Doctor issues health warning after shocking data reveals how often men and women change their underpants
A doctor has issued a health warning after learning how often people, on average, change their underwear — and it's not nearly as regularly as they should be doing.
We've all heard the age-old rumor that men in particular are prone to wearing their boxers inside out to get an extra day's wear out of them. However, this might not just be rumor after all...
Personally I find the idea of wearing my underpants for more than a day quite horrifying — but it seems as if I might be alone in this.
New data put together by British retailer Jacamo found that both men and women will wear their underpants for three days before putting them in the wash, a whole two days longer than hygienically recommended.
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The research that involved 1,006 UK adults also found that both men and women will wear a pair of socks up to three times before washing them as well. Gross!
What's worse, people aren't washing their workout wear frequently either. Per Jacamo's findings, men will change their gymwear on average every five wears, but women will wear theirs for up to 11 days before refreshing it.
With these worrying figures in mind, Dr Deborah Lee from Dr Fox Online Pharmacy has warned about the negative impact not changing your underpants after each wear can have on your health.
"It stands to reason that the less often you change your underwear the greater the risk of a UTI," she said. "This is because most UTIs are caused by coliform bacteria that originate in the bowel."
Dr Lee continued: "Not changing your underwear frequently allows these bacteria to multiply and increases the risk of many infections - including UTIs. However, the risk differs in men and women.
"In women, studies have shown E.coli is present in up to 14.5 percent of high vaginal swabs. This demonstrates that faecal bacteria can migrate from the rectal/anal area into the female genital tract. E.coli is the causative organism of a UTI in around 80 percent of cases."
UTIs are less common in men and the vast majority of young men with urinary symptoms will have an STI, not UTI.
But that's doesn't mean they shouldn't be changing their boxers after each wear like women are recommended to, Dr Lee insisted.
"[Men] are still at risk of anaerobic infections such as balanoposthitis - an unpleasant, inflammatory condition typically occurring in uncircumcised men, which causes a foul-smelling penile discharge," she warned.
"Bacteria can contaminate semen. High levels of E.coli in semen reduce sperm quality and motility and impair fertility. In addition, as men age, they are more at risk of E.coli prostatitis."
Ultimately Dr Lee advised people to change their underpants on a daily basis and to purchase underwear made of natural fibres like cotton, instead of synthetics such as nylon or polyester.
Niamh Shackleton