Here Are a Dermatologist’s Pro-Tips on How to Avoid Having a Smelly, Itchy Crotch
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Even if you shower every day, your crotch can easily turn into a swamp thanks to all the heat, friction, hair, sweat and excretions down there. While you might not mind a delightfully ripe crotch, musky genitals can result in funky smells, dire jock itch, extreme chafing and even urinary tract infections (yeesh). But worry not! A fresh crotch is close at hand! With a few potions, powders, the right moves and some helpful underwear, your undercarriage can stay healthy and irritant-free.
James Collyer, a medical doctor at Seattle’s Modern Dermatology clinic, recently made some suggestions about how guys can stay fresh down below.
Foremost, Collyer suggests removing sweaty clothes as quickly as you can since infection-causing bacteria can quickly spread the more time you spend sitting around in soggy drawers.
In the shower, he recommends skipping the body scrubs and not using brushes or loofahs because they can create small tears in the skin that could get infected. Instead, he says guys should use a moisturizing soap to help keeps the skin clean yet hydrated and thus, less susceptible to irritation.
If you manscape, Collyer says it’s a good idea to keep your pubic hair no shorter than a centimeter or an inch. That’s because even though pubic hair carries odor-causing microbes and bacteria, it can also help reduce friction and irritation from clothes.
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When it comes to skivvies, the doc favors microfiber underwear over cotton undies because microfiber draws away more sweat and microbes than cotton while providing more ventilation. And since ventilation helps reduce sweat and microbes overall, Dr. Collyer suggests boxers and boxer briefs over briefs.
He also suggests lightly powdering your bits with a talcum-based anti-fungal powder to reduce wetness and fungal growths. Lotrimin, Gold Bond and Desenex all make powders like this that you can get at most drugstores.
Follow his advice and you’ll keep a fresh crotch all day long!
This article was originally published on January 11, 2021. It has since been updated.
