Day 286

Breast Cancer Awareness month. There is lots of pink everywhere, from fire engines to football uniforms. But today I simply celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness by putting on my deodorant. 

Confused, are you?

Did you know that almost every mainstream deoderant contains aluminum? And did you know that aluminum has been linked to cancer? 

Ever wonder why women get breast cancer more than men? Ever wonder why more American women get breast cancer as opposed to other countries? American women regularly shave their armpits, where most other countries go...au naturale.

What do you do after you get out of the shower where you shaved your pits with a razor? You put on deoderant, possibly giving direct contact to your insides with aluminum. We used to shave patients before surgery with with razors, knowing that hair could harbor bacteria, and we didn't want any bacteria near incisions (a great point of entry for anything that's doesn't belong inside). 

Over time, we realized that using a razor actually gave patients large amounts of micro abrasions from the razor itself, creating a bigger problem than what we were trying to prevent in the first place. Infection rates nationwide have gone down since we stopped using razors...

I asked one of the surgeons at work if he had ever heard of the deoderant/ breast cancer link. He immediately talked about how he had always suspected deoderant even back to his medical school days. He said that when he did his time in general surgery, he unfortunately took care of a lot of breast masses. He kept asking if anyone had noticed how most of the tutors tended to be in the upper, outer quadrant of the chest, close to where a bed of lymph nodes lives...

So today's pic represents and celebrates breast cancer awareness in a different way. Sure, please wear your pink. But also consider changing your deoderant. Chances are, it has aluminum in it. I checked every single brand in the aisle at my grocery and was unsuccessful finding one without it. Luckily, the organic section had a couple of choices, and I have hence converted to those. I do still keep a container of Secret available for heavy workouts, but I now shave my armpits in the evening and go deoderant free until morning. I also try not to shave every day if I can help it (one of the advantages of cooler weather), and make sure I use a razor with a sharp blade. So check your boobies ladies, but also check your deoderant! I figure every little thing counts towards saving the ta-tas!