Doctor's warning: No more bikini waxing!

August 22, 2012 11:21
Doctor's warning: No more bikini waxing!

It is claimed to increase the risk of skin infection and sexually transmitted diseases

If you're a beach babe and love to don that two-piece bikini, you might have to do without a regime that's a norm with most people...the bikini wax! Doctors are rining alarm bells over the regimen, saying it could be the worst thing to do to the skin.

What the claim was
As a eye opener doctor Emily Gibson, a family physician and director of the health centre at Western University, Washington, recently launched an appeal to end the "war on pubic hair", citing that it is increasing the risk of infection and of sexually transmitted diseases amongst young people. "Pubic hair removal naturally irritates and inflames the hair follicles, leaving microscopic open wounds. Frequent hair removal is necessary to stay smooth, causing regular irritation of the shaved or waxed area. When that is combined with the warm, moist environment of the genitals, it becomes a happy culture media for some of the nastiest bacterial pathogens," she wrote on the US medical website.

The announcement can quash one of the most popular trends of wellness and beauty, with salons everywhere offering patrons bikini waxing, laser hair removal we all as 'vajazzling' or doing a decoration of the genitals with jewels.

'IT's very harmful'
Apart from the time and money spent on the regime, a bikini wax is alarmingly low on the hygiene factor, say experts. Skin expert Dr Rashmi Shetty talks of how so many youngsters in Mumbai have come to her with skin problems after undergoing such a wax.

"What people don't realise is that pubic hair is there for a reason," she starts. "One, it acts as a cushion and protects against injury. In cases where you have to use a washroom in say a cinema or a mall, it can prevent from picking up skin infections as it acts as a shield. The other thing hair in the pubic area is thick so trying to yank it off can lead to pain and bleeding points, which further can cause folliculitis. And using non-sterile wax can cause boils and abscesses, which are very troublesome, so I would say trim the hair from the sides but take care or avoid a bikini wax where they just pull the hair out instantly." She is also against laser hair removal. "The skin is darker in these areas so chances of burns are higher when you do a laser hair removal," she adds.

Chance of diseases, too
If the beautician does not take the proper steps to ensure that her client will not become infected, it is dangerous. Dr Gibson also stated that herpes is also an increased risk, "due to the microscopic wounds being exposed to virus. It follows that there may be vulnerability to spread of other sexually transmitted diseases as well."

How it came about
The ancient Egyptians used a body-sugaring technique for hair removal. Then, a smooth, hairless body was considered as the standard of beauty. The bikini was introduced in France in 1946, and thus, the 'Brazilian' bikini wax has evolved. Extensive removal of pubic hair is now a common practice.

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