The danger: A blood infection

The source: Cosmopolitan

The account: "Three days after a normal shave, I noticed a small, reddish bump on my bikini line....Twenty-four hours later, it was a throbbing, golf ball-size mountain....I looked three months pregnant."

The details: "'It's staph,' the doctor explained....When it enters the skin -- through a small cut, like from shaving, waxing, or a picked ingrown -- it can create an abscess that grows.' If it isn't drained within days, it can spread internally and cause a deadly blood infection called sepsis."

The bottom line: Let those pubes grow, girl.

The danger: A fatal swelling of the ovaries and/or infertility

The source: Marie Claire

The account: "The donation center suggested I wait at least another month to let my body get back into the swing of my normal cycle. But I had student loans piling up into the $100,000's ... so I shrugged it off and signed up."

The details: "I had noticed a strange, tight, tugging feeling in my abdomen not long after the donation....The weird cramp blossomed into a fiery stab that spread through my abdomen, and I collapsed from the pain....I'd had a cyst ... and I collapsed because it burst."

"Every egg donation has a 10 percent risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, where the ovaries swell from over production of eggs. I didn't suffer the most adverse consequence of the syndrome -- death -- but my doctor did tell me he'd never seen so many eggs in one extraction."

The bottom line: Maybe don't ignore medical experts' suggestions when engaging in risky medical procedures.

The danger: Death and lost limbs from Toxic Shock Syndrome

The source: Cosmopolitan

The details: "A friend found [model Lauren Wasser, then 24] passed out with a 107-degree fever, her internal organs shutting down after the otherwise healthy Wasser suffered a heart attack. The event landed her in the hospital, where she developed gangrene, dead tissue caused by lack of blood flow in the legs."

"Without much of a choice, Wasser authorized the amputation of her right leg below the knee. She also lost her left toes and still suffers from persistent foot pain three years later."

The fine print: "It takes a perfect storm to contract TSS: You'd need to be one of the small percentage of women who has Staphylococcus aureus in your regular vaginal flora. You'd also have to lack the protein that protects you from this bacteria....Lastly, you'd have to have your period and leave a tampon in for way too long.... Without treatment, TSS could ultimately lead to death. But it only kills about 4 to 5 percent of patients who contract it."

The bottom line: Switch to diapers -- or sit on a pillow of moss for a week and free bleed.

The danger: Stroke

The source: Shape

The details: "I had a large blood clot in my left lung -- a pulmonary embolism -- which had already damaged part of my lung....But that was the least of my worries. There was a risk it could move to my heart or brain where it would surely kill me."

The fine print "Doctors told me they would test for a gene I had never heard of: Factor V Leiden, which causes those that carry it to be predisposed to life-threatening blood clots....It's estimated that about four to seven percent of the population [has it]."

The bottom line: Welp, guess it's back to the pull-out method.

The danger: A disfiguring burn and anaphylactic shock

The source: Seventeen

The details: "She went to get it retouched, and after just a few hours, it started to swell ... 'Bits of my skin were coming off. It was just disgusting ... it looked like open flesh.'" The fine print: "The burn was caused by p-paraphenylenediamine, a chemical found in black henna ... a synthetic coal tar dye, not approved by the FDA. It's not often used in the U.S., but it's still something to look out for."

The aftermath: "Mary now has to take major precautions in her daily life, since exposure to this chemical is really dangerous. She can't go out in the sun for at least two years without protection, and she can't dye her hair."

The bottom line: If you want a tattoo, just go for the permanent version. Clearly, a safer choice.