Razor burn

People who trim or shave, uh, down there, may be at greater risk of contracting common sexually transmitted infections (STI) such as chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis. That’s according to a new study led by researchers from UC San Francisco, which surveyed 7,580 people about their practices of grooming pubic hair, sexual behavior and history of STIs. Among respondents, 84 percent of women reported grooming their pubic hair, compared with 66 percent of men. The study, which adjusted for age and lifetime number of sexual partners, found that groomers had nearly twice the risk of reporting an STI, and “extreme” groomers—men and women who removed all of their down-there hair—were nearly four times as likely to report an STI. The study’s authors were stumped on how to definitively explain the association, but advised against unprotected sex, “aggressive shaving right before having sex” and “having sex with an open cut or wound.”