typically male occupational hazards/injuries

[GingerLeigh]

Do you work in an environment where you get minor injuries that affect your femme appearance? How about hobbies that do it?

My ONLY asset are my legs and they now have more bruises on them than I can ever recall. Nothing sexier than legs that look like they were in a car accident.
I play hockey with the kids so I wear no equipment. Occasionally I get a few heaters from an over eager kid and I usually get it on the shins. Let me tell you....ugly ugly UGLY bruises. Oh, pain? Yeah. Callouses and cuts on the hands from my job, grease that won't wash off easily....you name it.

I'm one ugly, rough looking girl let me tell you!

sob, Ginger.

[Cheryl T]

I wear shorts most of the year so I get my share of scrapes and bruises at work, but mostly my nails get destroyed. They break all the time, especially in winter and that's very distressing.

[Hell on Heels]

I worked as an auto tech. for years. Most of the new techs. would wear gloves to protect themselves, I never did. Ground in grease on chapped dried out hands was impossible to get rid of, truly disgusting. After getting out of that line of work, the hand healed up. I'm now wearing gloves anytime I get near anything greasy. Bruises are still a problem, I got one on my shin about 6 months ago, not work related, but still doing stupid guy type stuff, kayaking on the ocean with friends, we beached and had to climb over some rocks to check out a cave, I thought I would be able to just man up and jump up on the rock, well the wet suit I was wearing was a little restrictive and I came up a little short. The cave was a bit boring also.
Protect yourselves, get someone else to do the heavy lifting.
Much Love,
Kristyn

[Karen kc]

Ginger, you wrote my book! lol

[Nadine Spirit]

Back in January, I almost ripped my finger off with my wood lathe. Stupid mindless error. It does not affect my appearance, but it still hurts like hell.

[Kate Simmons]

Yeah but work and combat scars are badges of honor Hon.:battingeyelashes::)

[Katey888]

Ginger - bless... :)

I think we've all been there... just recently for me; cuts on a knee from redecorating a bedroom; split and broken nails from gardening; rough hands from housework (now I NEVER do anything without my Marigolds/ rubber gloves on...); bruises on legs from... God only knows what - I think the wife kicks me in my sleep... deliberately, mind!

I used to treat them as badges of honour, now I've got all precious about the tiniest little nick or a spot on my forehead... :eek: Oh, well - it's only me and you girls who have to tolerate them, so no big deal really... :)

Katey x

[Rachelakld]

Paintball welts, but while I could hide the colour (not the bump), I also damaged my leg muscles with all the running and stopping, so walking in either mode was difficult and painful.

[Marcelle]

I am in the military so damage comes with the territory including several broken bones, cracked back, bruises and contusions but none of those affect my appearance. The only thing that does is a through and through gunshot wound just below my rib cage (besides cracking a rib the bullet did little internal damage). As such, you won't be seeing this gal in a crop top or bikini anytime soon.

Hugs

Isha

[Melissa_59]

Do you work in an environment where you get minor injuries that affect your femme appearance?

I used to, it was the military. I had to part ways with them back in December of 1999, I was no longer "world wide deployable" after some injuries.

Civilian life has been wonderfully less interesting.

[Anna H]

I do metal work, so that's not good at all for my nails. But...they (mostly)
stay long --miraculously!

Getting nicked by milling cutters happens sometimes. Then there's the grease
and machine oils & lubes. I have to wait a day or so before my hands get to
feeling "right" enough for dress up sometimes. Rough hands will snag nice little
delicate fabrics if I don't! lol!

:happy:

[Karren H]

Lucky for me I'm not exposed to small injuries.... only roof falls.... run over by underground mining equipment... coal dust and methane explosions!

[Anna H]

only roof falls.... run over by underground mining equipment... coal dust and methane explosions!

Yikes! is the word that popped into my mind. Now I feel like a sissy! lol!

[Joan_CD]

As a retired police officer and then firefighter I broke my collarbone which is noticeable and destroyed my knee and had to have it replaced, so I now have a nice vertical scar running down the front of it. Also severed two tendons in my shoulder but the surgery scar isn't too noticeable.

[mechamoose]

Just hands/nails for the most part. I'm a computer person, but I work in a robotic factory. Running cables in troughs, terminating them, WAY too many sharp edges. So I wear gloves.

I actually mess my hands up worse doing jewelry.. files, saws, funky chemicals.. I can wear rubber gloves for some of it, but not for close work.

And then there are bike crashes >.<


- MM

[MssHyde]

I do electrical mechanical machine maintenance.

mainly electrical but some times mechanical or fabrication usually CNC machine related.. at times I may have to arc, mig or tig weld something.. the welding gives me a farmer tan at times. (glad I don't have to weld much) sometimes I'll start on some repair and I forgot the gloves, fingers are grungy for a month.

I do bang my shins way too much.. small bruises etc.

currently I'm making a bracket to hang a 800 pound 3-phase transformer..(about 10' off the floor) then wiring up a new machine with 2/0 copper wire. (wire that size is a younger persons game)

.

[Marcia Blue]

Auto Tech here. Hands, arms and nails are always at risk. I have tried wearing gloves, but they slow me down. Being on commission, I do not want to be slowed down.

I love a week or two off. Then I am all healed and at least my arms and hands look good. My nails need longer to look great.

[Robin777]

My hands are all scarred up from years of home remodeling and side jobs as an electrician. My legs have scars on them from home projects from over the years. I use to do electronic maintenance years ago, but now it is just bench calibration. I do not have any fingernails mainly from nervous habits of chewing them off. I can relate with MssHyde on the handling of 2/0 copper wire. I had my share of wrestling 4/0 aluminum service entrance cable. but now it's mostly 12-2 or 14-2 NM. I haven't done a panel upgrade in a few years.

[Eryn]

...The only thing that does is a through and through gunshot wound


...I'm not exposed to small injuries.... only roof falls.... run over by underground mining equipment...

Gee, my broken fingernails from moving boxes around kind of pales by comparison!

My long-term masculine injury is sun-damaged arms and hands. A couple of years of Nadinola has faded the pigment, but the skin is still rougher than my shoulders.

Young ladies, sunscreen and long sleeves are your friends!

[Beverley Sims]

Some people prefer the macho type girl.

Think yourself lucky. :)

[Jamie Lynn]

Oh Yeah......Metal plate on a collarbone (car wreck, second life), fingernails always split or torn, minor facial scars.
But that don't stop me!!! ;)

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Ginger, At my age It seams that a broken nail is my biggest problem.

[danielle512]

For me it's more of small cuts, burns ,and really dry hands from the constant washing. It's not too dangerous working in a kitchen, thankfully, but, the worst is my dreaded golfer tan.

[Angie G]

I work with ink luckily it's water base but the red and the black are hard to get out.And there is always paper cuts.And the soap we use for the ink makes the skin dry.:hugs:
Angie

[noeleena]

Hi,

Im not your normal female never was before or now a rough at times, builder and other trades, and after a job my women friends say to me theres blood on your legs , oh that , just another one = cuts, bruise's scares and surgery's scares yeap one rough woman here, no long nails .

Now you know why im... not... feminine i knew there was a reason now iv just figgered it out .

im a hard working woman with me bib overalls on in the thick of it, Well thats my excuse ,

So is that your typical male in the work place, spos not, will woman do....

...noeleena...

[Rogina B]

From a lifetime of commercial fishing,I have plenty of scars.However,I now catch boat owners,rather than fish.I have socially transitioned over the last ten years from being "paid for what I know,as well as do",to being a "hands on project manager" with a crew of helpers. My crew knows who I am and doesn't expect me to sacrifice myself,when they certainly won't..lol.Initially the commercial fishboat projects are dirty,and in the end,they are as new.I work for myself and perhaps the next project will be a "Newbuild" where I will be mostly in the office wearing a dress..lol For now,it's a mix. But I no longer beat myself up to earn a living.

[Jackiefl]

I'm a heavy equipment construction mechanic.... nuf said lol!

[suchacutie]

Dislocated shoulder and destroyed rotator cuff. 3 months with arm in a sling, big surgery, and expected 18 months of physical therapy. Just now able to let Tina reappear physically. But no scar!

[CassieD]

Since graduating to office/techie work the worst I have to put up with is the occasional broken nail. I'll never be able to wear peep toe shoes though because of the mess I made of myself when I worked at the heavy end.

[Tasha'sLaboratory]

I've mostly worked as a nurses aide but I was a welder for a few years. I got a lot of minor burns, I used to hate mig welding because I would be picking little pieces of metal out of my hair for days. I ended up going back to nurses aide work even though it paid less, they didn't want me to quit, I just wasn't happy. Working on a degree now.

I've got six screws and a plate in my leg from a motorcycle wreck though.

[GingerLeigh]

Just as I thought. Many of us "guys" have typical trade jobs and get all sorts of injuries normally associated with our career paths. It sucks since it's a real tell tale sign of what we do for a living (which is typically male oriented stuff). I know, there are a few GG's that get the same thing, but they ARE rare. I know of a total of two in my trade. Not many real girls with welding burns or hot machining chip scars.

Again, I've got legs that I'D look for in a girl. However there are so many bruises, they look awful now. Pi$$es me off!

[LPark]

Wow am I a piker. 37 years in mostly an office environment save a trips out to substations and a stint in a power plant. But keeping my boat wrecks my hands and knees. I can't keep decent nails even when I sit at my desk. Reach for something in a drawer and break a nail off just like that. I must have the thinest, most fragile nails of all time.

[Amari]

I hurt my back at work when I was 21 (too many years ago) doing heavy manual railway track maintenance; obviously it can't be seen and doesn't (usually) stop me dressing, but I do have to look after myself these days and go very light on back bending work like shovelling. In those days my hands would only come properly clean when I was on annual leave. These days my hands are soft and clean, the way I like it.