A doctor has warned against shaving one particular body part, explaining the associated health risks that come with it.
While many people routinely shave their faces, armpits or legs, there's one area of the body that doctors recommend leaving alone.
Dr. Mike Varshavski, more commonly known as Doctor Mike on YouTube, tackled this topic in one of his videos, addressing medical questions people are probably too embarrassed to ask their doctors.
At one point in his recent video, Doctor Mike reveals the one body part you should never shave.
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"The problem with shaving your pubic region is there has been some research showing that there are increased STI rates when you do shave," the medical expert explained, adding that removing pubic hair leads to 'more skin on skin contact, so more chance to spread STIs'.
He continued: "Also, when you shave, you can create micro-tears, leading to openings in the skin which can allow body fluids and blood to get into, thereby creating another infection.
"Maybe skipping out shaving the pubes is not a bad idea."
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Earlier in the video, Doctor Mike explained that pubic hair serves a biological purpose.
It's classified as 'terminal hair,' which is a specific type of body hair that's thicker and coarser than other hair.
"It starts as vellus hair on our bodies when we're babies," he described. As we go through puberty, these fine hairs transform and become 'more coarse and curly'.
Pubic hair can grow up to six inches long and serves several important functions. The hair traps pheromones produced by our apocrine glands, which played a large role in human attraction and mate selection throughout our evolutionary history.
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But Doctor Mike isn't alone in this advice, as other medical experts weighed in on why pubic hair exists and why removing it might be problematic.
“Pubic hair functions to cushion and protect the sensitive skin around the genitals,” said Katy Burris, a dermatologist at ColumbiaDoctors and assistant professor of dermatology at Columbia University Medical Center, as per Healthline.
“It also plays a role in hygiene, trapping dirt and bacteria and preventing it from entering the vaginal opening. Although many people feel it’s more hygienic to remove the hair, it’s actually the opposite.”
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Healthline reports that pubic hair 'protects the vaginal opening, wicks away sweat, prevents chafing, offers some infection protection and plays a role in basic sexual instincts'.
While more research is needed on this topic, leaving your pubic hair intact may, indeed, offer some protection against sexually transmitted infections.
“Certain STIs have an increased risk of spreading or being acquired if there’s a compromised skin surface involved,” said Angela Jones, an OB-GYN and Astroglide’s resident sexual health advisor.
As a general principle, if something is naturally present on our bodies, there's usually a good reason for it, and pubic hair seems to be no exception.
Rebekah Jordan