What Is Vaginal Flatulence? Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention

Common Questions & Answers

What is a queef?

It’s the (very common) emission of trapped air from the vagina.

What causes vaginal farts?

Sexual intercourse, pelvic exams, exercise, pregnancy, and menopause can all cause vaginal farts. Sometimes the anatomical structure of your pelvic floor may make you more likely to expel trapped air from your vagina.

When should I worry about vaginal farts?

Vaginal flatulence is perfectly normal, but if it occurs with symptoms like bad-smelling vaginal discharge, frequent UTIs, irritation or pain in the area, or pain during sex, you should see a doctor.

How do you treat vaginal farts?

Since vaginal farts are common, there’s no need to treat them. On rare occasions, however, the flatulence is a sign of a medical issue, such as pelvic organ prolapse or rectovaginal fistulas. Surgery can treat both of those conditions.

Causes and Risk Factors of Vaginal Flatulence

Much of the information compiled on vaginal flatulence — especially on the internet — is anecdotal, and more research would likely offer us a better understanding of what might make some women more likely to queef. With that caveat in mind, there are a number of situations and factors associated with vaginal flatulence, including:

• Sexual Intercourse or Inserting an Object in the Vagina When something is inserted into the vagina, it can displace the air inside.It’s possible to experience vaginal flatulence during a pelvic exam, when a doctor inserts or removes a speculum.
• Exercise or Stretching Movements during exercise can cause air to become trapped inside the vagina. Women often report vaginal flatulence during certain physical activities, such as yoga.
• Pregnancy or Menopause Some women report more episodes of vaginal flatulence during pregnancy or menopause.
• Pelvic Floor Anatomy Everyone’s pelvic floor is slightly unique, and some may be more prone than others to expelling trapped air.

A rare cause of vaginal flatulence is a vaginal fistula. A fistula is an abnormal opening that connects the vagina to another organ, such as your bladder, colon, or rectum. If the fistula is connected to the colon or rectum, it can cause the passage of stool from the vagina. Childbirth, cancer treatments, injury, and certain surgical procedures can lead to the formation of a fistula, but again, it’s highly uncommon. See your doctor if your queefs smell bad, or if you notice an unusual discharge.

Treatment of Vaginal Flatulence

Because vaginal flatulence is a normal occurrence, there’s no need to treat it or seek a remedy for it.

But there may be times when queefing is associated with a medical issue that requires treatment.

Some research has found an association between pelvic organ prolapse and vaginal flatulence, but the evidence is lacking and inconsistent. Prolapse occurs when any of the pelvic organs drop down due to weakness in the supporting structures.

Childbirth and other conditions that put pressure on pelvic tissues can cause this.

If your vaginal flatulence happens to be associated with prolapse, treatment might involve using a pessary — a plastic or rubber circular device that fits into the vagina and supports tissues that were displaced by prolapse — and trying to strengthen your pelvic muscles by performing Kegel exercises.

To perform Kegels, squeeze the muscles you use to stop urinating. Hold this contraction for up to 10 seconds and then relax for 10 seconds, making sure to concentrate on contracting just your pelvic floor muscles, as opposed to your abdominal muscles as well. Try to work up to at least three sets of 10 to 15 repetitions each day. As a side note, do not do Kegels while urinating. This can cause insufficient emptying of the bladder, which can lead to urinary tract infections (UTIs).

Depending on the severity of the prolapse, surgery may be necessary.

You should see your doctor if you have vaginal flatulence paired with more worrying symptoms including:

• Stool or pus coming from your vagina
• Vaginal discharge that smells bad or off
• Frequent vaginal or urinary tract infections
• Irritation or pain in vulva, vagina, or area between vagina and anus
• Pain during sex

If you have these symptoms, queefing could be a sign of a rectovaginal fistula — which is rare.

Research and Statistics: Who Gets Vaginal Flatulence?

Any woman can experience vaginal flatulence. There is some research, however, that suggests certain women may be more prone to it. For instance, a meta-analysis of 15 studies on vaginal flatulence found that women who had delivered babies vaginally often reported occurrences of vaginal flatulence after the fact, but this certainly is not the only factor that can lead to vaginal flatulence.

Plenty of women who have never been pregnant experience vaginal flatulence, too. One study of nearly 1,000 women ages 18 to 80 found that women with low BMI and who are younger have more instances of vaginal flatulence.

Another study found that more than a third of women with pelvic floor disorders reported vaginal flatus (the involuntary passing of gas from the vagina).

Editorial Sources and Fact-Checking

• Amarenco G, Turmel N, Chesnel C, et al. Vaginal Gas: Review. Progés en Urologie. December 2019.
• How Can I Prevent Queefing During Sex? It’s So Embarrassing! Planned Parenthood. April 24, 2020.
• Veisi F, Rezavand N, Zangeneh M, et al. Vaginal Flatus and the Associated Risk Factors in Iranian Women: A Main Research Article. ISRN Obstetrics and Gynecology. May 20, 2012.
• Neels H, Pacquée S, Shek K, et al. Is Vaginal Flatus Related to Pelvic Floor Functional Anatomy? International Urogynecology Journal. December 2020.
• Pelvic Support Problems. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. November 2021.
• Posterior Vaginal Prolapse (Rectocele): Symptoms and Causes. Mayo Clinic. August 10, 2022.
• Posterior Vaginal Prolapse (Rectocele): Diagnosis and Treatment. Mayo Clinic. August 10, 2022.
• Knuttinen M, Yi J, Magtibay J, et al. Colorectal-Vaginal Fistulas: Imaging and Novel Interventional Treatment Modalities. Journal of Clinical Medicine. April 22, 2018.
• Kegel Exercises: A How-To Guide for Women. Mayo Clinic. December 6, 2022.
• Rectovaginal Fistula. Mayo Clinic. January 13, 2023.
• Toxic Shock Syndrome: Symptoms and Causes. Mayo Clinic. March 23, 2022.
• Lau H, Su T, Chen Y, Huang W. The Prevalence of Vaginal Flatus in Women With Pelvic Floor Disorders and Its Impact on Sexual Function. The Journal of Sexual Medicine. March 2021.
• Gas (Flatulence). Harvard Health Publishing. July 1, 2019.

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Vaginal Gas: Causes, Prevention, and More

What is vaginal gas?

Vaginal gas, or “queefing,” is when air gets trapped inside the vagina. Once air is trapped, it will eventually be released from the vagina and can cause a sound similar to common flatulence from the rectum. It is typically a normal occurrence, and it is rarely a sign of a serious health concern. However, it can either be a passing occurrence, or it may be a symptom of a medical condition that will need to be treated. Let’s look at the causes and when you need to seek medical attention.

There are a number of different things that can cause vaginal gas. It is important to know the different causes, as some need to be addressed by a medical professional. Some of these causes include:

Sexual activity

Sexual activity is a common cause of vaginal gas. The movement of the penis in and out of the vagina can sometimes cause air to enter and then become trapped. When your muscles tense from an orgasm or when the penis is removed, the gas will then be released. This can cause a noise and feel like bubbles.

Oral sex can cause air to enter the vagina as well. Some forms of rough sex can cause vaginal gas, but they may also cause a spontaneous pneumoperitoneum, which is when air accumulates and gets trapped under your diaphragm. This can cause chest or upper abdominal pain.

Pelvic floor dysfunction

While vaginal noise is not one of the main symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction, studies have shown that vaginal noise, similar to common flatus, can be a result of it.

Vaginal fistula

A vaginal fistula is an abnormal, hollow tract between your vagina and another internal abdominal or pelvic organ. They are a potential cause for vaginal gas that is not directly related to sexual activity. There are different types of vaginal fistulas. These types are based on where the hole or tear is in the vagina and which organ the tract connects to. Fistulas need to be addressed by a medical professional and treated.

The type of vaginal fistula seen most often is known as a vesicovaginal fistula. The hole for this type is between your urinary bladder and your vagina. The following is a list of the other types of fistulas and where the tear occurs in the vagina:

• Ureterovaginal fistula occurs between the vagina and ureter(s), which move urine to your bladder from your kidneys.
• Rectovaginal fistula occurs between the vagina and the rectum (near the end of the colon). This may happen during childbirth, but primarily occurs in developing countries without easy or any access to obstetric care. It can also be caused by pelvic surgery, pelvic cancer, radiation treatments around the pelvis to treat pelvic cancer, or from Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis (both are types of inflammatory bowel disease). This type of fistula can often cause vaginal gas, particularly when it occurs after childbirth.
• Enterovaginal fistula occurs between the small intestine and the vagina.
• Colovaginal fistula occurs between the colon and the vagina. This is a rare type of fistula and is most often caused by diverticular disease.
• Urethrovaginal fistula occurs between the vagina and the urethra, which is the tube that sends urine out of your body.

Vaginal gas is one symptom of a vaginal fistula. Other symptoms depend on the size and type of fistula that you have, but here are some symptoms to look for:

• loose stool leaking into your urine
• urine or vaginal discharge that has a strong unpleasant odor
• vaginitis or urinary tract infections that occur frequently
• incontinence, both fecal and urinary
• diarrhea
• discomfort or pain in and around the vagina and rectum
• painful sex
• nausea
• abdominal pain

There are not many things you can do to prevent vaginal gas. It is usually a symptom of other conditions or a natural occurrence during sexual activity. However, there are treatments and surgical procedures that can correct the cause. Even in vaginal gas that occurs due to sexual activity, there may be nonsurgical treatment options that might help stop it from happening.

Vaginal gas created during sexual activity is nothing to be concerned about. It’s not a symptom of a medical condition. However, if you’re experiencing vaginal gas at times that are not directly related to sexual activity you should see your doctor. Your doctor can determine if you have a vaginal fistula or whether another medical issue is causing it. Fistulas usually require surgery to repair. If they are not treated or repaired, they may lead to more serious complications if left untreated.

In most cases, vaginal gas can be eliminated when the underlying cause is treated. If a fistula is caught early enough or the hole or tear is very small, it may not require surgery to repair it. However, no matter the cause, it is important that you talk to your doctor if you’re having vaginal gas. This will allow your doctor to discover if it’s a symptom of a fistula or other medical condition that can be treated.

The five most common causes of computer freezes

Often, users reinstall Windows if the computer starts to slow down. This method can be effective, but it requires a lot of time and does not eliminate hardware difficulties. To restore the previous performance, it is necessary to diagnose and understand the reason why the system freezes. As a rule, the reason is one of the following.

1. High CPU and RAM usage

When the system hangs, check the current level of system resource usage. For this, it is not necessary to use additional programs. A tool that allows you to understand the level of resource consumption is included with Windows. To open it, simultaneously press three buttons on the computer keyboard – “Ctrl + Shift + ESC”. You can also use the combination “Ctrl + Alt + DEL”, and then select the “Task Manager” item.

In the manager window, click on the second tab – “Performance”. Here are graphs of the current workload of the central processor, RAM, hard drives. Switching between sections is done by clicking on their name in the left column. If the load on one or more hardware components is constantly at the limit (the average value is 80-100%), the computer slows down precisely for this reason.

Important! More detailed information on the reasons for the load of hardware elements is available through the resource monitor. It opens from the link at the bottom of the window.

There are two main ways to troubleshoot a system resource hang. The first is to increase the amount of RAM, replace the processor or hard drive. To replace the HDD, you only need a new drive of the right size with the appropriate interfaces. Before this step, you should make sure that the reason why the PC slows down is precisely the failure of the hard drive. This can be done using the Victoria or MHDD utilities.

Replacing the processor or RAM on a laptop is a more time-consuming and costly process. As a rule, motherboards of portable devices have high requirements for hardware compatibility. To find out which components are right for your computer, go to the manufacturer’s website. It is important that the quality characteristics of new parts differ significantly from those of old ones. This will provide a significant performance boost.

The second way to solve such problems is to free up available hardware resources. It does not require the purchase of new parts to use it. It will be enough to find the reason why the PC slows down and close unnecessary applications running on the computer in the background.

2. Operation of unnecessary background programs

You can also find out which applications are currently running in Windows in the “Task Manager”. Go to the first tab – “Processes”. It is most convenient to sort the list by the use of the component that is most loaded. For example, if RAM is often used at 80% or more, click on the corresponding column heading. Processes will be displayed, starting with those that consume the most memory.

If you need more detailed information about processes, add more columns to the table. Right-click on any column heading and select the section you wish to add. These can be columns “Publisher” (program developer) and “Type” (background process, application, Windows process). To end the program, select the “End task” item in its context menu. You can also mark the line, and then press the “Del” button on the keyboard.

3. Unnecessary applications in Windows startup

If you yourself did not start unnecessary processes found in the previous step, the reason for their appearance is automatic loading at Windows startup. Further work of such programs is imperceptible, as they are minimized to tray or run in the background. But utilities consume their part of system resources even in such cases. This can cause the device to freeze, the PC to slow down or even restart.

Autostart of some utilities is enabled immediately after they are installed. You can check the current startup list on the fourth tab of the task manager. By default, the following columns are enabled in the table:

• Name — program name;
• Publisher – the name of the company that developed the application;
• Status – current status of automatic start;
• Impact on startup – load on the system, causing a freeze at each start.

Tip! To disable the automatic launch of an application when the operating system boots, right-click on its name and select “Disable”.

4. Infection of the computer with viruses

Virus activity can cause Windows to freeze and run slowly. A number of viruses perform tasks of indexing or encrypting data on the hard drive, as a result of which the PC slows down. Other unwanted applications load the network by sending information over the Internet. The freezing of the computer in this case is not as critical as the main losses from the activity of the virus.

To avoid infection, do not open suspicious files sent to you by strangers. Install utilities only from trusted sources – official websites and the Windows Store. Use antivirus programs with active protection. They scan your computer in real time and prevent the execution of malicious code. Examples of such antiviruses:

• ESET NOD32;
• Avast;
• Kaspersky Anti-Virus;
• Dr. Web;
• AVG Internet Security.

In case of regular freezes and suspected infection, check Windows using a full scan. Scanning all files takes a significant amount of time, however, only it will identify all real and potential security threats. If the antivirus detects files containing a potential threat, submit them for online scanning through the VirusTotal service. It will help to check a certain file with several antivirus utilities at once to more accurately determine the malicious code.

5. Computer overheating

Overheating may cause the device to freeze or malfunction. If the temperature is too high, the system may slow down or turn off automatically. The shutdown occurs to avoid damage to computer parts, so the problem of overheating should not be ignored. You can check the current temperature of system components using the following programs:

• Speccy;
• HWMonitor;
• AIDA;
• SpeedFan;
• Open Hardware Monitor;
• OCCT.

Overheating is most often caused by improper ventilation of the device’s internal components. Fans used to cool parts become contaminated with dust and fine particles. As a result, the efficiency of their further work decreases, since cold air is not able to freely pass through the layer of pollution on the blades. Dust can also settle on heatsinks and the boards themselves.

To reduce the temperature of your computer, regularly disassemble and clean its components. You can do this at home or at a service center. Before the expiration of the warranty period, use only the services of an authorized service center, whose contacts are indicated in the warranty card. Otherwise, the warranty may be void.

The main tools for self-cleaning computer components are brushes and a can of compressed air. It can be purchased at computer stores. With the help of brushes, you can remove dirt from radiators and coolers. The can will help to remove dust in hard-to-reach places, since when you press the cap, the air comes out under high pressure. Use the instructions on specialized sites for proper disassembly and subsequent assembly of your device.

Pay attention! In some cases, the thermal paste needs to be replaced. It is used to increase thermal conductivity between heatsinks and chips that get too hot. Do not apply too much thermal paste. This substance works most effectively when distributed in a thin layer.

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5 reasons for freezing and ways to reboot

An article by our expert, Marina Nappa.

Marina Nappa – a certified psychologist (in the profession since 2000), as well as the author of more than a hundred trainings and courses for different audiences.

Many people are familiar with this strange state of “freezing”. When “I don’t know what I want, but I don’t want everything I know.” It can also be expressed in a different way, when a lot needs to be done, but the body and state are stalling.

Everything that happens to us is necessary and useful for something. Although not always effective. The hover state is always inefficient. Most often, there is no visible benefit or pleasure from it.

Why are we hanging? An analogy with a computer immediately comes: it happens that it also hangs. The reason is an error or overload. With us the same.

So, 5 reasons for freezing and ways to reboot:

1. Banal overwork. When we do not give the body sufficient rest and it suspects that it will not be adequate, it begins to rest itself. How can. Reactions are inhibited, consciousness is dulled.

What to do? Reboot in this case is taking care of the body and mind: you need to get enough sleep (moreover, go to bed early, no later than 23.00), stay in a calm environment. Even if the world is collapsing around – the deeper the relaxation, the less time it takes to recover. Otherwise, the body will take its toll anyway.

2. Too many things to attend to at the same time. It turns out like in Krylov’s fable about the Swan, Pike and Cancer: “And things are still there.” At some point, the psyche begins to slow down. It must be understood that this limit is very individual. Someone will be killed by three simultaneous cases, and someone will not strain even thirty.

What to do? Stop, prioritize, ask for help, maybe let go.

3. Someone else’s business. When you made a commitment, but that’s not what you should be doing. Often we want to be good not only in the eyes of other people, but also in our own. That’s why sometimes we don’t say “no” right away. And our consciousness begins to sabotage. Doing someone else’s duties is the same as taking someone else’s medicine. It may look attractive but be deadly.

What to do? If it is impossible to refuse at this stage, it is necessary to fulfill the obligations, of course. And make a promise to yourself that you will not put yourself in such a situation again.

4. Two desires, the consequences of which are mutually exclusive. For example, I want sweets for the night and I want to lose a couple of kilos. This is an interesting mind trap where whatever you choose is guaranteed to be dissatisfied with yourself. Therefore, moments of freezing (you don’t want to choose) and moments of “self-discipline” often alternate here.

What to do? Detecting such traps and neutralizing them is the most important task for this item. You can neutralize in different ways: add a sequence (for example, on Tuesdays I eat sweets, on other days I lose weight), choose a third desire instead of these two (for example, I will go to the mountains, I will not think about sweets or losing weight there, everything will happen by itself ), or honestly abandon one of them, at least for the near future.

5. Get lost in meanings. This happens in two situations. Or when you purposefully acted and then suddenly this action became impossible (obstacles arose or the goal disappeared). This is also called frustration. Or when you rush from goal to goal and don’t know what you want. Most people go through this state. This is a peculiar symptom of our times.

What to do? To “treat” the first option, it is enough to have a “Plan B”, “Plan C” and so on. That is, you have interesting things in stock that lead you in the same direction, and you can easily “hanging out” to switch to them. For the second option, a simple recipe is indispensable. You have to find something big and small at the same time in your life. It may take knowledge and the right people to guide you.

Summing up, I would like to emphasize that the hovering state leads to the loss of the zone of control, takes resources and occurs against the background of a lack of resources. It resembles a vicious circle, from which, fortunately, you can and should find a way out right now.