Life

Why Does Your Vagina Trap Air When You Sleep?

by Lindsay E. Mack

Ah, morning: a time for sunshine, coffee, and an assortment of bodily weirdnesses. For instance, you might wake up experiencing some air down there. Why does your vagina trap air when you sleep, anyway? It can make mornings even more awkward than necessary.

OK, it may not be the most lady-like topic. But the truth is sometimes air gets caught in your vagina and then comes back out, in what is known by the lovely term of a queef. So, why does this happen. Basic anatomy shoulders moder of the blame. According to the website for Women's Health, the vagina is not built like a straight pipe; it has wrinkly folds known as rugae along the sides. These folds can trap and retain air, only to release it at a later time, often at an inopportune moment.

Like many other physical quirks, your individual experience with queefs will vary. But in general, activities such as penetrative sex or exercise (including stretching) are common causes of queefing, as noted by SexInfo Online. But even something as chill as sleeping can have the same affect. According to a post on Doctors Lounge, air could enter the vagina when a person moves about in their sleep. In general, if entering dreamland makes a person flail around, then this could cause morning emissions.

If this scenario is annoying, then you can try to tone up down there. According to Everyday Health, performing pelvic floor muscle exercises, such as Kegels, might strengthen the area and reduce the chance for queefs. For what it's worth, though, there is not a ton of medical research about queefing available, so this may be an anecdotal solution.

With this in mind, is there any medical significance to queefing? Potentially. According to Self, vaginal fistulas could lead to increased queefing. However, a vaginal fistula also causes symptoms such as fluid leaking out of the vagina, so queefing would be the least of your concerns. In general, the trapping of air in that area is just part of life with a vagina, and no cause for concern. Laugh it off and go about your morning routine.