Warning over DIY grooming dangers

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A fashion for do-it-yourself Brazilians and vajazzles has resulted in an alarming spike of hospital admissions, a study has found.

New research has found the number of women being admitted to hospital with injuries after grooming their privates has increased five-fold in recent years.

Now, women have been warned to take extra precaution when shaving or grooming, to prevent nasty cuts and infections.

The painful findings were revealed after an eight-year study by doctors at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

"While women were overall less likely to endure genital injuries than their male counterparts, there was at least one exception: cuts and infections related to shaving or grooming pubic hair," said lead researcher urologist Dr Benjamin Breyer.

"The last few years have seen a dramatic increase in these types of injuries in women, and a second study that was recently published by the same UCSF group found that these types of injuries increased five-fold between 2002 and 2010."

Dr Breyer said women should be taught safer techniques for DIY designer grooming.

However, there was no evidence of it becoming an issue for hospitals or beauticians in New Zealand.

A spokesman for Auckland District Health Board said: "There is no evidence of presentations of that kind" while Christchurch DHB said they didn't "categorise those injuries" and had heard of no anecdotal evidence.

One Christchurch beauty parlour owner, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "It's something I've never heard of, or considered. But I guess America, with its vast population, have a lot more issues than we do."

He accepted that hygiene, health and safety always needed to be carefully considered when doing any personal grooming.

While he was aware of the "funny little trend" for vajazzles, his salon has not yet succumbed to demand.

"They're not queuing up outside our doors for stickers to be placed all over them," he said.

The survey showed that between 2002 and 2010 around 16,000 people a year in the US ended up in hospital with genital injuries.

The US study also found that the infamous bathroom scene in the 1998 film 'There's Something About Mary' is no laughing matter.

"Overzealous zipping" was one of the many mishaps with consumer products found during the research.

Dr Breyer noted that there are standard procedures that emergency department doctors would do well to learn, such as "zipper detachment strategies for penile skin entrapment."