ANST - re: ANST- Ladies Chest Protection

[Keith Ewing]

You wrote: 
>
>
>type of chest armor.  It's hot and uncomfortable and restricts 
movement 
>way 
>too much.  But I wear it none the less.

Sorry...I like my chest/soft tissue armour...but I wear it because I am 
left-handed and really like two swords.  :)


>it was a bad thing: they agreed it could not cause cancer, deformity, 
or 
>other breast disease. 

according to several sports-centered clinic, AT THIS POINT IN TIME, 
repeated trauma to the soft tissue of the breast does not increase 
chances of breast cancer...however repeated trauma may cause tissue 
scarring to the area which can show up as a positive area on a 
mammogram.  On the flip side, there is also not much information 
available because it has not been studied extensively...there are very 
very contact sports that women participate in that can cause ecchymosis 
as we see in heavy combat.
I personnally have two scars on my left breast from when I wore a 
leather set of armour.  The soft tissue got pinched hard enough that 
the bruise was black and broke the skin.

>Wearing rigid or semi-rigid armor to protect the chest does make 
>more sense, as it will tend to spread the force of the blow, keeping 
>shots 
>from concentrating on the breastbone or on a rib and possibly causing 
>serious injury.
>Thing is, I don't think that just women should be required to wear 
this 
>type of armor -- the tits don't need protecting, the sternum does -- 
and 
>thus men and women alike should protect it if *any* of us have to.  
>
I agree...it should be a personal choice.
>
><snip>
> And likewise body armor should be a matter of choice as far as I'm 
>concerned: plate armor for the chest, some hot padding in a gambeson, 
or 
>nothing -- I really wish they'd leave it up to the wearer.
>
In Service to the Dream...
Alisha MacLeod

mka Barbara E. Carroll, RN, C-Med/Surg,
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