If you sense a little body odor, it's because your pubic hair is doing its job of trapping sweat, oil, and bacteria. To care for your pubic area, all you need to do is regularly rinse with water. Long story short, there is nothing dirty or unclean about pubic hair. There is no medical reason to remove it.
"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.
That's because many of the glands in your crotch aren't normal sweat glands; they're apocrine glands, which produce an even muskier type of sweat. To bacteria and yeast, that smells like victory. And when bacteria munch on that extra special sweat, they produce even more nasty scents.
To get very nitty gritty, vaginal scents can range from earthy to musky to sweet like fresh-baked bread, to a weed-like fragrance due to the influence of sweat gland secretion, and yes, even slightly fishy. The musky earthy scent sounds like I'm describing some earth momma essential oil, doesn't it?
Normal vaginal odors
This smell is associated with the good bacteria in your vagina, lactobacilli. Some people describe the odor as yeasty, similar to sourdough bread. A slightly sweet or bittersweet smell, like molasses or gingerbread, may also be a sign that your pH levels have changed.
We get it — it's a common problem, but sometimes it can make you self-conscious (“wait, can other people smell that, too?!”) and affect your confidence. Inner thigh odor is caused by various factors, including excessive sweating, fungal infections, poor hygiene, and hormonal changes.
Pubic hair grooming, described as partial or complete removal of pubic hair, is considered a prevalent practice in both men and women [1]. Notably, The prevalence of this practice is reportedly high in groomers with more than 80% of women actively engaging in it, as evidenced by multiple studies [1,2,3,4,5].
Olfactory reference syndrome (ORS), also known as olfactory reference disorder, is an underrecognized and often severe condition that has similarities to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). People with ORS think they smell bad, but in reality, they don't.
This practice may result in adverse health consequences, including genital burns from waxing, severe skin irritation leading to post inflammatory hyperpigmentation, vulvar and vaginal irritation and infection, and the spread or transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STI).
The truth is that when everything's normal, no one else smells any odors from a girl's vagina. If a girl has an infection like bacterial vaginosis, she may notice a fishy smell. But even then, it's unlikely that people around her will notice it.
From the gynecologist's perspective, shaving regularly to eliminate pubic hair has drawbacks. Razors harbor bacteria and cause some abrasion of the skin; especially in a moist environment. This creates a setup for a bacterial skin infection.
DOES SHAVING BODY HAIR PROTECT AGAINST BODY ODOUR? The simple answer is yes, shaving body hair can help reduce body odour!
Keep your skin clean by taking a daily bath or shower with antibacterial soap. Focus on the areas where you sweat the most, like your armpits and groin area. Removing some of the bacteria on your skin regularly can prevent unpleasant body odor.
Normal and natural
As an ob-gyn, I want you to know that pubic hair is normal. Whether to groom or let it grow is your choice—no one else's. And there is no reason to apologize about your pubic hair, to your ob-gyn or anyone else.
Does shaving your armpits reduce body odor? Yes, shaving can help reduce body odor. Hair provides a breeding ground for bacteria, which break down sweat and produce odor. Removing hair can decrease this bacterial activity.
Hyperhidrosis: Hyperhidrosis causes excessive sweating from the eccrine glands. If someone sweats a lot, sweat may buildup on the skin and interact with bacteria. This may cause an odor, which may smell of ammonia. Kidney disease: The kidneys remove urea from the body.
Seventeen per cent prefer a full bush, 18% prefer the area bare and most prefer a polite “clean-up” of the general genital vicinity. More than 71% of male respondents say they've never been turned off by a partner's pubic or butt hair.
Most women (64.3%) and men (62.2%) preferred complete removal of female pubic hair, and this preference was more pronounced in younger women and men. Most women reported performing depilation at home (55.8%), with 44.4% using hot wax and 40.1% using a razor blade.
Japan: Women in Japan have preferred to shave only their legs and underarms, leaving the bikini and pubic area untouched. It is also quite common to remove facial hair and peach fuzz for a smooth, glass-like appearance.
Medical conditions. Osmidrosis or bromhidrosis is defined by a foul odor due to a water-rich environment that supports bacteria, which is caused by an abnormal increase in perspiration (hyperhidrosis). This can be particularly strong when it happens in the axillary region (underarms).
Residual Bacteria
Even after a shower, some bacteria can linger on your skin, especially if you're not scrubbing thoroughly.