“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.”
Go slowly, pulling skin taut before running the razor over the hair. Always shave in the same direction that the hair grows, not against it. Change razors often to avoid nicks, which happen when the blade gets dull. Using shaving cream also may help protect your skin from cuts and irritation.
You can shave it. Just be sure to use shaving cream and a sharp razor. The good news about shaving is that it doesn't actually make hair thicker or darker, it just looks that way. If you want to avoid the stubbly look you can get from shaving, you can use depilatories or wax.
There's really no right or wrong age for kids to begin shaving. It all depends on when their body changes and their interest level. For instance, some girls start puberty as young as age 8 or 9, while boys start puberty a little later.
Testicles start to grow, usually between the ages of 11 and 12. Pubic hair -- the hair around your penis and testicles -- often starts to appear when a boy is 12. The penis starts to grow in size often around the age of 13. Also around age13, you may notice a temporary growth in the size of your breasts.
At around 12 years old, on average, females will begin to see hair growth under the arms. Pubic hair will start growing along the labia and will gradually become thicker, curlier, and cover a larger area of the vulva.
In Stage 2, physical changes begin. Between the ages of 8 and 13, girls typically experience: Their breasts begin to bud, and their areolas (pigmented area around the nipple) enlarge. Scant pubic hair appears.
It is normal for production of these hormones to increase (something we call adrenarche) and for pubic hair to appear after age 8 in girls or 9 in boys. The reason why this increase occurs earlier in some children is not known.
tl;dr. In short (lol), there's nothing wrong with trimming or completely removing your pubes if it makes you feel good about your genitals and confident in front of sexual partners. However, it may be best to avoid shaving and stick to waxing instead, as shaving increases the risk of laceration and infection.
Most pubes grow between half an inch and 1.5 inches, according to Steixner.
Myth 4: Pubic hair never stops growing
Your pubic hair won't keep growing forever to endless lengths. Pubic hair stops growing when it reaches a certain point. The length at which it halts varies from person to person, but it stops between 0.5 to two inches.
Folliculitis is typically caused by bacteria. Folliculitis causes red and white pimples to grow around the hair follicle resulting in that prickly feeling after shaving. Rest assured, mild cases of folliculitis should clear on its own within a number of days.
To keep the pubic area smooth and hairless, you'll need to shave regularly, even daily. Consider if this is worth the trouble; it may become tedious after four or five weeks.
It is not more hygienic to shave pubic hair. Some girls decide to remove it (as a personal preference) but there are no health benefits. In fact, there are risks associated with shaving your pubic hair including: razor burn (rash), redness, itching (from hair growing back), and infection in the hair root.
While you absolutely can shave your pubic hair yourself, if you aren't intentional about how you do it, you can increase the risk of irritation, cuts, ingrown hairs, and skin infection. To that end, you absolutely should not grab any old razor and get to work; a dull razor can up the likelihood of all of the above.
If a girl has no signs of puberty by age 13 years (that is, no breasts and no pubic hair), she needs to be evaluated by her physician and possibly referred to an endocrinologist.
Pubic hair – Once her pubic hair starts growing, you can expect her period to develop in one to two years.
By 11 years, it's common for many kids to: Show some signs of puberty: In girls, puberty usually starts when they're between 8 and 13 with breast development and the appearance of pubic hair. Periods usually start about 2 years after breast development begins.
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.
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.