Thongs & Your Booty

Thongs, G-strings, V- strings:  they come in a huge variety of styles and materials, and they are very popular.  Why do so many people wear this type of underwear?  Of course, they help when you don’t want a visible panty line (VPL) while wearing certain clothes. And let’s be honest, thongs are sexy.  Who doesn’t want to feel sexy sometimes–or all the time!

But did you know that your booty may be suffering when you wear a thong?

So how can a thong hurt your booty? When you wear a thong, there is a piece of material sitting directly on your butthole (anus).  And with every move you make, that piece of material is rubbing up and down on the skin of your butthole. That area is known as the perianal area or area around the anus.  The perianal skin is thin and sensitive, and unlike the vagina, the anus is not self-lubricating—it is dry at baseline.

The constant rubbing of the thong on your anus can cause irritation. This irritation can lead to itching and discomfort.  Overtime the constant rubbing, irritation and scratching can lead to areas of the skin that get swollen and turn into skin tags around the butthole (perianal skin tags). 

Although this does not happen to everyone who wears thongs regularly, it is common enough that many women seeing me in the office would complain about itching and skin tags. 

The only way to get rid of the skin tags are to cut them out, which obviously can be painful and requires healing time. To make matters worse, any type of surgery around the anus is technically an irritation and another skin tag can form when the area is healing!

My advice for anyone who likes to wear thongs or G-strings: 

·       Do not wear them regularly.  Have a non-thong underwear that doesn’t rub on your butthole as your go-to underwear for everyday use. 

·       Wear thongs only when completely necessary.  To avoid VPL, try non-thong underwear designed to minimize panty lines.  Only wear a thong when no other regular underwear works for the outfit.

·       Minimize the time you are wearing the thong underwear. 

·       If you will wear the thong for a long period of time, put a tiny bit of skin protecting ointment on your anus before putting on the underwear. This will decrease the irritation because there is a little barrier between the anus and the thong.  Be careful though, do not put too much or else it can get on your clothes!

·       Try different thongs to find the ones that irritate you least. Less rubbing = happier booty

Stay tuned for a review of various thongs as we, at BootyMD, try to find ones that are best for the booty. Take care of your body, so your body can take care of you.` Every part of the body deserves good health!