MUST READ: Stop shaving pubic hair – Expert warns

completely shaving your pubic hair – contrary
to well acclaimed hygienic practice, a medical
expert has warned of its dangers.
Dr Arikawe Adeolu, an Abuja-based medical
expert, advised that it is safer to trim the hair
rather than shaving it off completely as
complete shaving can cause infection.
Adeolu told NAN on Tuesday that shaving or
waxing of the hair around the pubic could
cause cracks and expose the skin to bacterial
infection. He added that the pubic hair served
a major purpose of providing some level of
cushioning for the individual, especially
during sexual activity, preventing the skin
from rubbing against another and causing
abrasion.
He explained that if the skin around the pubic
region was completely shaved and the
individual’s skin came into contact with
another person’s skin, friction would be
increased due to the skin to skin contact. He
advised that individuals who were worried
about the lack of hygiene due to untended
pubic hair should consider trimming rather
than complete shaving or waxing of the hair.
“When you completely shave the pubic hair, it
re-grows in a slanted fashion with the tip
sometimes growing into the pubic skin, which
can crack open the skin.
“It is usually a small crack which cannot be
seen with the naked eyes but due to this crack
and loss of integrity of the skin at that level,
there is increased risk of getting infection.
“Complete shaving can also cause boil to
develop in that region. This is because when
you shave, you cause some level of abrasion in
the area which opens up the skin. “These small
openings cannot be seen with the eye but they
are big enough for the micro organisms to get
into the body.
“Also, because the pubic area is always moist,
this serves as breeding ground for organisms
like bacteria.”
Adeolu said that trimming the pubic hair
would also help to reduce the risk of
contacting Sexually Transmitted Infection
(STI), which could also be contacted when
fluid from an infected partner’s genitalia
came into contact with the pubic area.
According to him, if the partner is already
infected, the virus in the semen or body fluid
can easily penetrate the skin of the other to
infect the individual. He said that this
infection was mostly caused by a virus known
as ‘Molluscum contagiosum’, adding that there
had been significant increase in incidences of
such infection in hospitals.
“It is a viral infection that is also categorised as
an STI. It affects the skin and does not need
treatment; usually after a couple of weeks or
months, the symptoms go away by themselves.
“You also have an increased risk of contacting
other STIs such as HIV, Hepatitis, genital warts
by complete shaving of the pubic hair,’’ Adeolu
said.
What do you think???