A woman who flew for the first time in 15 years has set the internet talking after sharing that her crotch got her stopped during a security scan.
Writing on Reddit, the woman said: ‘I flew for the first time in 15 years this week and both airports flagged my crotch at the arms up scanner.
‘I don’t care about the pat down, they were polite and professional and it doesn’t bother me, but I’m wondering what did it.’
She added that she was wearing bike shorts and normal underwear and had no medical devices or piercings.
Another traveller explained that the woman might have been flagged because she was sweating.
They said: ‘I got searched too, the guard said something unnerving like “swamp rot” or “swamp crotch” or something similarly embarrassing.’
And as weird as it sounds, a ‘swamp’ or sweaty crotch could be the reason the woman set the scanners off.
According to Shawna Malvini Redden, an expert on airport security, sweat can cause you issues at the airport.
A woman who flew for the first time in 15 years has set the internet alive after sharing that her crotch got her stopped during a security scan
Another traveller explained that the woman might have been flagged because she was sweating (stock photo)
The expert told Reader’s Digest: ‘Perspiration is probably the weirdest thing that can set off the scanners.
‘It has to do with millimetre wave technology and how the waves bounce off water.’
According to Reader’s Digest, France and Germany have actually stopped using the type of airport scanner that reacts to swamp crotch, as they cause so many false alarms.
That’s not the case in the USA though, so if you’re travelling stateside, take extra care planning your outfit.
Tight and non-breathable materials are much more likely to make you sweat, so you might want to avoid them at the airport if you want to swerve the ‘swamp crotch’ issue.
Body scanners can also be set off by thick hair in a bun, body piercings, hair clips and wire supports in bras.
An external tumour could also flag in a body scanner but an internal one, such as a fibroid, won’t.
