Listen, thongs are not for everyone.
For some, it's the bane of their existence. For others, it's an awesome, sexy pick-me-up, or maybe you simply wear these bad boys for practicality purposes. #GoodbyePantylines.
But what about your health? How do thongs affect your body's well-being, if at all?
I mean, something has to be happening down there when you wedge a piece of stretchy fabric between your butt cheeks all day, right?
It turns out, you can get an infection from frequently wearing thongs, but not for the reasons you may think.
It actually doesn't have much to do with the fact that the panties sit between your cheeks, but more because of the material of the fabric itself.
Due to the fact that thongs are usually made out of everything but cotton, wearing them on a daily basis can easily put your vagina at risk of a minor infection.
The best kind of panty is one that is made entirely of cotton -- not just the crotch.
According to Dr. Jill M. Rabin, an associate professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology and Women's Health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Dr. Shieva Ghofrany, an OB/GYN with Stamford Hospital, all layers of thongs should be cotton. If the layer outside of the crotch is another material, that makes “the cotton less breathable and thus allowing more moisture to be trapped and more possible imbalance leading to infections,” Ghofrany said.
Plus, the shape of the thong can pose its own set of risks to your precious nether regions.
Why? That skinny, sexy, peek-a-boo little shape can sometimes be too narrow, leaving your vulva exposed, which probably means that it's rubbing up against everything it isn't supposed to.
Also, the thin covering of a thong typically isn't very secure, and likely moves around a lot throughout your day.
And that can lead to some very unsexy things, like transferring bacteria from your anus to your vagina.
So, yes, that does mean you could be transferring bacteria like E. Coli to your vaginal region (BTW, E.Coli is a leading cause of UTIs in women).
I know. Thongs are kind of starting to sound really, really gross.
Elite Daily spoke with Dr. Jaime Knopman, co-founder of Truly MD and fertility specialist at CCRM New York, who also advised that wearing a thong that's too tight for you may be leaving way too much room (or, literally speaking, not enough room) for disaster.
She explains,
The issue with thongs is that wearing the wrong size, [or] too tight, could lead to a rash, which could possibly become infected. When wearing thongs, or any underwear, it should always be clean, the right size, and changed often to avoid any health issues.
Ladies, be sexy, but please, be careful, too.
Look for cotton thongs, wear the right size for you, and, for Christ's sake, please make sure your underwear isn't moving around.
Nobody needs that bacteria lurking around down there.
