Ep 16: Is Your Pubic Hair Useless? l Keeping It Clean Down There

Sexpert + Topic Intro You know, I'm such a badass. There's hardly anything that I'm scared of. Really. I can even watch a horror movie when I'm all alone at home. But when it comes to removing my pubic hair. Oh, my God. That's something that I'm so, so, so terrified of. And you know what- people seem to think that the only way you can maintain hygiene for your vagina, vulva or the penis- IS by removing your pubic hair. So I wanted to put this myth to rest once and for all, and I've invited an expert to do it. But before that. Welcome to our show, Allo #AskTheSexpert -a space where we answer your questions about sex, pleasure, wellness and so much more, along with an expert so that you can have better sex, backed by science. I'm so excited to welcome back expert Kanusha, who is an in-house therapist with Allo Health, to discuss a little bit more about this topic at length. Hi Kanusha, how are you doing today? I'm doing very well Artika. And I just- I really like that you- every week you have something so interesting which is different, but also kind of similar to the other topics. It's really nice. You know, this week I have to give the credit to somebody else. So we actually had somebody from our Instagram community suggest this topic and we were like, oh yeah, that's so interesting and something people want to hear about. I'm sure. So thank you to whoever suggested this to us. And this also means that if you have any topics in mind, you too can suggest them to us. You can even drop a comment in this very video and we'll pick it up from there. Great, so let's get started. Topmost question, how do you maintain hygiene How to keep Vagina & Penis clean when it comes to the vagina, vulva or the penis? Okay. So the vaginal area, right. I mean, first of all, the vagina is actually a self cleansing organ. So you don't really have to do much in that context. Yeah, but otherwise it's just, you know, maybe just using room temperature or lukewarm water to clean, but not ensuring you, you know, sort of stuff water inside or just be rough. Genital areas in general are very sensitive, fragile areas. Right. So just using luke warm water. No soaps, no detergents, no fancy foams and washes and all of that unless prescribed by the doctor. Right. So ensuring you wear clean underwear, you know, not overusing something or ensuring that it�s washed well. So these are a couple of things for a female, for the vaginal area hygiene. For penises you have circumcised and uncircumcised. So a circumcised penis is where the foreskin has been removed so there it's just again- just using normal water, you know regular washing, nothing specific. For uncircumcised penises, which means you still have the foreskin on- it's adviced to maybe once in a week or so- pull the foreskin down- again with just normal comfortable water. You know, wash cleanse the area below the penis head. That's where a lot of something called �smegma� can collect. Right. So just wash that and I think these are just a few basic things to keep in mind. Yeah, I'm surprised at how there's a booming industrial fem hygiene washes. Yes. That don't actually tell you that you don't need to use them If everything is functioning fine with your vagina and the vulva, right? Exactly. And like you said, you mentioned clean underwear, even harsh detergents on underwears can Yes, precisely. Right. Thank you so much for busting that myth. What I was talking about was people associating the presence of pubic hair, Is Pubic hair unhygienic? which is naturally present on the body, like everybody is born with pubic hair on their genitals. But people associate that with being unhygienic. So is there a truth in that? Just. Just having pubic hair makes you unhygienic? Is that true? Not necessarily. Actually. Again, it just boils down to if you are you know maintaining general hygiene and washing and all of that. But I think that also boils down to a very subjective choice. So a lot of people who feel very light and comfortable without the pubic hair, some of them are okay with it. So it's a very personal choice. But I think, you know, pubic hair also has certain advantages, which I think we would be discussing. Yeah, I mean you can please go ahead and share them? Okay. Yeah. Benefits of Pubic hair So a couple of them are you know, it sort of prevents friction from happening when you're maybe engaging in intercourse, kind of, you know, genital friction, if I should say. It helps lessen the impact during injury or anything of that sort. Again, maintains hygiene to a certain extent. It has pheromones. Right. So, again, these are a few things, but boils down to a personal choice- personal choice like I already mentioned. Yeah, but I still want to use that one to say that your pubic hair is not useless. it�s not. You don't have to believe me. The expert is saying it. It's definitely not. But yeah, but I love what you said about personal choice, because a lot of times, you know, sadly so, people don't include that in conversations that you know, maybe maybe it may be right to do a certain thing and wrong to do a certain thing. But personal choice should still be accounted for. Definitely. Yes. Yeah. And just talking about personal choices, if there is someone who does choose Best methods to get rid of Pubic hair to remove their pubic hair, whether partially or entirely, do you think there's a best method and a worst method in that sense? I think generally advised, you know, methods would be trimming it, with scissors or a trimmer or, you know, some of them like to go to the extent of getting the laser treatment done. Some of them like to get waxing done, I think maybe especially females. So these are just a couple of very commonly used techniques. But I think what's important is, again, speaking of hygiene, even when you're using a scissors or a trimmer, ensure it's clean and it's not maybe been used by others or you've used it repetitively without washing it. So these are a couple of ways. But you know, ensure anything you use doesn't wound your course cuts or is just not, you know, causes a problem. Yeah, I mean I think we can build a whole episode out of what are the different methods of- I�m sure we can. and can those interfere with your sexual health? If you want us to do that episode, I�m very serious right now- but if you want us to do that episode, do let us know in the comments below. Great. Kanusha, so I think we've reached a section which is called Ask Your Question- Sexpert Answers YOUR Questions! �What's Your Question� or �Ask Your Question� where we crowdsource questions from our audience members and we've just been so fortunate in getting so many questions- I�ve hand-picked some for you which I think loosely fit in this topic. And you know, I'm just going to ask your permission to ask those. Yes, please. Great. Okay. So the first question is, �My penis has a weird smell. How should I remove it?� I think removing the smell is the question. Yeah. So a certain amount of odour or smell is normal. A certain amount of it. It's very typical of genital area. But if it goes to a very disturbing, discomforting extent, then, you know, get it checked by a doctor because it could I- generally it's commonly because of either not maintaining, you know, hygiene, it being very sweaty and moist or maybe having an infection or things like that. So again, advice to not use over-the-counter ointments and those fancy washes. Yes, definitely advice that. Got it. Great. Okay. Moving on. �The vagina skin is a little bit dark. How should I clean it?� That again, is actually quite normal and very common. So because of certain hormones around- that area tends to darken a bit. But absolutely nothing to worry about. But if, you know, some people are very particular of the appearance, again, please consult with a dermatologist and they will advise you of, you know, what suitable treatment could be or rather Yeah, suitable methods could be. Yeah. But otherwise it's fine. Right. And I think the question I think the concern is that they feel that it's not clean. Yes. Yeah. But it's not clean if you're not maintaining hygiene, color definitely doesn't reflect anything of that sort. Yeah, great. Okay, last question for the day. �How many times should I wash my penis in a week?� So there�s someone who I think doesn't like bathing? Okay, let's assume that, you know. But once a week should be okay. Once a week, week and a half. Definitely don't overdo or just under do anything. Yeah. So I think just sticking to once a week is fine. And like I�ve already reiterated- don't use detergents or soaps or fancy washes. Stick to normal. Yeah. You know, usual water. That's it. Great. So I hope that everybody who sent in their questions has got the answers you were looking for. And thank you Kanusha for taking us through such a quick light and such a quick trip on all of the hygiene, cleanliness, pubic hair, things that people needed to know. Is there anything that you want to add here? I think you've covered all of it, Artika. So thank you so much for addressing half of the issues. I think the other half was what the viewers did. Yeah. So thank you. Great. Amazing. So that brings us to the end of today's episode. We're loving everything that you're saying. Again, please send us topic suggestions. We're not out of suggestions for the topics, but we would love to hear what you all have to say. We love reading your comments and emails. A lot of you love sending us emails, so thank you for that again. I will be back very soon with another topic. And until then, keep watching all of the old episodes in case you haven�t and I'll see you very soon.