More at the link. The photo, btw, does not show public hair. It depictsLong ago, surgeons figured out that shaving a body part prior to surgery actually increased rather than decreased surgical site infections. 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.
Pubic hair removal naturally irritates and inflames the hair follicles left behind, leaving microscopic open wounds. Rather than suffering a comparison to a bristle brush, frequent hair removal is necessary to stay smooth, causing regular irritation of the shaved or waxed area. When that irritation is combined with the warm moist environment of the genitals, it becomes a happy culture media for some of the nastiest of bacterial pathogens, namely group A streptococcus, staphylococcus aureus and its recently mutated cousin methicillin resistant staph aureus (MRSA). There is an increase in staph boils and abscesses, necessitating incisions to drain the infection, resulting in scarring that can be significant. It is not at all unusual to find pustules and other hair follicle inflammation papules on shaved genitals.
13 August 2012
The disadvantages of removing pubic hair
Excerpts from an article at Salon:
spiders daddy longlegs (harvestmen). More info at Wikipedia (where you can learn that dying pubic hair is colloquially referred to as "matching the carpet to the drapes") and in a companion article on acomoclitism (glabrousness).
...which made me flash on "merkin":
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkin
That is actually a picture of a pile of daddy longlegs. Not spiders.
ReplyDeleteThank you, connie. I've amended the text. :.)
DeleteDaddy long legs ARE spiders. They have eight legs and eat insects, usually.
DeleteNope. Unless you're referring to Phoicidea, connie is right - the harvestmen/daddy longlegs are Opiliones, NOT spiders.
Delete"The most obvious difference between harvestmen and spiders is that in harvestmen the connection between the cephalothorax and abdomen is broad, so that the body appears to be a single oval structure. Other differences are that Opiliones have no venom glands in their chelicerae. They also have no silk glands and therefore they do not build webs."
They are arachnids and have eight legs, but that doesn't make them a spider any more than it would make a scorpion or a wood tick a spider.
I'm a male in his 20's who has been keeping his 'special area' smooth for years (via careful shaving). I've never had the remotest sign of any irritation, not even a rash, be there or be there not microscopic wounds.
ReplyDeleteCareful shaving, case in point. You're one of the smart ones who keep it clean.
DeleteThe spiders will have mercy on your 2012 soul.
+2 for shaving.
ReplyDeleteI began with clippers in my teen years, after a horribly embarrasing incident: A pubic hair had found its way into my pocket, into my fist of pocket change, and still wasn't discovered until it was in the hand of a cashier. THAT only had to happen once.
I also had found that I hated the way silk, rayon, soft knit cottons, and spandex were unable to drape smooth. So I began shaving 'all the way around' and keeping other body hair under 1/4".
Aside from a very well managed (clipped?) pelt I would not have it any other way.
I am a 41 year old male happily married for 16 years now (both of us have bare floors). There is the occassional zit or irritated follicle - nothing some alcohol and a day cannot cure...
Worst irritation can occur if shaving is too closely followed by friction of enthusiastic love making (wait at least 12 hours if you play rough).
If you constantly wear tight underwear and tight pants: Shaving is not for you.
The issue is ensuring that the hair is allowed to grow back unobstructed. Over moisturized skin, super tight underwear, and not scrubbing while showering all allow hair to get lost on its way to the surface; causing ingrown hair.
As for waxing and chemicals? NO. Worst things I ever tried. This is where the rashes and irritation occurred. I even feared that I was going to have a scar. Never again. I cannot believe these products are preferred by anybody.
I find waxing to be highly dependent on who does it, and a good esthetician (skin technician) is not necessarily the most expensive one. A full Brazilian from someone who knows what she's doing, is barely painful and the redness lasts less than a day. Worth it to many people. As this exchange shows, it's all about what works for the individual: shaving is worth it for some, waxing for others, furriness is tolerable for other people.
DeleteShaving private parts is a very personal experience, and everybody reacts differently. One really has to search one's personal preferred way. Some people do well with a knife, some with a raiser, some with chemicals. Waxing seems painful for everyone, but for some the benefits outweigh the pain.
ReplyDeleteAs for the hygienic part: In the western world, where most people shower every day, there is little that can go wrong.
Overall, the arguments are very similar to shaving armpits. There are arguments all ways.
(wow the captchas are getting hard, on to attempt 3)
Showering implies using cleansers such as soap, mixed-soap bars, shampoos, and other such to cleanse the surface of the body. I know from experience that these can irritate the skin, or, as they intend to do, strip protective substances from the skin and hair-- oils and so forth. Yes, greasy hair is *so gross*, but I'd rather not have it flake off my head, or my skin to be so dry it itches and cracks. Ambient humidity, diet, genetics, and environmental substances such as allergens and other chemicals (such as dish soap, for example, or Febreeze)factor into this... but I still can't wash with 'soap' (I use glycerin-based products) every day. Every other day, with very very basic (homemade) lotion. I don't even live in a desert!
DeleteAlso, having a pile of ... arachnids... associated with the word 'pubic' is something I'd like to have undone. :( Please... urg.
(stated more strongly: I cannot get rid of the fear of spiders in my underroos now.)
I'm surprised no one mentioned lasers. Are you all living in the stone age?
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind that like all the other forms of depilation, it isn't permanent. At least, not as permanent as you may have heard—with LHR, the hair follicle is destroyed, but new hair follicles are generated on a fairly regular schedule.
Yes, I have noticed that they just keep on falling out, one or two a day, but unlike the top of mens' heads, I must be growing new pubic hairs and never go bald down there. Why not? What's pubic hair's secret? I'll bet most of us don't even use fancy shampoos to keep those follicles clean.
Delete