Yeast is present in every vagina, but when it grows excessively it can result in infections.
This usually happens when vaginal bacteria is unable to control the amount of yeast or when an outside yeast element enters the vagina.
Dr Yvonne Butler Tobah of the Mayo Clinic said a wet bathing suit can indirectly increase the risk of a yeast infection but it is not a clear cause of one.
She said: “It can increase the risk, depending on how you’re sitting in it.”
Dr Leena Nathan of UCLA Health said yeast populations significantly increase in warm and moist environments.
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Nathan told science news website Live Science: “A wet bathing suit can put women at risk for having a yeast infection, if they sit in it for an extended period of time.”
But swimming has not been associated with the increase of yeast because “when there is water constantly flowing, it is not a stagnant environment, which promotes overgrowth of yeast,” she said.
These are conditions that arise after remaining in a wet bathing suit for a prolonged period after being in water.
But it should be noted they are not dangerous.
However, Dr Jen Gunter, an OB-GYN in the San Francisco area, disagrees with the connection between wet bathing suits and yeast infections.
She has dubbed it an “old wive’s tale.”
Dr Gunter added: “It is from a time before we understood anything about vaginal microbiology.
“If moisture causes yeast, how do we manage with moist vaginas?”
Why is there disagreement between scientists over the issue?
Butler Tobah believes it is to do with the complexity of wet clothing and how hard it is to scientifically study.
There is really only observational data available to scientists due to a lack of experimental data.
However, Butler Tobah said women do not need to worry about getting yeast infections from using a bathing suit.