If you've ever had your body make an unexpected noise during sex, yoga, or just standing up — and immediately wanted to disappear — you already know what a vart is, even if you didn't have a name for it.
A vart is a vaginal fart. The medical term is "queef." It happens when trapped air gets expelled from the vaginal canal, producing a sound that can range from barely audible to mortifyingly loud. And unlike a regular fart, a vart has no odor — because it's just air, not digestive gas.
Nearly every woman has experienced this at some point. It's completely normal, it's harmless, and it says nothing about your health or hygiene. But knowing that doesn't always make it less embarrassing in the moment.
Here's everything you need to know about varts — what causes them, when they happen, and what (if anything) you can do about them.
What Does "Vart" Mean?
Vart is a slang term that combines "vagina" and "fart." It refers specifically to the expulsion of trapped air from the vaginal canal. The clinical term is vaginal flatulence or queefing, though "vart" has become the more commonly used word in everyday conversation.
Important distinction: a vart is not the same as passing gas. Regular flatulence involves intestinal gas that travels through the digestive tract and exits through the rectum. A vart is simply air that entered the vaginal canal and is coming back out. There's no digestive process involved, no bacteria breaking down food, and no smell.
What Causes Varting?
Your vagina is an elastic, muscular canal — it expands and contracts depending on what's happening. During certain activities, air gets pushed into the vaginal canal. When that air comes back out, you get a vart. The most common causes:
Sex and Intimacy
This is by far the most common trigger. During penetrative sex, the thrusting motion can push air into the vagina with each stroke. Certain positions are more prone to this than others — doggy style and any position where the pelvis is tilted upward tends to trap more air. When the angle changes or penetration stops, the trapped air escapes.
Varting during sex is so common that most sexually active women have experienced it. It's not a sign that something is wrong — it's just physics.
Exercise and Yoga
Inversions (like shoulder stands or downward dog), deep stretches, and core exercises can all introduce air into the vaginal canal. The change in body position combined with the opening and closing of the vaginal walls creates a bellows-like effect.
Yoga practitioners are particularly familiar with this. There's even an informal understanding in yoga communities that queefing during certain poses is completely expected.
Inserting Tampons, Menstrual Cups, or Suppositories
Anytime you insert something into the vaginal canal, you're also potentially pushing air in alongside it. Removing a tampon or menstrual cup can release that trapped air as well. This is normal and harmless.
Medical Exams
Pelvic exams, Pap smears, and gynecological procedures often involve a speculum, which opens the vaginal walls and allows air to enter. Varting during or after a pelvic exam is so common that gynecologists don't even notice it anymore.
Just... Moving Around
Sometimes a vart happens for no obvious reason — you stand up from sitting, you shift positions in bed, you take a step. The vaginal walls shifted, air was trapped, and out it came. This is especially common during pregnancy, after childbirth, and during perimenopause when the vaginal tissue and pelvic floor muscles are going through changes.
Is Varting Healthy?
Yes. Varting is a normal, healthy bodily function. It means your vagina is doing its thing — expanding, contracting, and responding to movement and pressure the way it should.
There is no medical condition called "too much varting." The frequency of varts varies enormously from woman to woman and depends on factors like the elasticity of your vaginal tissue, the strength of your pelvic floor muscles, your level of physical activity, and your anatomy.
When to talk to your doctor: If varts are accompanied by foul odor, unusual discharge, pain, or if you notice that air seems to enter the vagina through an abnormal pathway, that could indicate a rare condition called a rectovaginal fistula — an abnormal connection between the rectum and vagina. This is uncommon but worth mentioning because it's the one scenario where varting could signal a medical issue. Fistulas typically develop after childbirth complications, surgery, or radiation treatment.
Outside of that rare scenario, varting is nothing to worry about.
How to Reduce Varts (If They Bother You)
You don't need to "fix" varting — it's not broken. But if you find them disruptive or embarrassing during certain activities, these practical tips can help reduce frequency:
Strengthen your pelvic floor. Kegel exercises strengthen the muscles that control the vaginal opening. Stronger pelvic floor muscles give you more control over the vaginal canal, which can reduce the amount of air that gets trapped. Aim for 3 sets of 10 Kegels daily — squeeze, hold for 5 seconds, release.
Adjust positions during sex. Positions that tilt the pelvis downward (like missionary) tend to trap less air than positions where the pelvis is elevated (like doggy style). If varting during sex bothers you, experiment with different angles.
Slow down during transitions. Quick position changes during sex or exercise push more air into the vaginal canal. Moving more gradually between positions gives trapped air time to escape quietly rather than all at once.
Don't clench. Tensing your abdominal or pelvic muscles during exercise can create a vacuum effect that pulls air into the vagina. Try to keep your pelvic floor relaxed during yoga inversions and deep stretches.
Before sex, gently press. Some women find that gently pressing on the lower abdomen before or during sex helps release trapped air more quietly. This isn't something you need to do — just a tip if it's a persistent source of discomfort.
Varting During Pregnancy
Pregnant women often notice an increase in varting, and there are real physiological reasons for it. The growing uterus puts pressure on the pelvic floor muscles, reducing their tone. Increased blood flow to the pelvic area causes vaginal tissue to become more engorged and elastic. Hormonal changes (particularly relaxin) loosen ligaments and muscles throughout the pelvic region.
All of these changes mean the vaginal canal is more open and elastic than usual — making it easier for air to get trapped and released. This is temporary and resolves after delivery, though pelvic floor recovery postpartum can take weeks to months.
Varting and Vaginal Health
While varting itself isn't a health indicator, the environment inside your vagina absolutely matters for overall comfort and confidence. Women dealing with vaginal dryness, pH imbalance, or recurring infections often feel more self-conscious about every aspect of vaginal function — including varts.
Supporting overall vaginal health through proper hydration, avoiding irritants like douching and scented products, maintaining healthy vaginal pH, and supporting natural moisture production from the inside out can help you feel more confident and comfortable with your body — varts and all.
The Bottom Line
A vart is just trapped air leaving your vagina. It's not gas, it has no smell, and it happens to virtually every woman. It's most common during sex, exercise, and after medical exams — all completely normal triggers.
If someone tries to make you feel embarrassed about a vart, that says more about their maturity than about your body. Your vagina is doing exactly what it's designed to do.
