The research shows that body hair by itself is not a cause of bad body odor. But everyone is unique. Some guys report smelling better after their shave their armpits, body hair, or pubes. They feel that it makes them sweat less and smell better.
Regular shaving with a razor should be considered as part of a grooming regimen that can be used to effectively manage body odors.
Trimming your pubic hair reduces the surface area for bacteria, thus helping to reduce odor. Pubic hair serves a purpose for wicking away sweat and keeping good bacteria around, but if you sweat a lot in that area, you might find shorter pubic hair to be beneficial. Gynecologists often do recommend a trim down south.
Grooming Optimizes Hygiene
When you feel good in your body, you just feel better overall. Shaving your pubic hair, or even slightly trimming it, helps keep your goods cleaner by exposing skin to soap and water that's normally covered by hair. Pretty simple.
There's also a chance some hairs will become ingrown. This means that the hair that's trying to grow back gets trapped under the skin. This can lead to redness, pain, and tiny bumps in the area. Sometimes people can get skin infections from shaving.
Irritation: Removing pubic hair by waxing or shaving can cause skin irritation, razor burns, or ingrown hairs, which can be uncomfortable or painful. Infection: Shaving or waxing can create small cuts or openings in the skin that can increase the risk of infection, especially if the area is not kept clean.
Vaginal odor can be caused by diet, sweating, menstruation, or pregnancy. It can sometimes also be caused by infections like bacterial vaginosis or trichomoniasis.
"The hair traps the smell," Michael Cackovic, M.D., an ob/gyn at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, tells SELF. "What you can smell is bacteria mixing with the sweat and oil." But Rowen says that as long as you have good hygiene in general, your pubic hair isn't any worse off than the hair on your head.
The goal was to maximize each participant's natural body odor, with the only changing factor being their armpit hair (or lack of it). By the end of the study, researchers concluded that men who removed their armpit hair by waxing it off or shaving it with a razor had the least body odor.
Removing some of the bacteria on your skin regularly can prevent unpleasant body odor. Keep your armpits shaved, so sweat evaporates quickly and doesn't have as much time to interact with bacteria. Hair is a breeding ground for bacteria.
Shave. Hair is another place where bacteria like to hide. If you still smell a strong body odor after a shower, consider shaving the hair in your armpits, groin, and chest. The hair's surface is a perfect place for bacteria to call home, and it's harder to eliminate them from the hair than your bare skin.
Try bathing or showering every day with a mild soap and warm water, and wear cotton underwear. If your discharge continues to have an odor, you may have bacterial vaginosis (BV). BV is a vaginal infection but it's not considered to be a sexually transmitted infection (STI).
Groin sweat contains fatty acids and proteins which feed bacteria. As the bacteria break down the nutrients in groin sweat, foul-smelling acids are left behind.
Trimethylaminuria (TMAU) is an uncommon condition that causes an unpleasant, fishy smell. It's also called "fish odour syndrome". Sometimes it's caused by faulty genes that a person inherits from their parents, but this isn't always the case. There's currently no cure, but there are things that can help.
It is more hygienic not to shave it (although depilation does make pubic lice homeless). In removing their pubic hair, most women will get cuts or ingrown hairs, and some will develop inflammation of the hair follicles or hyperpigmentation.
It is not more hygienic to shave pubic hair. Some girls decide to remove it (as a personal preference) but there are no health benefits. In fact, there are risks associated with shaving your pubic hair including: razor burn (rash), redness, itching (from hair growing back), and infection in the hair root.
There are some benefits to not shaving like better sex, a reduced chance for skin infections, and a more regulated body temperature. Ultimately, you should go with whatever style makes you feel comfortable.