HYGIENE - Why You Must Stop Shaving Pubic Hair – Expert Warns
Contrary to
well acclaimed hygienic practice, a medical expert has warned of the dangers in
completely shaving the pubic hair. Dr Arikawe Adeolu, an Abuja-based medical
expert, advised that it is safer to trim the hair rather than shaving it off
completely. He said that complete shaving of the hair could cause infection.
Adeolu told
our correspondent on Tuesday that shaving or waxing of the hair around the
pubic could cause cracks and expose the skin to bacterial infection.
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Shaving Rashes |
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.
Courtesy:
http://www.vanguardngr.com/
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