I am also rather surprised at how the tone turned in this thread.
I think that a women's dive conference (or something of the like) would be a very cool thing.... specifically for the reasons that Trucker Girl, The Redhead, Queen, and several others mentioned.
Women's bodies ARE very different from a man's body (physiologically and anatomically). Medically speaking, women are more prone to certain ailments. I'm not entirely sure of how diving affects a woman's body differently, however, I do remember reading something about women being more prone to DCS, based on the fact that a woman's body NATURALLY has more fat than a man's body... and higher fat content can increase the risk.
To chime in for Trucker Girl and the nail polish thing- Yup... EMTs, paramedics, nurses and docs all do squeeze the fingernails... this is called the capillary refill check. When you look at your fingernails, they should be that natural pinkish color (and pinker at the nailbeds). In an emergency, the medical professional will often "quick check perfusion". The quick way to do this is to squeeze the fingernails and let go, and watch the color come back. Try it on yourself... squeeze your fingernail and let go. Right when you let go, you'll notice that it's a whitish color, and quickly pinks up again (should be 2 seconds or less... some places around here use 3 seconds as the guideline). If it takes an extended period of time for the color to come back, then the body is not adequately perfusing the extremities, which could mean a number of things... most often #1- the body is shocky and shunting blood to the important organs... or #2- the body has lost a significant amount of blood (either external or internal blood loss) and doesn't have the volume to perfuse the extremeties. That said... there can be other issues that affect the cap refill times.... such as very cold hands (as I often have). Soooo, in a nutshell (and a long winded explanation)... Yes, nailpolish does hinder the cap refill check in the
fingernails... where it is most often done. But a good medic/doc/nurse etc will know that there are other places to check the cap refill (the fingertip... not the nail side, the fleshy part of your forearm just above the wrist)... and arterial perfusion can easily be checked using the allen's test.
Just food for thought.... and something that a "women's conference" can educate women on. This is not common knowledge, unless you work in emergency medicine.
Mania-- Your posts about "postpartum" are rather perplexing. Are you a mother? If not, then I can understand a little more. If you are a mother, then I'm a bit more perplexed, although, I'm sure that things are a bit different in Poland, and as such, may be referred to as different names. This is IN NO WAY meant as a jab at you... I am only trying to understand and shed some light on the subject.
You keep referring to postpartum as a depression. While there is a condition called "postpartum depression", it should be noted that "postpartum" by itself is merely referring to a time period after giving birth, or noting the fact that you have given birth.
Merriam-Webster's dictionary says:
Main Entry: 1post·par·tum
Pronunciation: ()pst-pärt-m
Function: adjective
1 : occurring in or being the period following parturition <postpartum depression>
2 : being in the postpartum period <postpartum mothers>
Main Entry: 2postpartum
Function: adverb
: after parturition <a blood sample taken 14 days postpartum> <an infection occurred three weeks postpartum>
While postpartum depression is common, not every woman will experience postpartum depression. Some women may experience it as a "hit or miss" thing... ie.- depressed when alone w/ or w/o the baby, or when they're not busy with something they'll feel "blue", or they'll have had a premature baby and they're ok when the baby is ok... but when the baby is ill or has a hurdle to overcome, they'll become depressed. Some women have pronounced and dangerous postpartum depression. It's different for every person.
"Postpartum Diving" could be a very informative conference topic for a woman. Many women want to know what effects diving can/will have on the postpartum body.... how long do I
have to wait before I can dive again, what effects does the pressures have on the shrinking uterus, milk production, ovulation, rate of bleeding (is it possible/normal to stop bleeding for a time period after the dive, or will I bleed very heavily, or no change). And, of course... if you experience postpartum depression, key indicators to look for and say that "diving is not an option right now." (Sure, it sounds simple... but, nothing is "simple" if you are experiencing a bad case of PD). Another great topic... "The doctor says I cannot wear a tampon. Is there any other means to "catch the flow" that is safe for me to dive with, till I can use a tampon again?" (There are these things called "Instead" that are like "cups" that fit around the cervix and catch flow... are they safe postpartum... and specifically for postpartum diving?)
As we all know... finding a "diving doctor" is pretty hard to do in some places. Throw a specialty in there... "diving doctor specializing in OB/GYN" and it's even more rare. I'll bet there's some pretty interesting information out there... finding the right person to give it would be key.
Whew... long winded post!
