We’ve heard conflicting reports about pubic hair grooming and the pros and cons of the practice.

The latest comes from researchers at The University of California who have found that pubic hair removal has major side effects. The study surveyed women and men about pubic hair grooming patterns and history of sexually transmitted infections. Researchers divided pubic hair removal into categories and defined extreme grooming as removal of all pubic hair more than 11 times per year and high-frequency grooming as daily or weekly grooming. They also looked at STIs by groups, those that are transmitted via skin-to-skin contact and those contracted through secretions. They also factored age and sex, frequency of sex, and number of sex partners per year and over a lifetime. The research determined that those who preferred frequent grooming were much more likely to contract a sexual transmitted disease. The results indicate that eight percent of non-groomers versus 14% of groomers reported a history of an STI. Extreme groomers were the most likely to report an STI, 18%. The association was the strongest for the skin-to-skin STIs. MD Jennifer Gunter said that there are a lot of rabbit holes to investigate with this study but admitted that women, in particular should be careful when grooming. “Anecdotally, I see many cases of skin irritation among women who remove pubic hair, but I’m the first to admit that’s not the highest quality evidence. Ingrown hairs and infections are known consequences of hair removal and some can be very severe, and these kinds of infections can sometimes land women in the emergency room or even the operating room for drainage of an abscess.”