Hi Everyone,

So sorry to hear about the tragedies Floyd left behind.  Val, way to go with
that tree!  You always did have a lot of fortitude!  Good luck to all of you
up north who didn't do as well with Floyd's wrath.

As for the post about heavy cycles, I think that age is definitely a
consideration.  My OB/GYN said that these symptoms can start as early as 35
in some women.  I read a paper on perimenopause and I believe the paper said
it can start about 6 years or so before menopause actually happens (though I
believe it could be longer based on personal experience).    If you picture
your ovaries like a factory, it's gearing down in fits and starts... I
believe that is the way they worded it.

I also read the post about the beautician who said that breastfeeding was the
cause of a permanent wave not taking.  As a licensed costmetologist, who went
to school in 1983, I can only tell you what I remember on this subject.  I
did pull my notes (yes I still have them!) and I don't see anything about the
topic of pregnancy or breastfeeding and perms.  I do not have my text
anymore, unfortunately.  I do remember being told that if a woman is on
medication, it may make her hair more resistant to perm solution, as well as
color, or any chemical treatment, so the perm, color, etc. may not "take".  I
do not specificially remember them saying anything about pregnancy or
breastfeeding, except perhaps, that chemicals can be absorbed through the
skin and so any chemical process should be reconsidered during this time.
Since I was pregnant with my first during my schooling, it was an important
issue to me since I had to work with all of these chemicals.  I can remember
thinking a few years later when I had clients who were on birth control pills
and who had difficult to perm hair, that perhaps since medication could make
hair more resistant, that maybe hormones could do that also.  This would lead
one to think that pregnancy or breastfeeding could also cause or have some
relationship to this problem.  I *do* know women who *insisted* on having
perms while pregnant even after being told that it would be best to wait and
the reasons why, and most of their perms came out lovely to the best of my
recollection.  Of course, I can't tell you if this caused any damage to their
unborn baby, and I still wouldn't recommend this to a pregnant or nursing
mother.  Whether or not to perform a perm on a pregnant or breastfeeding
mother is going to be a matter of ethics on the part of the cosmetologist as
well as the salon.  Here in FL, a cosmetologist now has to do a bi-yearly
update on AIDS in order to have a cosmetology license renewed.  They are also
implementing more mandatory instruction for license renewal.  It's probably
going to be a lot more costly to renew a license, but hopefully some of these
issues will be addressed.  If they ask for feedback, I'll be sure to put in
my 2 or 3 cents worth :)

Veronica Scott,
Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Coordinator, WIC
ok, so I have a lot of hats to wear too <g>

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