When you purchase through links on our land site , we may earn an affiliate commission . Here ’s how it works .
Brazilian waxing and other methods of withdraw pubic hair may increase the risk of enamour certain skin infection through sex , preliminary enquiry from France suggests .
Specifically , the study looked at the risk of catchingMolluscum contagiosum , a skin infection that causes raised , pearl - similar spot . The infection can spread through any type of contact and is most commonly go steady in tiddler , but in recent years , cases ofMolluscum contagiosumspread through sex have been on the rise in certain parts of the world .
research worker at a private health clinic in Nice , France enquire whether the increasing popularity ofpubic hair removalmay have play a role in this increase .
Of the 30 patients ( 6 woman and 24 human being ) who impose their clinic withsexually transmittedMolluscum contagiosumin 2011 and 2012 , 93 percentage had removed their pubic fuzz , either through shaving ( 70 percent ) , clipping ( 13 percentage ) or waxing ( 10 percent ) . Ten of the 30 patients had at least one other peel condition , such as warts or a bacterial infection .
The research worker only found an association , and can not leaven that hit pubic hair increase the risk of contractingMolluscum contagiosumor other skin infections . The cogitation was circumscribe in that is was small and did not let in a comparing group of people who are skin - contagion free , so more inquiry is want to investigate the link .
However , experts not require with the subject area say that , in possibility , off pubic whisker could increase the risk of genital pelt infection .
Small ding or cutting off in the skin , which could happen with hair removal , can make it comfortable for viruses to establish infection , researchers say .
" The consistency has a figure of defense team mechanism to preclude transmission . One of those mechanisms is normal , healthy skin , " said Dr. Robert Brodell , chief of the University of Mississippi Medical Center ’s Division of Dermatology . Aberrations in the skin " spread the door for catching the infection , " Brodell read .
Dr. Jonathan Zenilman , chief of the Infectious Diseases Division at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center , agree and tell that theherpes virusis known to be more transmissible if small-scale psychic trauma fall out to the skin during sex .
" From my standpoint , it makes sense , " Zenilman enjoin of the findings . However , he cautioned that the unexampled study is not conclusive . For instance , it could be that other factors shared by the affected role besides pubic hair remotion increased their riskMolluscum contagiosuminfection .
Dr. Mary Gail Mercurio , an associate professor of dermatology at the University of Rochester Medical Center , said she often seesMolluscum contagiosumin people who transfer pubic haircloth .
" I teach the patients to terminate shaving until the condition is make for under control , because paring just spread it further , " Mercurio enjoin . Further studies comparing unlike method of fuzz removal may shed light on the contact , she aver . For example , optical maser hair remotion would not be expected to increase the peril of contagion because it does n’t abrade the skin .
It may be that shaving increases the peril ofMolluscum contagiosumbecause the razor scatter the virus from one part of the body to another , Brodell allege .
Brodell said he has not take in the inter-group communication in his exercise , but plans to postulate people withMolluscum contagiosuminfections if they ’ve shaved in the recent past .
The new study will be published in an forthcoming issue of the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections .
Pass it on : Shaving and waxing may increase the risk of the hide infectionMolluscum contagiosum .
