I'm currently in the army, and generally I tend to shave or wax any back/chest hair that I have during the summer months. The hair on my chest particularly will grow fairly thick if I don't manage it.
My concern comes as this: I have done one deployment to Iraq, and will be doing another to Afghanistan next summer. Anyone who has been there knows it is damned hot in those countries, and much of your time is spent wearing body armor. The problem is that if I do not shave my body hair I become much hotter, sweat much more, and thus have a much more difficult time in the blazing heat. Now, if I do shave my body hair, wearing body armor will cause many of the follicles to become inflamed, itchy, irritable, and often leads to ingrown hairs.
So, it's a lose lose situation. Leave the hair, I sweat more, and run a greater risk of overheating. Not to mention its just miserable. Shave the hair and I'm cooler, but must endure massive skin irritations. Not to mention especially during a deployment the opportunity to remove body hair may not always be present, and it sure as heck isn't easy trying to shave your back without a mirror or two on hand.
My question is: Given a solid enough medical reason, would the army pay for something like Laser hair removal? How would I go about approaching this issue?
My concern comes as this: I have done one deployment to Iraq, and will be doing another to Afghanistan next summer. Anyone who has been there knows it is damned hot in those countries, and much of your time is spent wearing body armor. The problem is that if I do not shave my body hair I become much hotter, sweat much more, and thus have a much more difficult time in the blazing heat. Now, if I do shave my body hair, wearing body armor will cause many of the follicles to become inflamed, itchy, irritable, and often leads to ingrown hairs.
So, it's a lose lose situation. Leave the hair, I sweat more, and run a greater risk of overheating. Not to mention its just miserable. Shave the hair and I'm cooler, but must endure massive skin irritations. Not to mention especially during a deployment the opportunity to remove body hair may not always be present, and it sure as heck isn't easy trying to shave your back without a mirror or two on hand.
My question is: Given a solid enough medical reason, would the army pay for something like Laser hair removal? How would I go about approaching this issue?