How to Trim Pubic Hair: A Safe, Step-by-Step Method

Trimming with scissors or a body-hair trimmer, rather than shaving down to the skin, is the lowest-risk way to groom pubic hair. Research consistently shows that most grooming injuries and skin complications come from razors and full hair removal, so keeping some length intact sidesteps the majority of problems. The process itself is straightforward, but a few details about tools, technique, and aftercare make a real difference in whether you end up with a clean result or an itchy, irritated mess.

Why Trimming Is Safer Than Shaving or Waxing

Before getting into the how-to, it helps to understand why trimming is the go-to recommendation. A national U.S. survey of over 7,500 adults found that about one in four people who groom their pubic hair have experienced an injury from it, with lacerations being the most common type, followed by burns and rashes.¹ Non-electric razors were overwhelmingly the tool involved. A separate study looking at emergency department visits found that razors accounted for over 80% of grooming injuries serious enough to send someone to the ER.²

Trimming avoids the main mechanism behind these injuries. When you shave, the blade contacts skin directly and can nick, scrape, or cut. When you trim, the guard or comb on the trimmer (or the length of the scissors) keeps the cutting edge away from the skin surface. You still remove length, but you leave a short buffer of hair that protects the skin underneath. That distinction matters because the pubic region has thin, folded, sensitive skin with many contours, which is exactly the geometry that makes razor nicks so common.

The same large survey found a clear dose-response pattern: people who had removed all their pubic hair eleven or more times over their lifetime had roughly double the odds of a grooming injury compared to those who groomed without going fully bare.¹ Trimming to a short but not skin-level length keeps you out of that higher-risk category.

What You Need

You can trim pubic hair with either a dedicated body-hair trimmer (electric) or a pair of small, sharp scissors. Each has trade-offs:

Electric body trimmer: Faster and easier on curves. Look for one with an adjustable guard that lets you set length, usually from about 1 mm to 10 mm or more. Many are waterproof and can be used in the shower. The guard is the key safety feature; it keeps the blade from touching skin.
Small scissors: More control, no batteries, almost no chance of catching skin if you work slowly. Use ones with rounded tips (sometimes sold as grooming scissors or mustache scissors). Pointed-tip scissors increase the risk of a poke or nick on loose skin.

Beyond the cutting tool, keep a hand mirror nearby if you plan to trim areas you cannot see directly. A comb with fine teeth is useful for lifting the hair away from the skin so you can cut it evenly. A clean towel underneath catches the clippings.

Step-by-Step Trimming Method

This process works for any body regardless of anatomy. Adjust the details to whatever areas you want to groom.

Clean the area first. Wash with warm water and a mild, fragrance-free soap or cleanser. This softens the hair slightly and removes surface bacteria and sweat. Pat dry. If you are using an electric trimmer that is not waterproof, you need to trim on dry hair.
Set your guard length. If you are using a trimmer, start with a longer guard setting. You can always go shorter, but you cannot undo a too-short pass. A 6 mm or quarter-inch guard is a safe starting point for most people who want a tidy look without the stubble-itch of very short hair.
Trim with the grain. Move the trimmer or scissors in the direction the hair naturally lies, not against it. Going against the grain pulls the hair before cutting it, which can irritate the follicle. With scissors, comb the hair up or outward and snip the length that extends beyond the comb. Work in small sections.
Pull the skin gently taut. This is the most important safety step. Loose or folded skin can get caught by a trimmer or nicked by scissors. Use your free hand to hold the skin flat in whatever area you are working on. This is especially true around the labia, scrotum, and the crease of the inner thigh.
Work slowly on curves. The areas around the bikini line, inner thighs, and perineum have more folds and angles. Reduce the pressure you are applying and let the tool do the work. If using scissors, take smaller snips.
Rinse and inspect. When you are satisfied with the length, rinse with cool water to remove loose clippings. Check for any spots you missed or any redness that might indicate irritation.
Apply a soothing product. A fragrance-free moisturizer or aloe vera gel can help calm any minor irritation. Avoid anything with alcohol, menthol, or heavy fragrance; these can cause stinging and contact dermatitis on genital skin.³

If you are trimming for the first time and the hair is long, you may want to do a rough pass with scissors to take the bulk off before going over it with the trimmer. Long hair can tangle around trimmer blades and pull uncomfortably.

Dealing With Itching and Ingrown Hairs

Itching is the single most commonly reported side effect of pubic hair grooming. A systematic review found that about 27% of women who groom experience genital itching as a result.⁴ The shorter you trim, the more likely you are to experience this as the blunt-cut ends of the hair grow back and poke the surrounding skin. Leaving a bit more length (5 mm or above) dramatically reduces the prickle factor compared to going nearly bare.

Ingrown hairs happen when a cut hair curls back into the skin instead of growing outward. They are far more common with shaving than with trimming, because shaving creates a sharp, angled hair tip that can re-enter the follicle. Trimming leaves a blunter tip and keeps the hair above the skin surface, so ingrown hairs are less likely. If you do get them, resist the urge to dig at them with tweezers or a needle; this introduces bacteria and can cause folliculitis, a small infection of the hair follicle. A warm compress usually encourages the hair to surface on its own within a few days.

A study of over 3,000 women found that 60% of those who removed pubic hair had experienced at least one health complication, with epidermal abrasion and ingrown hairs being the most common. Roughly 90% of those with complications had been using a razor.⁵ Trimming rather than shaving cuts the rate of both problems substantially because the blade never contacts the skin.

Keeping Your Tools Clean

A dirty trimmer or pair of scissors can introduce bacteria into small nicks or irritated follicles. Research on clipper blades used in veterinary settings found that even after standard disinfection, bacteria grew on nearly 90% of blades; only autoclaving (steam sterilization) eliminated contamination entirely.⁶ You obviously do not have an autoclave at home, but the takeaway is that a quick rinse under the tap is not enough. After each use, remove any hair caught in the blades, wash the head with soap and water, and wipe the blades with rubbing alcohol (70% isopropanol). Let them air-dry completely before storing. Replace the blades or the trimmer itself when they start to tug rather than cut cleanly; dull blades pull hair instead of slicing it, which increases irritation.

Scissors should be wiped with alcohol before and after each use. Do not share grooming tools. Using someone else’s trimmer or razor is a common route for passing skin bacteria back and forth.

The Infection Connection

You may have heard that removing pubic hair raises the risk of sexually transmitted infections. The research here is worth understanding because it influences how aggressively you might want to groom. A nationally representative U.S. probability sample found that people who had ever groomed their pubic hair had higher odds of reporting a past STI, and the association was strongest among “extreme groomers” (those who removed all pubic hair) and high-frequency groomers for skin-transmitted infections like herpes and HPV.⁷

A systematic review and meta-analysis looking specifically at women found higher odds of gonorrhea and chlamydia among groomers, though no significant difference for viral STIs like herpes or genital warts.⁴ A study in South Africa found a similar pattern: groomers were more likely to test positive for chlamydia or gonorrhea, and those who experienced grooming-related complications like cuts or abrasions had even higher odds.⁸

The proposed mechanism is straightforward: small cuts and abrasions in the genital skin create entry points for pathogens. Pubic hair itself also provides a physical barrier that reduces skin-to-skin friction and microtrauma during sex.⁹ None of this research proves causation, and there are obvious confounders (people who groom more aggressively may also have more sexual partners or different condom-use patterns). But the consistent finding across multiple studies is that keeping some hair and avoiding skin damage during grooming is, at minimum, the more cautious choice.

This is one more reason trimming has an edge over shaving or waxing. Trimming leaves hair intact at the base and does not create the micro-abrasions that shaving does.

How Often to Trim

There is no medically recommended schedule. Pubic hair grows at roughly the same rate as the hair on your head, about half an inch per month, so most people find that trimming every two to four weeks keeps things at a manageable length. Grooming more frequently than that is fine if you prefer the look, but the injury data suggests that frequency does matter for risk. The large JAMA Dermatology survey found that people who groomed more often, especially those who had removed all their hair many times over their lifetime, had significantly higher odds of injury.¹ Trimming less aggressively and less often works in your favor.

If you are trimming before a particular occasion and you want a closer result, use the shortest guard setting on your trimmer rather than removing the guard entirely. Removing the guard turns the trimmer into something much closer to a razor, which defeats the purpose.

When You Should Be Extra Careful or Skip Grooming

Certain skin conditions make pubic grooming riskier. Hidradenitis suppurativa, a chronic inflammatory condition that causes painful lumps and abscesses in skin folds, can be worsened by shaving or trimming over active lesions. Dermatologists advise patients with this condition to avoid shaving the pubic region when flares are present.¹⁰ If you have HS, talk to your dermatologist about which grooming methods are safest during remission.

Other situations where you should proceed with caution or wait:

Active skin infections: If you have folliculitis, a boil, or any open sore, trimming over or around it risks spreading the infection. Wait until it heals.
Freshly irritated skin: If you are already dealing with a rash, razor burn from a previous session, or contact dermatitis, give the skin time to calm down before trimming again.
Eczema or psoriasis flares: Grooming can trigger the Koebner phenomenon, where new lesions form at sites of skin trauma. Trim gently or skip it during active flares.
Pregnancy: Trimming is generally safe, but reduced visibility in later pregnancy makes a hand mirror essential and a slow pace even more important. Avoid any method that requires you to contort into uncomfortable positions.

Products to Use and Products to Avoid

The genital area has a lower pH and thinner stratum corneum than most body skin, which makes it more reactive to chemicals. Both irritant and allergic contact dermatitis can result from shaving creams, aftershave products, and heavily fragranced moisturizers applied to the area.³ Since trimming does not require any product to work (unlike shaving, which needs some kind of lubricant), you can skip the creams entirely.

After trimming, a simple fragrance-free moisturizer or a thin layer of pure aloe is all you need. Avoid products containing alcohol, artificial fragrance, essential oils (tea tree, peppermint, and lavender are common offenders), or chemical exfoliants like glycolic acid in the immediate genital area. If you want to exfoliate the bikini line to prevent ingrown hairs, do it a day or two after trimming and only on the mons pubis or outer thigh, not on the labia or scrotum.

Motivation, Social Pressure, and Making Your Own Call

Research on why people groom their pubic hair consistently finds that feelings of cleanliness, comfort, and sex appeal are the top motivators, particularly among women.¹¹ There is nothing medically wrong with grooming for any of these reasons. But it is worth noting that some of the pressure to go fully bare comes from appearance-related concerns that have been linked to thin-ideal internalization and self-objectification in study samples. Women who removed more hair tended to report higher appearance investment and lower condom-use self-efficacy when a partner disapproved of condoms.¹²

None of this means grooming is inherently harmful or that wanting to look a certain way is a red flag. But if you find yourself going through elaborate, uncomfortable, and injury-prone grooming routines because you feel you “should,” it is worth examining whose standards you are trying to meet. Medically, there is no health benefit to removing pubic hair. Trimming to a comfortable length is the practical middle ground: you get tidiness and manageability without the complications that come with going fully bare.

A Note on Vulvar and Scrotal Skin

The vulvar skin microclimate runs warmer and more humid than most body skin, with a natural pH that sits in a mildly acidic range that supports healthy bacterial balance.¹³ Anything that disrupts that balance, including harsh products, occlusive clothing worn right after grooming, or cuts that break the skin barrier, can tip conditions toward irritation or yeast overgrowth. After trimming, wearing breathable cotton underwear for the rest of the day is a simple way to let the area recover.

Scrotal skin is similarly thin and prone to nicks because it has very little subcutaneous fat and moves freely. When trimming the scrotum, pull the skin taut between your fingers and use the lightest possible pressure. Many people find that scissors with rounded tips actually work better here than an electric trimmer, because you have more control over exactly where the cutting edge goes. There is no shame in taking ten minutes on a task that only covers a few square inches of skin. Rushing is how nicks happen.

1
JAMA Dermatology. Prevalence of pubic hair grooming–related injuries and identification of high-risk individuals in the United States
2
PubMed Central. Pubic hair grooming injuries presenting to U.S. emergency departments
3
Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. Pubic Hair Removal—Pearls and Pitfalls
4
PubMed Central. Effects of pubic hair grooming on women’s sexual health: a systematic review and meta-analysis
5
American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Complications related to pubic hair removal
6
PubMed Central. Microbes on Clipper Blades after Use and Disinfection in Small Animal- and Equine Practice
7
Sexually Transmitted Infections. Correlation between pubic hair grooming and STIs: results from a nationally representative probability sample
8
PubMed. Pubic hair grooming practices in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: prevalence, side effects and association with sexually transmitted infections
9
The Journal of Reproductive Medicine. Pubic Hair and Sexual Intercourse: Protective, Evolutionary, and Sociocultural Dimensions
10
International Journal of Women’s Dermatology. Special considerations for women with hidradenitis suppurativa
11
PubMed. Pubic hair preferences, reasons for removal, and associated genital symptoms: comparisons between men and women
12
PubMed. Risky business: is pubic hair removal by women associated with body image and sexual health?
13
Acta Dermato-Venereologica / Taylor & Francis. The Vulva Skin Microclimate: Influence of Panty Liners on Temperature, Humidity and pH