This article by a doctor sets out reasons why shaving pubic hair is unhealthy, some of them having to do with “microscopic wounds.” It got me to thinking – what about other parts of the body people sometimes shave – men’s faces, women’s armpits, women’s legs – should they all be left unshaven? Is there no healthy use for a razor?
Aren’t they all technically ‘pubic hair’?
being a doctor does not mean one knows everything there is to know about the human body. I’m an engineer, but my expertise is in automotive and acoustics, and I wouldn’t dare claim I know how to design a suspension bridge. sadly, far too many people have no idea how to stay in their own lane.
“microscopic wounds” translates to “shit I can’t prove but sounds plausible and supports my point of view.”
when most of us die due to accidental trauma, heart disease, cancers, etc. worrying about razor burn is fucking stupid. Oh, and from your link:
"Pubic hair does have a purpose, providing cushion against friction that can cause skin abrasion and injury and offering protection from bacteria and other unwanted pathogens. "
apparently people only need that protection after about age 12 or so.
these people are loony. Period.
Of all the things that could potentially be dangerous to people, this seems pretty low on the list. Humans of various cultures have been shaving their body hair pretty much since we invented knives, with little apparent ill effect.
It is true that surgeons have stopped shaving their patients nearly as much as they used to.
It is true that shaving can cause irritation (hence, all the soothing after shaving preparations sold OTC) or wounds of one degree or another (hence dabs of tissue, styptic pencils, and the like). Same for other methods of hair removal.
That said, I think the “don’t have at all” position can be as extreme as the “eliminate every hair forever” position.
As for the getting by without public hair “protection” until age 12 - puberty is when you start rubbing your bits against other peoples’ bits, so it makes some sense that’s when you’d need the extra, um, “protection”.
Is shaving unhealthy? Yes, if you do it to excess or in an unsanitary manner.
but that’s not what they were talking about.
Shaving exfoliates the skin. If anything, it’s healthy.
Not so much. There have been calls to stop pre operative shaving for at least 30 years for this very reason.
For example:
THE DOCTOR’S WORLD; SHAVING AREA OF OPERATION NOW SEEMS DANGEROUS fom June 1983, The New York Times quoting The Lancet
If I shavd with a blade, or use a very close electric shaver on my face I get horrible infected bumps and ingrown hairs. I could see that getting dangerous for someone with a depressed immune system.
I have to use a shaver intended for head hair cutting with a short guard that prevents it from touching my face.
What? Humans do not shed their skins. You’re thinking snakes and scorpions. And lawyers.
Sure they do. Many a woman shave their faces as a ‘beauty enhancement’ (but it’s called “dermaplaning” instead of shaving).
Is that healthy? Or just harmless?
It’s unnecessary, strictly speaking. There’s nothing unhealthy about skin that shows its age, has wrinkles, etc.
“Dermaplaning” can be done in a relatively safe manner, but it’s not as absolutely safe as not dermaplaning. For healthy people with intact immune systems, though, and some grasp of basic hygiene the risk is minimal.
No offense Ambi but that is silly.
FWIW I actually did have one teen aged girl patient who developed abscesses from pubic shaving that needed pretty extensive incision and drainage. The first time didn’t stop her from continuing the habit and she ended up having it happen recurrently. No immunocompromised state.
Something else to consider - anal sex spreads diseases like AIDS much more easily than penile vaginal sex - why? The thought is because anal sex is associated with small tears hence not just mucosal contact but direct to bloodstream contact. Sex soon after shaving when the skin does have those very small tears may replicate that circumstance.
That said I am with freido - pretty dang low on the list.
It does raise the related question though - evolutionarily why has post-pubertal pubic and axillary hair and male facial hair been selected for in humans?
I have read, somewhere once upon a time, the speculation that pubic and axillary hair may serve to wick out compounds that serve as pheromones, helping them become just a bit more airborne. FWIW.
I know a lot of black men can’t shave their face everyday or they’ll get an insane amount of ingrown hairs, back when I was in the Army some guys would get profiles so they didn’t have to shave as rigorously.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudofolliculitis_barbae
I read about a study that found a correlation with women shaving armpits, then using deodorant, and an increased incidence of breat cancer. Study compared US women with European populations of women who used deodorant but did not shave. The theory was that the commercial deodorants contain ingredients that are linked to cancer, and are more easily absorbed into the body and into the lymph nodes under the arm pits of freshly shaven skin. I’m not citing the study because it hasn’t been replicated and most breast cancer organizations say a connection is unlikely. So it may not be true, but if it were, that would be an argument that shaving is unhealthy.
It sure sounds like it…
How so? Are you saying that shaving does not technically exfoliate the skin? I’d post links but I don’t know how on my phone.
That claim is about antiperspirant, not deodorant.
No, I am saying that the idea that “exfoliating the skin” is something that is “healthy” is silly fluff you read in beauty magazines and that gets sold by spa services including medical cosmetic services. Maybe there is some short term cosmetic benefit of getting some superficial dead cells off the surface (I hear snake oil is also a marvelous moisturizer) producing a “brighter complexion” but “healthy”?
You want exfoliation get yourself Staphylococcal Scalded Skin Syndrome; that’ll exfoliate you fine.