Re-Think That Thong!

It did wonders for Sisqo's career, but it may not be doing a heck of a lot for health. The thong, that most unlikely of under garment, a $575 million business (130 million pairs are sold in the United States annually!), and a fashion must for any woman forced to wear white skinny jeans, can also be a source for infections to spread.

Thongs are often a conduit for bacteria. The strip of fabric can pick up fecal matter from the anus and work it back up into the vagina. Urinary tract infections and certain types of vaginitis can be caused by that bacteria.

Tight thongs (wait, are there any other kinds?) can also irritate vaginal tissues and leave women more susceptible to infection. Remember that the whole point of underwear is to provide a safe and soft barrier between our often coarse outer clothes and our skin, particularly the skin on our private parts. Thongs, by their panty-line vanishing nature, run counter to this intent. A thong may create micro-abrasions that quite literally open women up to infection.

If you find yourself prone to UTIs or vaginal infections, by all means ditch the thong. The scanty underwear may have been responsible for your infections all along, or at the very least your compromised immunity to infections makes you a more susceptible target for the type of micro organisms that thongs can spread.

Exceptionally tight thongs – occasionally described as “bum floss” –  can cause irritative pressure to the clitoris or to other friction sensitive conditions such as lichen sclerosus or external hemorrhoids.

The fabric from which these tight thongs is made matters, as well. All-cotton is always best, but it is a rare bird in the land of thongs. Thongs are often made from very irritating fabrics that you would never abide wearing in the form of regular panties, but give a pass to if they are “only the g-string.”

But even if you manage to find an all-cotton thing, the cut and style of the garment is an inherent risk. As Dr. Shieva Ghofrany, an OB/GYN with Stamford Hospital, in Connecticut told The Huffington Post, “The patient’s vulva is much more ‘exposed’ to whatever they’re wearing,” Dr. Ghofrany explains, “and given the increase in leggings and ‘skinny’ jeans, all of which have Lycra, Spandex, etc., there again is trapped moisture.”