Mamamia Team Thursday 21 February 2013 9:45am

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When you think about it, putting a razor anywhere in the vicinity of your most sensitive parts is… well, a little bit bonkers. Risk-wise, it’s up there with walking on the ledge of a 50-storey building: one little slip and it’s all over.

Okay, so a grooming injury probably won’t leave you flattened on the footpath, but it will be followed by obscene language, a few tears and days of discomfort.

And yet, in the name of keeping things presentable in our pants, many of us regularly take that risk. Oh yes we do.

A recent study has found public hair grooming injuries increased by 500 per cent between 2002 and 2010.

500 per cent. They say that beauty is pain, but this is just getting far too painful, guys.

By monitoring Emergency Room visits, scientists at the University of California, San Francisco found genitourinary injuries – laceration, in most cases – rose by 247 incidents per year, with razors involved in 83 per cent of cases. Scissors and hot wax were also culprits.

Although women made up only 56.7 per cent of the cohort, “external female genitalia” was the most common site of injury in the pubic region. Are your eyes watering yet?

As for the cause of this increase, it’s safe to assume it comes down to one simple fact: hair down there has somehow become Pubic Enemy Number One (yes, we did just go there).

Ouch.

Where once the Brazilian wax was an exotic, underground trend, the hairless look has become mainstream over the last decade or so. And the “man-scaping” phenomenon indicates women aren’t the only ones getting a little wax-happy.

It’s all a little strange considering pubic hair – like any body hair – serves a practical purpose. In fact, it is believed that the removal of public hair presents health risks of its own, increasing risk of infection and sexually transmitted diseases.

Regardless, the decision of whether or not to leave things au naturel or to go bare is ultimately a personal one – influenced by factors like aesthetics, personal beliefs about grooming, or the purchase of a very skimpy bikini.

If you’re a hair-free fan, all we’re suggesting is that perhaps the maintenance side of things is best left to the professionals. Yes, the experience of having a stranger spread hot wax between your legs, then rip it all off, is incredibly awkward. But surely this beats the more painful alternative?

Have you ever experienced a grooming injury? Do you shave or wax or trim or just let it grow?