In an article called, “Grinning and Baring It—The Downside of Genital Hair Removal”, Dr. Rivers writes that dermatologists are seeing an increase in young female and male patients with rashes and infections related to genital hair removal:
Over the past decade, young women have migrated from partial to full removal of hair from the bikini area, and men have taken to grooming below the waist as well….The results for both sexes include the prospect of a marked increase in genitourinary injuries and infections from ingrown hairs and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). After examining data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System 2002-2010, Glass and colleagues noted a fivefold increase in genitourinary injuries related to grooming product over the time period(3). While the majority of injuries among men and women were related to shaving with razors, about one-quarter of injuries reported by women involved laceration from razors, wax burn or foreign body injury.
Besides laceration, the shaving and waxing of genital hair has also been found to be raising the risk of infections such as Molluscum contagiosum (a viral skin disease), folliculitis (infection of the hair follicles) and warts. Dr. Rivers notes, “Experts theorize this is the result of micro-trauma to the skin (via nicks and abrasions) that provides entry points for viruses and bacteria.”
In closing, Dr. Rivers recognizes that any negative results from genital hair removal may in fact be too embarrassing or intimate for a patient to share with their doctor or dermatologist. He encourages other dermatologists to “see opportunities to counsel patients about the relative safety of available techniques and how to avoid complications…Our role is not to discourage patients from embracing a growing trend, but to help smooth out some problems that may arise along the way.”
The article, “Grinning and Baring It—The Downside of Genital Hair Removal” was published in the September/October 2014 edition of the Canadian Dermatology Association‘s Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery.