Less pubic hair, more problems.

About 26% of men and women who groom their pubic hair have been injured at least once, according to a JAMA Dermatology study published Wednesday. Of that total, 32% said that it had happened five or more times.

Injuries ranged from minor ones like razor or wax burns, irritation and hair follicle infection to more major and common ones like lacerations, burns and rashes. Medical attention was required in a small percentage of cases, or 1.4%, the study found.

Because pubic hair grooming — defined as removing some or all of a person’s pubic hair, whether with scissors, wax, a razor, laser hair removal or some other technique — is so widespread, the study speaks to the need for injury-prevention efforts, such as clinical guidelines or safe grooming recommendations, the authors said.

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Unsurprisingly, many more women reported grooming their pubic hair than men (85.2% vs. 66.5%). More women than men had a history of grooming-related injuries (27.1% vs. 23.7%).

By and large, risk factors for injuries were similar between men and women, according to the study. Those who reported grooming-related injuries tended to be younger, had begun the practice earlier in life and had done it for a shorter amount of time.

Hairier men — or at least, those who perceived themselves as hairier — also had a higher risk of injury.

Those who reported an injury more commonly removed all their pubic hair, the study found.

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Injuries requiring medical attention occurred more commonly when the person was grooming while on his or her back or when someone else was doing the grooming, the study found.

Health care professionals can use these risk factors to talk injury-prevention strategies with patients, the study said.

There may be an unexpected hero in all of this: Waxing, which may prevent repeated injuries in women, the study said, since it removes the whole hair follicle and extends the period of time before pubic hair regrows.

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However, as other studies have noted, waxing can also result in its own complications, including burns, spreading of infection and hair follicle infection.

Pubic grooming-related injuries appear to be on the rise. Emergency department visits related to these injuries increased nearly ninefold between 1991 and 2013, a 2016 study found.

Many doctors, in fact, say that pubic hair grooming can cause problems.

Pubic hair is supposed to be there, they say, protecting the skin and warding off infection. Some experts even believe removing pubic hair can help spread sexually transmitted infections.

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Wednesday’s JAMA Dermatology study used a web-based survey of U.S. adults that was conducted in January 2014. Results were analyzed between mid-2016 and early 2017. Of the 7,570 participants, 55.5% were male and 44.5% were female. About 74% of participants reported a history of grooming.

Because the study used survey data, it had several limitations, said the authors — including lead authors Dr. Matthew Truesdale of UCSF School of Medicine and Dr. E. Charles Osterberg of University of Texas’ Dell Medical School — especially since data was self-reported and so accuracy couldn’t be corroborated.

Some people may not have responded due to the survey’s sensitive subject matter. Some respondents may not have answered truthfully “owing to embarrassment or fear of breach in anonymity,” the authors said.

Respondents may also simply have not remembered their grooming experiences correctly; those who had serious injuries or bad grooming experiences were probably more likely to remember, meaning minor injuries could have gone underreported, the authors said.