All Jennifer (not her real name) wanted was a smooth bikini line. But within 24 hours of getting a bikini wax at a reputable New York City salon, an infection crept in. She developed a fever of 102, chills, and pain in her left thigh. "I thought I'd caught a cold, "she says, "but after five days, the pain was worse."
Her doctor diagnosed her with cellulitis, a potentially life-threatening bacterial infection of the skin and the underlying tissue. Jennifer spent the next 15 days in the hospital hooked up to an IV that pumped her full of antibiotics and heavy-duty painkillers. She also had surgery to drain the infection. "One doctor said I could have lost my leg!" she recalls. "It took me months to recover physically and emotionally from the whole ordeal—a steep price to pay for a little vanity."
While there are no reliable stats on body wax related complications, Jennifer's experience wasn't unique. Recently, the state of New Jersey nearly banned Brazilian bikini waxes after two women landed in the hospital as a result of them (one of the women filed a lawsuit against the state cosmetology board). And in 2007, an Australian woman with type 1 diabetes almost died of a bacterial infection she got after a bare-it-all wax.
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