If you're going to trim the hair down there, have a care, a new study suggests.
Emergency room visits due to pubic hair grooming mishaps have exploded in recent years, say University of California San Diego researchers, who found a five-fold increase in reported injuries from 2002-2010.
A total of 11,704 people landed in the E.R. after waxing, shaving or trimming sessions went awry — and it's a pretty even split between women (56.7%) and men (43.3%).
Nonelectric razors were responsible for 83% of injuries, followed by scissors (22%) and hot wax (1.4%). Laceration was the most common injury, and most ended up being minor.
The rise in genitourinary — aka pubic area — injuries comes down to a simple reason, study authors said: More men and women are grooming the area. Previous surveys have found that 70% to 88% of young women in the U.S. partially or fully remove their pubic hair, as well as 58% to 78% of men. Almost 29% of the women's injuries occurred in girls younger than 18.
“Changing beauty ideals are reflected in media sources ... and have likely contributed to the expansion of this cultural trend,” the reseachers wrote ....