On social networks, more and more influencers recommend sunbathing the perineum to fill up with vitamin D and feel better. A trend that increases the risk of skin cancer, worry specialists.
“Sunbathe your anus for your well-being”. If this title may sound like a joke to your ears, it is not. This is advice very seriously given on social networks by more and more influencers and scrupulously followed by thousands of Internet users. Beware, however, of the risk of skin cancer, warn doctors.
On Instagram, we have been seeing photos of naked men and women abound for a few months, their four legs in the air, their perineum turned towards a cloudless sky. “For the past few weeks, I have included ‘sunning my posterior and my vagina’ in my morning routine. Thirty seconds of sun on your bare posterior is equivalent to a day of sun with your clothes, the energy arises immediately”, assures the influencer metaphysicalmeagan, followed by 30,500 subscribers, explaining that it is an “ancient Taoist practice”. Taken up on Twitter, his photo resulted in more than 18,000 retweets and 92,000 likes.
“In just 30 seconds of sunlight on your anus, you will receive more energy from this electrical node than you would receive in an entire day while being outside with your clothes on,” adds Ra of Earth in a video showing three men, buttocks in the air and legs spread towards the sun, moaning in pleasure in the middle of teepees. The video has been viewed over 68,000 times. Ra of Earth has also posted a “sun worship exercise” from the Tao of Sexology: The Book of Infinite Wisdom, by Dr. Stephen T. Chang. According to him, this practice could help keep the area “healthy and free of germs”.
See this post on InstagramThe original Butthole sunning video! ?????????? Bum Sunners: @jamesoncamden @wildtreeman Tashi
Fill up on vitamin D
And if many Internet users say they do not understand why they are “watching naked men exposing their anus to the sun”, others say that they have also integrated this practice into their “morning routine”.
Popular for only a few months on social networks, perineal tanning has been known to Hollywood stars for a few years now. Thus, in 2014, actress Shailene Woodley declared that she regularly tans her perineum at the site Into The Gloss. “If you feel exhausted, go out in the sun for an hour and see how much energy you get. Or, if you live somewhere with harsh winters, when the sun finally comes out, spread your legs and get some sun,” she said then, saying she likes “giving (her) vagina some vitamin D”.
According to the followers of the tanning of the anus, absorbed by the skin of this body region, vitamin D would see its effects increase. In general, exposing a third of the body to the sun for about twenty minutes a day allows the body to produce a sufficient quantity of vitamin D, known to have beneficial effects for the bones, the muscles or the heart.
“No proof”
Health professionals are far from convinced. “There is no evidence that sunbathing in this way has any effect on physical well-being,” comments Dr Diana Gall, from the British online medical service Doctor 4 U, in the site Insider. Yes, practicing mindfulness and meditation, and getting your dose of vitamin D, is beneficial for mental and physical health, but you don’t need to damage your skin in the process. ‘sun exposure,’ she continues, explaining that there are other, ‘safer’ ways to practice mindfulness. “There are no additional benefits to doing this naked in the sun,” she insists.
Remember that repeated exposure to the sun increases the risk of developing skin cancer (nearly 80,000 cases diagnosed each year in France). Not to mention that a slight sunburn on the anus, an area that is particularly sensitive and unaccustomed to UV rays, must be extremely painful.
This absurd “wellness” trend is reminiscent of that of vaginal steam baths, recommended by actress Gwyneth Paltrow, Hollywood guru with her “laboratory” Goop, to “detoxify” the vagina. Worried about this practice whose “medical efficacy has not been proven”, doctors then published an article in August Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology Canada where they reported the case of a 62-year-old woman who suffered severe burns after sitting on top of a pot of boiling water filled with herbs.
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