9 Slightly Gross Reasons You Might Want To Leave Your Pubes The Fuck Alone

Put those shavers down, guys.

1. If you're overweight, you're more likely to experience complications from your waxing.

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Everyone who's had a wax knows that it can leave your skin red, sore, and at times a bit bloody. However, scientists have found that overweight and obese women are almost three times more likely to suffer from skin problems as a direct result of hair removal.

In a study of 333 women aged between 16 and 40, scientists found that 60% had experienced at least one medical problem after removing their pubes.

2. Getting it all ripped off has been linked to various disgusting bacterial infections.

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Researchers in France talked to 30 patients (24 of whom were guys) suffering from a viral infection called Molluscum contagiosum – which leaves your skin spotty and itchy. Seventy per cent had shaved their pubes, while the rest had recently waxed or clipped.

3. And the risk of catching one is increased if you have any kind of autoimmune disease.

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For diabetes sufferers, for example, hair removal can have really serious ramifications. One diabetic woman in Australia developed streptococcal and herpetic septicemia after undergoing a Brazilian where she had everything removed.

All that was caused by Streptococcus bacteria – which could have developed through small, open wounds caused by skin ripping.

Her vulva swelled, her temperature rocketed and a rash spread across her body. Oh, and the herpes came back when she had a second wax six months later.

Diabetes is a disease where the body's immune system reacts against its own insulin-producing cells, which means it's unable to fend off infections as effectively as it would do otherwise.

4. It can even promote the cultivation of STIs.

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In two different surveys, it was found that both men and women significantly upped their chances of STIs when they removed pubic hair.

Scientists have even recommended that people refrain from having sex for a certain period after waxing to limit the possibility of transmitting diseases.

5. And let's not forget about actually BURNING YOUR SKIN WITH HOT WAX.

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Smothering yourself in boiling wax sounds like a disaster waiting to happen...and it is, for some people.

6. Someone people might even be prone to their skin ripping off.

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People who suffer from eczema or psoriasis or who take various blood-thinning drugs or steroids,, are more susceptible to "skin lifting" – that's where the top layer of skin gets torn off by waxing.

One woman who had a Brazilian found that her skin was ripped off along with her hair, and her mons pubis – the fatty skin that covers the pubic bone – became covered in a purplish rash.

7. Shaving it all off can lead to some terrible itching.

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Shaving all your pubes off can lead to folliculitis, which is where the hair follicle gets infected by Straphylococcus or a fungus.

Recently shaved hairs regrow out of the infected follicle and curl back round to irritate freshly nipped skin – leading to itchy, sore, lumpy skin.

8. Having a full wax makes farting next-level embarrassing.

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We can't speak from direct experience, but according to the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, having a bald anus means it's virtually impossible to fart silently.

9. But good news, all this waxing is playing havoc with the public lice community.

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It's estimated that up to 80% of adults remove pubic hair to some degree, and scientists say they've found a "strong correlation" between the plummeting numbers of lice infestations and increase in hair removal.

The parasites usually live on coarse pubic hair, nibbling on your soft skin and causing some terrible itching down below. But if you don't have any hair, they don't have anything to cling on to.

So, swings and roundabouts.