With puberty come many changes, including increased body hair and the development of underarm hair for teens.

Many teens and young adults may choose to depilate, or remove body hair. The most common body areas depilated are the underarms, legs, pubic area, eyebrows, and face for females; and the face, abdomen, back, chest, groin, and legs for males. Shaving is the most common method used for the underarms, legs, and pubic area.

Pubic shaving actually originated in ancient Egypt and Greece when prostitutes had to shave for both hygienic reasons and as a clear sign of their profession.

Although female body shaving was established as the norm between 1915 and 1945, pubic hair removal did not gain a strong foothold until the 1980's.

In part, this was due to a trend in the porn industry where it was common for women to shave the pubic area. As pornography has become more accepted in the general public, more women have mimicked what they have seen. In this way, pubic hair shaving has become mainstream.

Also, bikini bathing suits began to reveal more of the pubic area in the 1970 and 80's. With this trend came increased pressure to avoid revealing pubic hair by removing it.

Shaving the pubic area has become much more common, even desirable, among teenagers and young adults. Although shaving may be becoming the social norm, that does not mean you should do it.

Shaving is a personal choice.

There can be health consequences associated with any type of depilation: shaving, waxing, clipping, tweezing, threading, or laser treatment. Your pubic area is especially sensitive to these hair-removal techniques. If you do decide to shave your pubic area, here are some things you should know.