Hello. Very stupidly I got Veet hair removal cream on my genital region this morning - I didn t notice until I was removing it, which means it was there 4 or 5 minutes. I flushed the area with water, but I m just wondering if there s anything I should do? Is it dangerous?
Hello. Thanks for writing to us at Chat Doctor Hair removing creams can be irritant to the sensitive skin of the genitals. The general recommendation for using a hair removal cream is to keep them for just 4-5 minutes before rinsing them off. The contact time never to be exceeded beyond 10 minutes. The ingredients in hair removing creams dissolve hair keratin, thereby weakens it and causes it to break off. Since epidermis is also rich in keratin therefore leaving it in contact with sensitive genital skin for too long can cause skin damage and irritation. Since you rinsed it off with water in about 4-5 minutes, therefore, it is unlikely that it would have caused any such harmful reaction during this short contact period. In my patients who present with irritant reactions to hair removing product, I usually ask them to use you a moderately potent topical steroid e.g. fluticasone propionate 0.05%cream, twice daily. Regards