Genital Care Trends: Male Adults Go For Circumcision, Women Try V-Steam

Once considered very private body parts, care of the male and female genitals are being given more attention by people as they do for other vital organs.

Among males, there is a growing trend toward adult circumcision as information about ailments caused by smegma, a cheese-like substance that forms on unwashed and uncircumcised penis, become more widespread.

The New York Post reports that among those converts to adult circumcision is 30-year-old R&B singer Omarion who had the procedure done a few months ago in a hospital under anaesthesia.

Because of the debate on the value of circumcision in the medical world, circumcision rates in the U.S. had been dropping since the 1980s and recently hit a record-low of 55 percent.

Those who are going against the flow, like Omarion, do it for religious, medical and aesthetic reasons, according to experts.

In the first category are Jews born in Russia who were not allowed to cut their foreskin there, but did so upon migrating to the U.S.

In the third category are people who suffer from social embarrassment due to the uncircumcised state of their sex organ. New York-based sex expert Dr Ian Kerner compares going for circumcision to getting a nose job. As an elective procedure, it could make a man feel better.

With female now more forward, some women ask potential suitors if they are circumcised since some women consider it disgusting to have sex with an uncut man, disclosed Janis Spindel, a New York matchmaker.

Urologist Dr Paul Turkek says 50 percent of his adult patients in Beverly Hills and Silicon Valley undergo the 30- to 60-minute procedure costing $1,000 for cosmetic reasons. Most of them are men in their 20s.

Unlike infant circumcision, which is banned in some western nations, the wounds in adult circumcision take longer to heal. About five weeks recovery is needed before a newly circumcised man could have sex again. During those weeks, the glans in bandaged for about 10 days and the penis is soaked two times a day for half an hour in Epsom salt. There is also some swelling, while the pain could be relieved by medication.

Meanwhile, for women, what’s in is vaginal steaming. Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who admitted to My Daily that she regularly steams her genitals, discovered the health regimen when she visited a high-end retreat in Santa Monica, the Tikkun Holistic Spa.

In her Web site titled Goop, Paltrow writes, “The real golden ticket here is the Mugwort V-Steam. You sit on what is essentially a mini-throne, and a combination of infrared and mugwort steam cleanses your uterus, et al.”

The actress says it is more than just a steam douche but an energetic release that balances female hormone levels.

According to Tikkun, the Mugwort has natural antibiotics and anti-fungal agents that help maintain internal health and keeps skin young and healthy.

The ritual has been done for centuries by Korean women, according to My Daily.

However, Daily Beast cautioned women against going for vaginal steaming, claiming the uterus does not need cleansing. Quoting Dr Jennifer Gunter, an obstetrician/gynecologist, the newspaper points out, “Steam is probably not good for your vagina. Herbal steam is no better and quite possibly worse.”

Gunter adds that steam won’t enter the uterus through the vagina unless a woman uses an attachment with some kind of pressure.

To contact the writer, email: v.hernandez@ibtimes.com.au