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Injuries Caused By Pubic Hair Grooming Are Common, Study Says

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In news that will make a lot of people cringe, a study found that pubic hair grooming injuries are more common than anyone can ever think.

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and the Washington University School of Medicine wanted to see just how many people get themselves injured by grooming their pubic hair, Forbes reports. The team sent 14,409 surveys to people across the country ages 18 to 65 years old, asking them about their pubic hair grooming habits and injuries they have sustained as a result.

Of the surveys sent, 52.5% or 7,570 people turned in completed questionnaires. Among them, 55.5% were men and 44.5% were women. Over three-fourths of those surveyed said that they groomed their pubic hair, women more so than men.

It turned out that injuries sustained while grooming were quite common – 25.6% reported experiencing it.

More women than men had injuries to their privates while grooming. Cuts were the most common kind at 61.2%, followed by burns at 23% and rashes at 12.2%. Of these, 66.5% admitted that they hurt themselves more than once, while 32.2% said they had suffered an injury five or more times. The overwhelming majority did not require medical attention, with only 3.4% needing antibiotics for infections. A small 2.5% needed surgery.

The more severe injuries happened when the person was lying on his or her back, or when other people were doing the grooming, the study added. “Heat maps” showing where the injuries occurred the most in men and women pointed to the scrotum as the most vulnerable part in men, followed by the penis and pubis. In women, the pubis was the most susceptible, followed by the inner thigh, vagina and perineum.

In addition, men who removed all of their pubic hair were over 11 times more likely to have hurt themselves, while women who removed all of their pubic hair more than once were more likely to get injured. Women who waxed, however, were less likely to suffer repeated injuries.

The study was published in JAMA Dermatology.

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