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 Previous studies have suggested that trimming or removing pubic hair
is associated with sexually transmitted infections (STI), possibly
because of easier transmission through broken skin or because
individuals who groom more frequently might have more sex and
therefore greater exposure to STIs. But the new study, published in
PLoS ONE, found that lab-confirmed diagnoses of chlamydia and
gonorrhea had no connection to women's grooming practices.
"It is important to investigate factors that potentially put a
person at a higher risk for STI because if we are aware of the
problem, we can address these factors and decrease the burden of
these infections on people's health," said lead study author Jamie
Luster, who did the research at Ohio State University in Columbus.
Gonorrhea and chlamydia are the most common STIs in the U.S., and
infection rates have been increasing since 2013, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Young women between ages
15 and 24 have the highest rates of these infections. Risk factors
include a high number of sexual partners, high sexual frequency,
forced or transactional intercourse, incarceration, low
socioeconomic status, and identifying as a racial, ethnic or sexual
minority, the study team notes.
"More studies are needed to fully understand whether pubic hair
grooming actually has anything to do with your risk of getting an
STI," Luster told Reuters Health by email.
Luster and colleagues recruited 214 college women who received
on-campus STI testing in 2017 and 2018 to answer questions about
themselves, their grooming habits and sexual activity. The
researchers also received permission to learn participants' STI test
results.
Luster's team defined "extreme grooming" as removal of all pubic
hair at least weekly for the past year or more than six times in the
past month.
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About 98% of participants reported some pubic hair grooming,
including 54% who were extreme groomers during the past year and 18%
in the last month. About 83% reported using a non-electric razor to
groom, and nearly two-thirds had experienced a grooming injury.
Nearly 10% of the women tested positive for gonorrhea or chlamydia,
including two who tested positive for gonorrhea and 19 who tested
positive for chlamydia.
When researchers accounted for sexual frequency, family income and
other factors, extreme grooming during the past year or past month
wasn't associated with risk for either STI.
"We were surprised that grooming was so prevalent," Luster said. "In
addition to that, what we defined as extreme grooming - removal of
all pubic hair at least weekly within the past year - was reported
by over half of the people in our study."
Future research should continue to use lab-confirmed infections to
measure STIs as opposed to self-reported infections, she said.
"The idea from grooming and transmission is that if someone grooms,
cuts themselves and then quickly has an STI exposure, does this cut
lead to more infections? At this point, we don't know for sure,"
said Dr. Benjamin Breyer of the University of California at San
Francisco, who wasn't involved in the study.
Other studies should include different sexual practices, different
types of grooming and risks for STIs that appear on the skin such as
herpes and HPV, Breyer added by email.
"Enjoy yourself but always practice safer sex. Groom yourself
however you prefer," he advises. "If you do groom, be sure you don't
have fresh lacerations or wounds when you do have sex."
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/2k74aKI PLoS ONE, online September 4, 2019.
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