We’ve all done it. You’re rushing to get out the door, you can’t find a clean pair of knickers, so you scoop yesterday’s off the floor and pop them on.
It might seem harmless, but if you continually reuse yesterday’s underwear or don’t clean your knickers often enough – things can get a little bit, erm, crusty down there.
According to Dr Brad McKay, GP and former host of Embarrassing Bodies Down Under, reusing dirty underwear can lead to some serious health problems.

"If you're wearing the same underwear for a while - you're going to be building up bacteria and fungus," he told Mamamia.
"Just imagine a layer of crust building up in your groin area," he said. "It's basically like carrying around a cup of nasty bugs near your vagina."
Here's exactly what can happen to your body if you don't change your knickers:
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Your skin will start to itch.
"Simply put, if you don't change your underwear, you'll start to itch," Dr McKay said.
The build up of bacteria in your unwashed underwear will start to irritate your skin and you'll feel itchy - meaning you will have an urge to scratch your groin in public - which is never a great idea.
And that scratching, as Dr McKay explained, could cause you to break your skin and lead to a staph infection in your groin.
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You will develop rashes, fungal infections, ingrown hairs and pimples.
That build up of bacteria can also lead to a range of skin conditions including tinea cruris (which is basically athlete's foot in your groin), ingrown hairs and an outbreak of pimples.
"With all of this bacteria, your groin is going to start to look and smell different and it may affect your sex life," Dr McKay explained.
- You'll get thrush.
If the bacteria from your dirty underwear enters your vagina, you can develop thrush or even bacterial vaginosis.
Top Comments
We've all done it? No, I can honestly say I've never run out of clean underwear.
This is CRAZY!! I can't believe this article is written like a public service information lesson - who the hell doesn't know to change their undies every day? I'm seriously baffled & disgusted!