By Joyce Gathu
Wearing the right underwear and pair of socks can save you pain and avoid embarrassment
If you have had to visit a doctor due to an infection around your genitalia, it is perhaps one of those experiences that you would rather not repeat.
Having to tell a doctor that you are suffering from an itchy anus, or that your vagina has a smelly discharge, takes a lot of confidence.
It is even worse if the doctor asks to examine your genitalia.
“I remember sitting in a consultation room with a doctor. After I had mastered enough courage to tell him about my itching anus, I thought I would simply get a prescription,” Mary Mbatia recalls.
“You can imagine my surprise when the doctor, who was young enough to be my son, informed me he needed to examine the offending area,” she explains.
This is an experience that Mbatia, and many others, could have avoided by taking measures such as ensuring that their undergarments are well washed and aired to kill bacteria.
“Although there are other contributing factors to infections around the genitalia,wearing the right underwear significantly reduces your chances of getting an infection, or fanning an existing one,” Tabitha Mulinya, a nurse in Nairobi, explains.
pain of ‘fancy’
Mulinya says that women prefer to wear fancy and tight fitting underwear popularly known as ‘thongs’, not knowing that they create plenty of room for infection.
