In separate studies, 59% of women and 61% of men stated that they groomed their pubic region for hygienic purposes. However, there is currently no scientific evidence to suggest any health benefits associated with removing pubic hair — other than the removal of pubic lice.
Your Pubic Hair Serves a Purpose
It provides protection against friction that can cause skin irritation in this sensitive area. It helps reduce the amount of sweat produced around the vagina. It helps block your vagina from the following bacteria and infections: Sexually transmitted infections.
It is more hygienic not to shave it (although depilation does make pubic lice homeless). In removing their pubic hair, most women will get cuts or ingrown hairs, and some will develop inflammation of the hair follicles or hyperpigmentation.
Grooming Optimizes Hygiene
When you feel good in your body, you just feel better overall. Shaving your pubic hair, or even slightly trimming it, helps keep your goods cleaner by exposing skin to soap and water that's normally covered by hair. Pretty simple.
Pubic hair may extend out to their thighs, and some girls may have a line of hair up to their belly button. Most girls attain their peak height by age 16, but some may continue growing through age 20.
Pubic hair removal is common — approximately 80 percent of women ages 18 to 65 report they remove some or all of their pubic hair.
The short answer is no, it is not necessary to do anything to your pubic hair. Shaving your pubic hair is a personal choice. Pubic hair may help protect your genitalia from infection and friction. Removing your pubic hair comes with the risk of getting cuts or ingrown hairs.
Pubic hair holds on to residual urine, vaginal discharge, blood and semen. Bacteria line up all along the hair shaft just lunching it up and creating odor. (Very appetizing, I know.) Trimming your pubic hair reduces that surface area for bacteria, thus reducing odor.
There are many potential causes of pubic hair loss. Examples include excessive hair removal, hormonal changes, alopecia, and side effects of medical treatments. The treatment a person receives will depend on the underlying cause of their hair loss.
Pubic Hair Trends
According to the researchers, when asked if they removed their pubic hair, 80% of women and 39% of men removed their pubic hair near the time of the survey. Also, 3% of women and 21% of men had never removed their pubic hair.
When the opposite occurs and too little pubic hair is present, this can mean a woman has an adrenal issue where not enough androgen is produced. Too little pubic hair “could be associated with general aging, as our production declines with age, particularly over age 40,” Dr. Gersh said.
You're Less Likely To Get Rashes
If you don't shave, those things aren't really a possibility anymore, leaving you and your lady parts in peace. Indeed, Dweck listed infected hair follicles (folliculitis), rashes, and irritation (razor burn) as some of the most common issues she sees from patients who shave.
Dr. Minkin told us that, although "there is no biological reason to remove pubic hair," shaving down there is a safe option for removal, as long as you're doing it correctly. "The major concern with shaving is cutting oneself — but as long as you don't get cut, there's not much harm," Dr. Minkin said.
When the hair wicks sweat off the skin (to keep you dry and cool), it collects, along with pheromones and bacteria, in that area. "The hair traps the smell," Michael Cackovic, M.D., an ob/gyn at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, tells SELF.
Marc Glashofer, a dermatologist and fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology, claims that the texture of pubic hair tends to be thicker and more coarse than hair on the rest of our body because of its origins as a buffer. “It prevents friction during intercourse that can cause skin abrasion and rashes,” he says.
Then there's the regrowth stage: Shaved hair grows back after a couple of days, and when it does it can be prickly or itchy. This can leave you feeling uncomfortable. There's also a chance some hairs will become ingrown. This means that the hair that's trying to grow back gets trapped under the skin.
“There is no right or certain age to start shaving,” said Rashell Orey, a licensed master social worker at Banner Health. “Some may be eager to start very early, while for others, this could be a scary thought. It's a conversation that you'll need to discuss with them.”
While it may seem odd that there's a stray pube in almost every urinal you visit, the truth is that pubes don't shed any quicker than any other hair. Generally speaking, we lose anywhere from 50 to 100 hairs per day.
Aging is the most common reason your pubic hair turns gray or white. And while you can't change your genes and the normal aging process, you can slow down pigment loss and those white pubic hairs by eating properly, quitting smoking, and decreasing stress in your life.
Does pubic hair cease growing once it's reached a certain length? All hair grows at a contstant rate, but eventually falls out. With body hair, which typically does not grow as long as head hair, the rate at which it falls out is greater. This results in hair that appears to reach a certain length then stops growing.
Alopecia universalis (AU), also known as alopecia areata universalis, is a medical condition involving the loss of all body hair, including eyebrows, eyelashes, chest hair, armpit hair, and pubic hair.
Premature pubarche, or the development of pubic hair before the age of 8 in girls or 9 in boys, is most commonly caused by premature adrenarche. Adrenarche is the maturation of the adrenal zona reticularis in both boys and girls, resulting in the development of pubic hair, axillary hair, and adult apocrine body odor.
A combination of polls shows that 80 to 90 percent of women prefer some amount of grooming for starters. Only 10 to 20 percent prefer guys with a completely unkempt bush; this means that going wild below the waist is not the default look. It may require less work, but you're not playing the odds.