Slight disclaimer to the guys out there, if you don't want to hear about how fuzzy wuzzy was a female bear with a razor.. turn back now..

For those who stayed...

It's summer time here once again, and while throughout the winter I admit to letting the personal grooming slack... a lot especially here lately... I couldn't take the furries anymore with the humidity down here. I mean I can't think of anyone who likes feeling like a wet dog. So off to the shower I went armed with my implement of hair removal... the good old safety razor. For anyone who doesn't know, the safety razor is first and foremost a lie there is nothing safe about it, it is a double edge straight razor blade with a small that barely covers only the bottom part of the blade and about half of the top of it, stuck on a stick.

But if you want a close shave for less than $0.25 every month, a safety razor is the way to go. Cost savings aside, there is no other razor out there with the exception perhaps of the even older fashioned straight razors, that will shave as well as a safety razor. You feel like you just got waxed after a shave with one of them.

Well today, I had a much closer shave than I anticipated. I dropped the silly thing 6 times on my toes, shredding them up a bit. The razor rolled in my hand I don't know how many times leaving slices up and down my legs, and underarms, one of the cuts on the legs is actually bad enough that when I got out of the shower I had to slip a few butterflies on it before tossing a bandage over it. I mean rather than the freshly defurred feeling I was hoping for it's more like the freshly blended on high feeling.

I used to wax before my grip became to weak to pull the strips off well and my coordination was too bad to apply the wax in that nice thin layer. I've tried electric razors including this winter using one, but my hair is baby fine and the razor would pretty much only catch a few of the hairs and rip them out rather than cutting them so I was left with the same furry legs just minus 2 or 3 hairs that got tangled. The allergies to everything lately has ruled out any of those things like Nair, not to mention they smell gawd awful. And I'm too broke for laser hair removal.

Any tips or tricks from my fellow masters? Who knows maybe once I learn the secret to shaving with MS I can learn how to apply eyeliner with it Last time I tried I almost blinded myself by jabbing my eye with the pencil and the results even before then weren't pretty, it's why my make-up routine is sunblock and Chapstick.

I mean I'm not that much of a girly-girl to begin with. I prefer jeans and t-shirts to skirts and dresses, rock to pop, and my tequila straight up hold the salt and lime. But I can't survive the rest of my life looking like a sasquatch, or the alternative aggressive lion tamer.

I use an electric razor. It was too dangerous for me to try to shave with an actual razor. I'd miss half the hair on my legs anyways. But, trying to soap my legs, and then lift them up to shave in the shower. That wasn't happening anymore.

My legs are varying sensations of numb. I might not know if I've sliced open my femoral artery until the hypovolemic shock kicks in. So, when I want to my legs to look less like Sasquatch's, I get out the electric razor.

What I do really miss...that feeling of freshly shaved legs against the insides of freshly washed sweatpants. That always felt good, but I don't get that anymore when I shave my legs. Not feeling that is not totally the fault of not shaving, or not shaving with a real razor. It's probably the change in sensation.

The electric razor works faster at least. It allegedly can be used in the shower, but I haven't been brave enough to take a battery powered razor in there with me.

ROFL, you gals made my day. I hear ya loud and clear. My favorite line is that come spring or a visit to the gyn whichever comes first I need to drag DH's weedwacker our of the shed. I usually use one of the more expensive disposable name brand razors whatever is on sale at Target but have to say lately I'm not so happy with them, especially the impressive looking kind with a bazillion blades that seem to do little more than knick me up.

When I did a women's health rotation several years ago the trend was nothing at all. Is that still the way a majority are doing it? Imo unless it was just shaved or waxed 5 minutes ago always looked kind of raw and stubbly to me but whatever. Do be careful because cuts or ingrown hairs down there can get nasty infected. Arrrgh the things women have to go through. I swear if I'm ever reincarnated I want to come back as a dude, with a big wanker of course, lol.

I use a light weight electric razor, though it's not waterproof. FinalTouch Yes. It is light weight and does what I need it to do. It was priced reasonably. My skin has become the most sensitive it has ever been and with the tremors I have developed, any other razor is better off not in my hand...lol It is all about personal preference and I prefer that my skin remain intact.

I don't even know why I bother with it anymore. I was shaving the back of my calf when I knicked my leg. Now, I didn't even feel it and was continuing with shaving when I noticed blood splattered all over the floor underneath where I was sitting. I had knicked a place where there was a varicose vein right beneath the surface. A line of blood was spewing out and it was going all the way across the bathroom! It was like a faucet had been turned on. I kept applying pressure but every time I'd release the pressure the stream of blood would launch itself across the bathroom. It was beginning to look like a crime scene!

At this point I had lost what appeared to be a significant amount of blood. I called my DIL and explained what had happened. She loaded the babies in the car and came right over. She had a first aid kit and, if I could have gotten to the kitchen without spewing blood everywhere I could have gotten a bandaid. But I couldn't. She put a large bandaid over the knicked area. It was still bleeding so she called 911 because I was beginning to get a little lightheaded.

This is the part where I thought of Sally!! She would have been so proud.....I had five....yes, five handsome EMT's in my bedroom!! That was the first time I've EVER had five men in my bedroom!! Why so many responded I have no idea but my poor son drove up not knowing the whole story and there was an ambulance and a fire truck parked in front of my house. He bolted inside and found us all chatting in my bedroom. I used to work for the Fire Department in the 80's and the EMT's were asking me if I knew certain people who had worked there for years. I recognized several names and we had fun talking about how much things had changed in the department since I was there. I have always wished I had stayed at that job because I loved it (it was an office job). I had my single bandaid on my leg and everyone packed up and left. Before the EMT who seemed to be in charge left he told me that this would be at no charge since I didn't go to the ER. Wow!! I was thinking it was going to be a couple hundred dollars. Nice surprise.

What was so funny was that the whole time I was thinking "boy am I glad I shaved my legs"!!
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Dear Starznight,

Thanks for this tread. I am so happy to have stumbled upon it and the reply posts you have received. I don't have MS, but would like to chime in, too.

I was very glad to hear that I am not the only one that tends to ignore the hair growing on my lower legs until it finally gets to us. I have blonde hair so it does not show much unless the light hits it a certain way. I try to shave my legs (from the knees down) before my doc appts., especially since they are always checking my legs for edema.

My story is a little like Kitty's. I was trying to shave me legs before my doc appt. and I took a huge chunk out of my leg just above my ankle. Blood was everywhere and just kept flowing. (I am on blood thinners, several, for cardiac issues.) Like Kitty, pressure was not stopping it. Also, like Kitty, my bandage materials were not nearby. (I keep them in the kitchen since that is where MOST need seems to arise.) I, too, did not want to bleed all over the house in an attempt to get to them. Ever try to walk while holding compression on your ankle? NOT an easy task to say the least.

I was also trying to beat the clock to get to my appt. on time. Good thing I allow HOURS for getting ready as I am very slow in getting around these days and need very frequent rest breaks. After a LONG time of compression, I finally put a washcloth over the wound and tied a bath towel around it to hold it in place in order to get to my bandage supplies without leaving a trail of blood. I also put another towel on the floor and slide the towel with one foot to catch any blood that flowed from beneath my make shift temporary bandage. Once I finally got it properly bandaged, I got ready and off to the doctor I went.

Once in the exam room, my doc immediately noticed the bandage wrapped around my ankle area. He asked what happened. Well, I told him, I did not want to come see him with hairy legs and I cut it shaving. His response was immediate and he said, "So, you came to see me with a bloody mess instead?" We both had a good laugh. He has a super sense of humor and is so funny. Of course, his curiosity as to the damage I had done, required him to remove my bandage and it WAS a bloody mess. He "doctored" me up (pun intended) and placed a new bandage on it. He also said I had done a REALLY good job of carving out a chunk from my leg.

I no longer shave on the day I go see him. I try to shave the day before, just in case.

I have tried using an electric razor but it is just not the same clean shave. I do use that sometimes between doc visits just for me.

I just ordered an electric shaver.......it says wet/dry shaver but I can't use it (or anything) in the shower.

I also ordered a step stool with a handle (see picture). I used one when I went for my MRI on Thursday and knew it was something I HAD to have. I just put a memory foam mattress topper on my mattress and now it's almost too high for me! This step stool is exactly what I need. I can't use a regular step stool but his one with the handle is perfect. I might even be able to get into my son's Jeep now!!

I'm acquiring more and more things to make my daily life easier.

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Body Hair does go through style phases. As a girl (you know, way back in the thick of feminism) some liked to say "Only French whores shave in Europe." some young nannies from Europe we knew decided to shave here in America and unused to it, shaved dry. Ouch!! Everyone makes their own decision and I know mine gets influenced by my age and body hair type. Also being married for 38 years (!) influences it. Leg shaving doesn't concern me, but underarm does.

Thanks everyone, sometimes it's good to know I'm at least not alone when faced with a dilemma. But I do have several first aid kits around the house hehehe. I've been known to cut myself wide open on "safe plastic containers" so there's a first aid kid in the bedroom, one in each bathroom, one in the kitchen, one in each of the vehicles we own (complete with tourniquets, ace wraps and slings) I mean if you're going to get into a car accident without cell phone service or miles upon miles away from the nearest EMS, my car is the one you want to be involved with. There's also always emergency water and food on hand in the cars probably thanks to growing up in NH where you can get stuck in the snow for hours upon hours, sometimes even days depending on where you're driving.

So the need to butterfly my cut wasn't too harrowing an experience, the first aid kit was right there to grab and stick. I think it might be time to ask the DH to shave me though. Even though he was horrified once to learn that I shave my arms as well.... I mean I really really hate the fluffy furries. But he found out because I had to use a bandaid after nicking a mole, those things bleed for a little over a day when you just whack them off. But he asked about the bandaid and I told him I had shaved that day... his reaction... "You shave your arms too?!.... All I could think was, did he sleep through health class? I mean how does he think it happens that I don't have hair on my arms? Even my granddaughter has hair albeit babyfine hair on her arms.

So it could be an interesting lesson for him on the hair growth of women, if I ask him to shave me so I don't need a blood transfusion in the future . He might also come to realize why I let the hair just kind of do its thing in the winter time. I mean that's a lot of square footage to cover with a 2.5" blade. I have long legs and long arms, and not the skinniest of folks out there, there's a lot of skin that needs it's lawn mowed down, even if that lawn is filled with baby fine 'grass', or rather especially because it is, so even with the safety razor it needs to be gone over about 2 or 3 times to catch all the hairs.

Now if only he would let me shave him down a bit... I mean he is furry furry. I call him my teddy bear because he's so fwuffy. He did let me do a single wax strip once, but cried like a baby afterwards and never again considered any kind of body grooming. He had all kinds of excuses too as to why it hurt him more than it's ever hurt me to do it and he freaked out too because there was some blood from it, something he wasn't expecting. (you're ripping hair out down to the follicle, which is imbedded in the skin, of course you're going to bleed a little bit when you get some of those really buried ones.)

Poor guy, I laughed way too much to coddle him at all.

Hi Kitty,

To keep from hijacking this thread and changing the topic, I found your post regarding mattresses and made a post there. Hope you will read it and reply.