Five-inch stilettos, too-heavy handbags, a wedding dress that seemingly weighed as much as a small child — Parmeeta Ghoman admits she’s no stranger to suffering for fashion. “I’m the kind of person who buys shoes two sizes too small just because they’re cute — and they’re on sale,” says Ghoman, who's 28 and lives outside of San Francisco.

But when she wore a pair of super-tight skinny jeans to dinner with friends in December, she noticed an odd tingly sensation running up and down her thighs. And when she got up to walk around, things got weirder. She felt like she was almost "floating," because she couldn't feel her legs. “It felt really strange — it felt like my leg had gone to sleep,” Ghoman says.

Ghoman’s skin-tight denim may have caused a temporary bout of a nerve condition called meralgia paresthetica, also known as “tingling thigh syndrome.” The condition can happen when constant pressure — in Ghoman's case, from the skin-tight denim — cuts off the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve, causing a numb, tingling or burning sensation along the thigh.

Typically, sufferers of the nerve condition include construction workers or police officers with heavy, low-slung belts, pregnant women or obese people; it also can result from a pulled-tight seat belt in a car accident.

But over the last several years, experts say they’ve been seeing more young women at a healthy weight complain of symptoms. The culprit: too-tight jeans.

“The nerve, in some people, is susceptible to compression,” says Dr. John England, a New Orleans neurologist and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. The femoral cutaneous nerve, he explains, runs from the outside of the pelvis and through the thigh. “It is a pure sensory nerve — it doesn’t go to muscles or provide strength. Anything that is tight around there could potentially compress the nerve that goes there.”

Pair those skinny jeans with a pair of sky-high heels, and your risk for upsetting this particular nerve increases, as Ghoman discovered the hard way. Dr. William Madosky, a chiropractic physician in Richmond Heights, Mo., says that high heels increase the chance for the numbing sensation because the teetering shoes tilt the pelvis forward, increasing the pressure on the nerve.

Of course, this isn't the first time that blue jeans have been considered a health hazard. The super low-rise jeans that were especially popular in the late 90s and early 2000s were also linked to meralgia paresthetica. And in the 1970s, rumors circulated of snug jeans causing infertility in men and yeast infections in women.

But for those suffering from tingly thighs, there is little risk for permanent damage, most experts say. “Typically it’s not permanent,” Madosky says. “The key is, you remove the pressure, and the nerve regenerates.”

Experts say it's never been a problem to convince women suffering from numb thighs to change their fashion habits — most of them are so relieved to have found an explanation for their sudden tingles they're glad to switch to roomier pants.

But scary health tales aren’t enough to scare most fashion-conscious women from wearing their favorite skinny jeans. “It doesn't make me hesitate to wear my jeans— the same way I don't hesitate to wear the shoes I wear,” says Abby Gardener, editor of Fashionista.com, who has owned 10 pairs of skinny jeans and currently owns more than 30 jeans in all.

source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30870617?GT1=43001

My Opinion: Beauty is never worth pain!!! Seriously.. People don't care that they are in pain, as long as they look hot & fit in?!?

Vernix - Just some good info.

Vernix: More formally known as vernix caseosa, the vernix is a white cheesy substance that covers and protects the skin of the fetus and is still all over the skin of a baby at birth. Vernix is composed of sebum (the oil of the skin) and cells that have sloughed off the fetus' skin.

"Vernix" is the Latin word for "varnish." The vernix varnishes the baby. ("Caseosa" is "cheese" in Latin.)

Source: http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=9403

When you see videos of a birth on television, you may see the doctors wiping off the “dirty” looking baby. If you think that this is a good idea, you may want to reconsider. This substance, made up of the skin oil and dead cells that the baby has shed in the womb, helps protect him or her from dehydration. Without the vernix caseosa, the baby would be born wrinkly from constantly being exposed to amniotic fluid.

If the vernix caseosa is left intact, the newborn will have more hydrated skin. In addition, the vernix caseosa also contains antimicrobials that are active against E. Coli, Group B Streptococcus, and other bacteria. So, leaving this substance intact, even though it's not very pretty, can prevent your child from becoming ill. Keeping the child together with his or her mother, and delaying the bath, can prevent some infections that are caused by the presence of these bacteria in hospitals.

Scientific studies have shown that vernix works not only as a moisturizer. It's also an effective cleanser, anti-infective agent, anti-oxidant and a wound healer. Studies are underway to find out how to synthesize the substance for use in helping children and adults who are in need of this substance's benefits, and to act as a delivery system for medication and other treatments.

Preterm babies tend to have more vernix on them than those born at full term. This is because the amount of vernix caseosa present decreases as birth nears. This substance originally develops at around 27 weeks, and is present up until birth. Babies who are born before 27 weeks may not have any vernix present. Stable preterm babies should especially be allowed to spend some time with their mothers immediately after birth, without being bathed. This may assist them in feeling less discomfort and remaining healthier than if they were cleaned.

Vernix caseosa might look unappealing, but it's really one of Nature's defenses against dryness, bacterial infections, and other dangers that your newborn might encounter.

Source: http://www.hip-chick-pregnancy-guide.com/vernix.html

Hair

Fact:

Hair is a protein filament that grows through the epidermis from follicles deep within the dermis. The main component of hair fiber is keratin. The hair can be divided into three parts length-wise, (1) the bulb, a swelling at the base which originates from the dermis, (2) the root, which is the hair lying beneath the skin surface, and (3) the shaft, which is the hair above the skin surface. In cross-section, there are also three parts, (1) the medulla, an area in the core which contains loose cells and airspaces (2) the cortex, which contains densely packed keratin and (3) the cuticle, which is a single layer of cells arranged like roof shingles.

Human beings have three distinct types of hair:

1-Lanugo is fine hair that covers nearly the entire body of a fetus.

2-Vellus hair is extremely short, fine, scarcely noticeable hair that covers most of the human body in both sexes.

3-Terminal hair is fully developed hair, which is generally longer, coarser, thicker, and darker than vellus hair.

Human scalp hair normally grows at a rate of 0.4 mm/day.

Texture

Hair texture is described as fine, medium, coarse or wiry, depending on the hair diameter. Within the four texture ranges hair can also be thin, medium or thick density and it can range from relatively straight, to wavy, to relatively tightly curled ("kinky"). Hair is genetically programmed to be straight, wavy, curly, or "kinky"

Curly and/or "kinky" hair has a different biological structure from straight hair. It tends to be much drier than straight hair because the oils secreted into the hair shaft by the sebaceous glands can more easily travel down the shaft of straight hair. People with very curly hair may find that this hair type can be dry and often frizzy.

Opinion:

There should be some way to change the genetic makeup of hair... I absolutely HATE my hair! Seriously, what is my hair type even called? It's like wavy on top & some ringlets underneath, with some weird straight places all over... I would be perfectly happy if it was either really wavy all over, really curly all over, or straight all over. But, come on, all 3? Who's idea of a sick joke is that!?

Fact:

Facial hair is a secondary sex characteristic in human males. Male pogonotrophy (the growing of facial hair; i.e, beardedness) is often culturally associated with wisdom and virility.

Leg hair is hair that grows on the legs of humans, generally appearing at the onset of adulthood. Male legs are most often hairier than female ones. For a variety of reasons, people may shave their leg hair. Women generally shave their leg hair more regularly than men because the social norm of many cultures expects them to show a sign of beauty.

Opinion

How is that in any way fair? Men not shaving is associated with wisdom & virtility!? What!? But yet, women are expected to shave or else they're not showing a sign of beauty!? Seriously, that's messed up! Oh, one of the many things that are easier for men!

Solution:

Laser Hair Removal!!! http://www.hairremovaljournal.org/

Some day I will be treating myself to full body laser hair removal!!!