There are tons of people out there fussing over whether or not to shave their man-jewels. Such practices date back to ancient Egyptian times and sharp objects never seem to have discouraged men into the 21st century as well.
According to a research published in the American Journal of Men’s Health in 2016, it was found out that around 50% of the participants shaved their pubes.
A more recent study in 2021 published by the Journal of Sexual Medicine argues that this number is 67%, with a large portion of these participants claiming to regularly shave their balls.
Are there any positive or negative aspects to shaving men’s balls? To find the answer, bear with me till you reach the end of this article!
Contents
Let’s Understand Ball Shaving
Male grooming generally refers to facial or hair maintenance or styling in the primary sense, while the secondary implication refers to body grooming with specialized tools.
While that’s the case, a large number of men, as referred earlier, prefer to groom their private areas and it includes shaving or trimming their balls.
Evolution of Male Grooming & Ball Shaving
In ancient Egypt, a hairless genital region was thought to be hygienic and a sign of nobility. In ancient Greece, these practices remained to highlight masculine traits as it was later on picked up by ancient Romans.
In the middle ages, such practices decreased due to the influence of the church. During the Renaissance, body grooming returned to popular culture as a revival of classical rituals.
The post World War II saw a massive shift toward personal hygiene and the safety razors inspired people to perform grooming, particularly on facial hair.
From the 60s through the 90s, pornographic media depicted an ideal male body without hair on their genitalia and balls, and this caught on as the trend-setter for many.
In the present era, body grooming has derived the term ‘manscaping’ for itself being influenced by social media and becoming popular among younger men.
Currently, ball shaving is associated with hygiene, aesthetics and a commonly-thought necessity connected to sexual activities and has risen up to be a global phenomena.
Why Do Men Choose to Groom Their Balls?
There are some valid reasons behind shaving or grooming men’s balls. Let’s take a look at the reasons to see if yours matches with global citizens.
- Personal Hygiene: Personal hygiene is one of the primary reasons for shaving one’s ball hair. This makes it easier to clean out the nooks and crannies for a healthier lifestyle.
- Aesthetic Preferences: Some men prefer to have their balls cleanly shaved because it looks good. This sense of aesthetic preference has taken precedence in present day social media and many men seem to be following that trend.
- Partner Preferences: A lot of men out there claim that their partner prefers their man to have a clean pair of balls instead of a hairy one. This preference leads to the practice of ball shaving in men of different ages.
- Comfort: Comfort is probably one of the underrated reasons to shave your balls. If you’re a beach-walker or shorts-wearer, hairless balls would grant you proper ventilation that you might not have had in a long time!
- Boosting Self-confidence: As the norms establish having body hair equates being unattractive, shaving balls gives the confidence boost one needs especially during private moments.
There are more reasons to shave your balls that I’m sure of, but so far these basic reasons should satisfy our query.
Pros and Cons of Shaving Your Balls
In this section, I’m going to introduce you to the broader discussion of pros and cons of shaving your balls. I hope this is going to answer the questions you’ve had that led you to my article in the first place.
Pros of Shaving Your Balls
Let’s deal with the upsides of shaving or trimming your balls so that you can find inspiration to commit to this grooming choice!
Improved Hygiene
You already know that people shave their balls to enhance personal hygiene. If your testicles are hairy, there’s always a possibility of dirt and residue growth at the roots of those hairs.
Such growth can give room for fungal or bacterial growth and that’s an unpleasant visit to the doctor us men always would like to avoid.
Also, having no hair down there renders it easier to keep it clean and wash thoroughly with soap, even moisturize properly afterward.
Enhanced Aesthetics
In this modern era, the aesthetics of your private parts are just as important as your outer looks. Your snaps aren’t going to take off with those hairy pairs of balls you got there.
Your partner should also find those hairless balls to be appealing as most studies indicate that. Otherwise, if your partner isn’t into body hair, you’ll be up for an embarrassing revelation.
Increased Sensitivity
Some men have sensitivity in their testicular regions but that’s often felt less due to the hair coverage all over.
Shaving off or trimming out that hair can introduce newer sensations with your partner and may even up your game in the longer run.
Comfort During Physical Activities
During sports or physical activities, hairy balls often feel disruptive. Also, shorter athletic attires can show the hint of testicular hair if not covered carefully and it’s considered ‘gross’ in public opinion.
Even during intercourse, some couples claimed that hairless balls feel more comfortable as opposed to hairy ones since the former is prone to odor.
Better Visibility for Self-Examinations
If someday you find your testicles to be itchy, it’s not a good sign since there could be a number of reasons leading to that.
Somehow should that turn out to be a skin disease, having no hair over your man jewels should allow you as well as your doctor to examine the territory with that better visibility.
Cons of Shaving Your Balls
Every good thing has its own downsides and ball shaving is no exception. Before jumping with your balls razor-first, check out the cons of this particular grooming practice for consideration.
Risk of Cuts and Irritation
There’s always that risk of accidental cuts during shaving your balls. I don’t think there’s hardly any man who shaved his balls and never accidentally nicked the wrinkly skin once in their lifetime.
These cuts are more painful than cuts at other locations. And even if you manage to get it done without cutting yourself, the aftermath of baby hair isn’t the most comfortable place to be in.
Irritation and itchiness is a constant companion over the course of the following couple of days and that can discourage a lot of men from shaving their balls.
Ingrown Hairs and Bumps
If you’re not shaving your balls carefully enough, you may end up having ingrown hair and trust me – it’s not a pleasant experience to have on your balls.
Additionally, operating on the uneven surface calls for every sort of scary phenomenon like hitting bumps and tearing it open.
So, such painful experiences often put off men from regularly grooming out the hanging bits to recover from the previous trauma.
Maintenance and Upkeep
Once you start shaving your balls, you’ll have to keep on maintaining that as that’s going to become the new norm for you.
And upkeep means a new addition to your grooming routine where you’ll have to carefully take care of your balls and its hairy mess.
Men who prefer low-maintenance are going to find this newer grooming responsibility exhausting.
Potential for Skin Infections
While not shaving your nuts may lead to different types of infections, shaving it wrong can inflict the same horror upon you as well.
By doing it wrong, I’m implying using an older shaver that’s not cleaned and disinfected properly, sharing a toilet with someone else, not treating the cuts after getting a shave-job done.
Taking care of issues as such at the earlier stages can spare you the trouble of surviving skin infection on the testis.
Allergic Reactions and Sensitivity
Some men say that their ball skin is sensitive and immediately reacts to blade contact. They either have to use anti-allergy trimmers or simply cut things short with a pair of scissors.
Also, sensitive testicular skin can show redness or leave you in agony once your grooming job is done, so that’s another downside you may have to endure in this path.
What are the Alternatives to Shaving?
While shaving is still the most popular method to remove ball hair, there are alternatives that can save you from running out of the toilet with blood dripping down your leg. Let’s discuss a few in this section.
Trimming
Trimming is my personal favorite way of going about ball hair cleaning. If you have a specialized ball trimmer, odds are you’re going to avoid all of that pain of accidental cuts or allergic reactions altogether.
Quality trimmers are often easy to maintain and use. These come with ball protection and reduce your risk of losing the privilege to extend your family tree.
Laser Hair Removal
Removing your testicle hair with laser treatment isn’t the most orthodox method but some brave men seem to have taken up this step.
No, it won’t make you infertile by decreasing the sperm count. It’s scary because of the expense and this may vary depending on your location.
Laser hair removal is a procedure that must be taken inside a certified facility. The upside to this is it’s a permanent solution and diminishes your requirement for frequent maintenance.
Depilatory Creams
A highly unpopular method is to apply depilatory cream on your man jewels for easier hair removal. This is something I’ll absolutely urge you NOT TO go for.
Such creams aren’t meant for testicle skin and can very easily cause irritation, burning or even worse conditions.
I’m mentioning this as a PSA to warn you about the downsides of this method and no man in his right might should venture down this path.
Making the Right Choice for You
To choose whether ball shaving is right for you, this should primarily be your decision alone. Let the social media norms not push you around and coerce you into doing it just because it’s trendy.
Also, discuss this with your partner and learn what she prefers. If she’s fine with hairy balls and you’re okay with it as well, then I see no reason to take up this pain and trouble.
Always listen to your body. If you see that your body is reacting negatively from ball shaving, it’s better to stop right at that moment.
Finally, don’t hesitate to consult a professional if something requires attention to your manhood. Remember, your testicles are part of your body and there’s no shame in receiving consultation earlier instead of waiting for it to get out of hand.
Conclusion
So, to sum up my discussion on ‘pros and cons of shaving your balls’, I don’t believe it’s something so essential that you’d have to risk putting your body through painful events.
Simply cutting off longer hair should do you the trick. Or, if you want my opinion, my personal way of going about is to trim off testicular hair with the unique tool that I have.
Such ball trimmers can seem expensive at first sight, but trust me – these are worth every penny spent on them since they reduce the risk and save a lot of time.
In the end, it should be your decision to choose whether your ball should be hairy or clean. No matter what you decide, remember – SAFETY FIRST!