use of wet wipes. I follow what my doctors say. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-doctor-warns-do-not-use-wet-wipes-i-have-so-many-questions/916650/27 "2020-07-29T19:46:37Z")
Me, I just gotta have that sparkle! ✴ ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-doctor-warns-do-not-use-wet-wipes-i-have-so-many-questions/916650/28 "2020-07-29T19:49:28Z")
Somewhere in a slots casino off the Vegas Strip, an elderly tour group suddenly became very sad… ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-doctor-warns-do-not-use-wet-wipes-i-have-so-many-questions/916650/29 "2020-07-29T20:30:32Z")
Ref the vintage Lysol ad, I gotta wonder what a 1930s woman with a 6-year old is doing looking for a date? In the spirit of that bygone era did the copy writers intend her to represent: 1. A two-timing hussy 2. A scandalous divorcee 3. A widow who’s damaged goods 4. A “fallen” woman 5. A woman married to the man going out the door for the last time who, learning she’s pregnant, has just issued an ultimatum: “No more kids for me!” For darn sure it’s none of the modern reasonable reasons she might be upset with the guy. Hey chauvinist jerkface; don’t let the door hit your butt on the way out. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-doctor-warns-do-not-use-wet-wipes-i-have-so-many-questions/916650/30 "2020-07-29T20:35:27Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Me, I just gotta have that sparkle! ✴ Twinkle, twinkle, little star… ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-doctor-warns-do-not-use-wet-wipes-i-have-so-many-questions/916650/31 "2020-07-29T20:36:05Z")
As to the OP: That’s clickbait junk. Any relationship to the truth is simply coincidental. That entire website is pure gimmick sales. I lost a bunch of IQ points just by scanning the first 3 articles that scrolled into view. Might there be such a thing as too clean a butthole? Yes. Just like germophobics overclean their kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-doctor-warns-do-not-use-wet-wipes-i-have-so-many-questions/916650/32 "2020-07-29T23:16:42Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > > [@Dr.Colossus](#): > > > > Yes, I don’t know about you guys but I make sure I scrub all of the undercarriage nightly with soap. > > > > How can a flushable wipe be worse than that? > > Soap and water don’t clog the plumbing. “Flushable” wipes do. Technically true, but I don’t think any doctors would care enough about that side effect to beg you to stop using them. > [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > My gastroenterologist said to never use soap near my anus. My gyn says to use only very mild soap and to make sure none gets inside me. Both discourage the use of wet wipes. I follow what my doctors say. I suspect this is a particular issue for some women that doesn’t necessarily apply to all women, or to men. By all means, follow your doctors’ advice, but I don’t think we can generalize based on that. ---
**Author:** ![danascully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@danascully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danascully)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-doctor-warns-do-not-use-wet-wipes-i-have-so-many-questions/916650/33 "2020-07-30T00:53:10Z")
A couple of years ago, my poor husband got a BAD case of C. diff. Nothing seemed to make a dent and his doctor was seriously considering a fecal transplant, and, yes, it’s exactly what you think it is. Back in those “olden” days they’d have to use the “real thing” and somehow get it where it was supposed to go. And the only person with the right genetics was…you guessed it…our son. Fortunately it finally got knocked out and we didn’t have to give the bad news to our son that he was going to have to donate poop to his father (although it would be a fair trade for all the diapers he changed when our son was a baby). Now that we’re out of the stone age, the procedure is that they take the donated poop, freeze it, and transfer it down a tube to where it needs to go – not to where you’d think it would go but it has to go higher up, somewhere in the abdominal area where digestion takes place. (I’m not too clear on this and I really don’t want to know). Aren’t you glad you asked??? 💩 ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-doctor-warns-do-not-use-wet-wipes-i-have-so-many-questions/916650/34 "2020-07-30T00:59:02Z")
> [@danascully](#): > > And the only person with the right genetics was…you guessed it…our son. I had no idea there needed to be a genetic match. That’s very interesting! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-doctor-warns-do-not-use-wet-wipes-i-have-so-many-questions/916650/35 "2020-07-30T01:06:15Z")
Regarding fecal transplants, supposedly they can be effective for [more than just a C diff infection](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/18/well/live/what-is-a-fecal-transplant-and-why-would-i-want-one.html) (New York Times paywall warning). “Fecal transplant is now being studied as a treatment for [obesity](https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02530385), recurrent [urinary tract infections](https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03050515), [ulcerative colitis](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=28214091), [irritable bowel syndrome](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=29980607) and a [host](https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03420482) of [other](https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02330211) [conditions](https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03341143).” ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Crap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.crap/32/3131_2.png) [@Dr.Crap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Crap)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-doctor-warns-do-not-use-wet-wipes-i-have-so-many-questions/916650/36 "2020-07-30T01:39:01Z")
The latest studies in Goop suggest that quartz crystal should be the only medium you wipe with. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-doctor-warns-do-not-use-wet-wipes-i-have-so-many-questions/916650/37 "2020-07-30T01:50:30Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > “Fecal transplant is now being studied as a treatment for [obesity](https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02530385), recurrent [urinary tract infections](https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03050515), [ulcerative colitis](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=28214091), [irritable bowel syndrome](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=29980607) and a [host](https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03420482) of [other](https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02330211) [conditions](https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03341143).” One should be suspicious of any treatment that purports to cure too many different (seemingly unrelated) conditions. For this, we still have Lysol. (Where exactly do they install a fecal transplant for urinary tract infections?) Why can’t they produce synthetic fecal transplant material? I should think that, to treat any specific condition, they would know what the relevant ingredients are. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-doctor-warns-do-not-use-wet-wipes-i-have-so-many-questions/916650/38 "2020-07-30T02:02:20Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > One should be suspicious of any treatment that purports to cure too many different (seemingly unrelated) conditions.  “The preliminary data are encouraging”, according to the NYT link above. The conditions it’s being tested for are all ones where the gut biome might be expected to play a part (well, the obesity one was a surprise, but it was an unexpected result after a transplant, so worth investigating). ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-doctor-warns-do-not-use-wet-wipes-i-have-so-many-questions/916650/39 "2020-07-30T02:06:09Z")
This sounds like something that could happen to a person who gets a Brazilian wax. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-doctor-warns-do-not-use-wet-wipes-i-have-so-many-questions/916650/40 "2020-07-30T02:12:09Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > The conditions it’s being tested for are all ones where the gut biome might be expected to play a part Urinary tract infection? How so? (Is this a lady thing?) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-doctor-warns-do-not-use-wet-wipes-i-have-so-many-questions/916650.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anal-doctor-warns-do-not-use-wet-wipes-i-have-so-many-questions/916650.md?page=3)