I've been shaving and waxing down there for as long as I can remember. I never felt comfortable having hair down there. But I've been reading a lot of stories these days encouraging women to grow out their pubic hair. Apparently, a hairless bikini area can be really hazardous for your health.
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1. You can irritate your skin
Physician Emily Gibson wants to end the "war on pubic hair", claiming that it can increase women's risk of infections. She believes hair removal irritates and inflames the hair follicle, causing open wounds, boils or abscesses. Ugh! "No matter what expensive and complex weapons are used–razor blades, electric shavers, tweezers, waxing, depilatories, electrolysis-hair, like crab grass, always grows back and eventually wins. In the meantime, the skin suffers the effects of the scorched battlefield," she wrote on KevinMD.com.
2. You can develop staph infection
A staph bacterial infection causes inflammation, redness, warmth, swelling and pain. Shaving or waxing can lead to open sores that can cause a staph infection and if it goes too deep, surgery is the only way to remove it.
3. You can get STDs
Removing pubic hair can increase your risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease. "Any infection that requires contact to spread will be more easily caught if there is any damage to the skin in the area," Jessica Krant, M.D. a professor of dermatology told Huffington Post. "This can be anything from obvious cuts all the way to microscopic torn follicle roots that aren't visible on the surface. Herpes, HPV (genital wards and possibly cervical cancer), HIV, and other STIs also have increased risk with skin trauma."
4. Going bare can cause infection on your labia lips
Dr. Emily Gibson has also seen patients with cellulitis, a soft tissue bacterial infection without abscess develop on women's labia lips and on men's scrotums and penises. She believes this was caused by the spread of bacteria from shaving or from sexual intercourse and contact with a partner who already had staph bacteria on their skin. Gross!
5. Waxing can lead to burns
Even if you're getting a wax job by a professional, that doesn't mean you can't get burned. Krant claims that women that use anti-aging creams or creams that contain retinoid or vitamin A are even more likely to experience burns from waxing. "Their skin will be extra susceptible to getting burned and peeled off by waxing since those creams loosen the attachment of skin cells and cause increased exfoliation," she told Huffington Post.
