CARE OF THE SKIN.
The skin is neglected and abused. Very few realize how important it is
to give this organ the necessary attention. If we were living today as
our ancestors doubtless lived, we could neglect the skin, as they did.
They wore little or no clothing. The skin, which formerly was very
hairy, served as protection. It was exposed to the elements, which
toughened it and kept it active.
Today most people give the skin too great protection, and thus weaken
it. The result is that it degenerates and partly loses its function with
consequent detriment to the individual's health.
A normal skin has a very soft feel, imparting to the fingers a pleasant,
vital sensation. It either has color or suggests color. An abnormal skin
pleases neither the sense of seeing nor feeling. It may feel inert or it
may be inflamed.
The skin is a beautiful and complex structure. It is made up of an outer
layer called the epidermis and an inner layer, the true skin or corium,
which rests upon a subcutaneous layer, composed principally of fat and
connective tissue.
The epidermis is divided into four layers. It has no blood-vessels and
no nerves, but is nourished by lymph which escapes from the vessels
deeper in the skin. It is simply protective in nature.
The true skin is made up of two indistinct layers, which harbor a vast
multitude of nerves, blood-vessels and lymph-vessels.
In the skin there are two kinds of glands, the sebaceous and the sweat
glands. The sebaceous glands are, as a general rule, to be found in
greatest numbers on the hairiest parts of the body and are absent from
the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet. They throw off a
secretion known as sebum, which is made up principally of dead cells
that have undergone fatty degeneration and of other debris. The sebum
serves as lubricant. It is generally discharged near or at the shaft of
a hair.
The sweat glands discharge on the average from one and one-half to two
pounds of perspiration per day, more in hot weather and much less when
it is cool. They are distributed over the whole external surface of the
body. According to Krause there are almost 2,400,000 of them. They carry
off water and carbonic acid gas chiefly.
The functions of the skin are: To protect the underlying structures; to
regulate the heat; to serve as an organ of respiration; to serve as an
organ of touch and thermal sensation; to secrete and eliminate various
substances from the body; to absorb.
The heat regulation is quite automatic. When the external temperature is
high there is a relaxation of the skin. The pores open, the perspiration
goes to the surface and evaporates, thus cooling the body. When the
surface is cool the skin contracts, closing the pores and conserving the
heat. Radiation always takes place, except when the temperature is very
high.
The sensation of touch and the ability to feel heat and cold protect us
from untold numbers of dangers. They are a part of the equipment which
enables us to adjust our selves to our environment.
The secretions and excretions are perspiration and sebum. These contain
water, carbonic acid, urea, buturic acid, formic acid, acetic acid,
salts, the chief being sodium chloride, and many other substances.
The respiratory function consists in the absorption of a small amount of
oxygen and the giving off of some carbonic acid.
A small amount of water can be absorbed by the skin. Oils can also be
absorbed. In case of malnutrition in children, olive-oil rubs are often
helpful. This absorptive function is taken advantage of by physicians
who rub various medicaments into the skin. Mercury enough to produce
salivation can be absorbed in this way.
From the above it will be seen that the skin is not only complex in
structure, but has many functions. It is impossible to have perfect
health without a good skin. Under civilized conditions a healthy skin
can not be had without giving it some care. The average person has a
skin that shows lack of care. Fortunately, but little care is needed.
A bath should be taken often enough to ensure cleanliness. Warm water
and soap need not be used more than once or twice a week under ordinary
conditions. If the soap causes itching, it is well to use a small amount
of olive oil on the body afterwards, rubbing it in thoroughly, and going
over the body with a soft cloth after the oil rub, thus removing the oil
which would otherwise soil the clothes. If the skin is not kept clean,
the millions of pores are liable to be partly stopped up, which results
in the retention of a part of the excretory matter within the skin,
where it may cause enough irritation to produce some form of cutaneous
disorder, or the skin may through disuse become so inactive that too
much work is thrown upon the other excretory organs, which may also
become diseased from overwork and excessive irritation.
Soaps are irritants. Tallow soaps and olive oil soaps are less
irritating than other varieties. Whatever kind of soap is used, it
should be rinsed off thoroughly, for if some of it is left in the pores
of the skin roughness or even mild inflammation may ensue. Be especially
careful about the soap used for babies, avoiding all highly colored and
cheap perfumed soaps.
Whether to take a daily sponge bath or not is a matter of no great
importance, and each individual can safely suit himself. If there is
quick reaction and a feeling of warmth and well-being following a cold
sponge, it is all right. If the skin remains blue and refuses to react
for a long time, the cold sponge bath is harmful. The cold plunge is
always a shock, and no matter how strong a person may be, frequent
repetition is not to be recommended. People who take cold plunges say
that they do no harm, but it is well to remember that life is not merely
a matter of today and tomorrow, but of next year, or perhaps forty,
fifty or sixty years from today. A daily shock may cause heart disease
in the course of twenty or thirty years.
A good way to take a cold bath is to get under a warm shower and
gradually turn off the warm water. Then stand under the cold shower long
enough to rinse well the entire surface of the body.
Those who take cold sponge baths in winter and find them severe, should
precede the sponging in cold water with a quick sponging off with tepid
water, and they should always take these baths in a warm room.
After all baths give the body a good dry rubbing, using brisk movements.
Bath towels, flesh brushes or the open hands may be used for the dry
rubbing.
The sponge bath has practically no value as a cleanser. Its chief virtue
consists in stimulating the circulation of the blood and the lymph in
the skin. In summer it is cooling. It is important to have good surface
circulation, but this can be attained as well by means of dry rubbing.
The rubbing is more important than wetting the skin. A skin that is
rubbed enough becomes so active that it practically cleans itself, and
it protects against colds and other diseases. Some advocate dispensing
with the bath entirely, but that is going to extremes. Cleanliness is
worth while for the self-respect it gives the individual.
Hot baths are weakening and relaxing, hence weak people should not stay
long in the hot bath. Cold baths are stimulating to strong people and
depressing to those who do not react well from them. Swimming is far
different from taking a cold bath. A person who can swim with benefit
and comfort for twenty minutes would have a chill, perhaps, if he
remained for five minutes in the bath tub in water of the same
temperature. Swimming is such an active exercise that it aids the
circulation, keeping the blood pretty well to the surface in spite of
the chilling effect of the water.
If a very warm bath is taken, there should be plenty of fresh air in the
bath room and it is well to sip cold water while in the bath and keep a
cloth wrung out of cold water on the forehead. People who are threatened
with a severe cold or pneumonia can give themselves no better treatment
than to take a hot bath, as hot as they can stand it, lasting for
one-half hour to an hour, drinking as much warm water as can be taken
with comfort both before and after getting into the tub. This bath must
be taken in very warm water, otherwise it will do no good. It is
weakening and relaxing, but through its relaxing influence it equalizes
the circulation of the blood, bringing much to the surface that was
crowding the lungs and other internal organs, thus causing the dangerous
congestion that so often ends in pneumonia. After the bath wrap up well
so that the perspiration will continue for some time. When the sweating
is over, get into dry clothes and remain in bed for six to eight hours.
To make assurance doubly sure, give the bowels a good cleaning out with
either enemas or cathartics, or both. Then eat nothing until you are
comfortable. Such treatment would prevent much pneumonia and many
deaths. The best preventive is to live so that sudden chilling does not
produce pneumonia or other diseases, which it will not do in good
health.
People with serious diseases of the heart, arteries or of the kidneys
should not take protracted or severe baths.
To sum up the use of water on the skin: Use enough to be clean. No more
is necessary. The application of water should be followed by thorough
drying and dry rubbing. If the reaction is poor, do not remain in cold
water long enough to produce chilling. As a rule thin people should use
but little cold water, and they should never remain long in cold water.
Water intelligently applied to the skin in disease is a splendid aid in
cleansing the system. It is surprising what a great amount of impurity
can be drawn from the body by means of wet packs. However, this is a
treatise on health, so we shall not go into details here regarding
hydrotherapy.
No matter what one's ideas may be on the subject of bathing, there can
hardly be more than one opinion regarding the application of dry
friction to the skin. Those who have noted its excellent results feel
that it should be a daily routine. It should be practiced either morning
or evening, or both. From five to ten minutes spent thus daily will pay
high dividends in health. A vigorous rubbing is exercise not only for
the skin, but for nearly every muscle in the body.
The dry rubbing keeps the surface circulation vigorous. The surface
circulation, and especially the circulation in the hands and the feet,
is the first part that begins to stagnate. Blood stagnation means the
beginning of the process which results in old age. In other words, dry
friction to the skin helps to preserve health and youth. Skin that is
not exercised often becomes very hard and scales off particles of
mineral matter.
If women would put less dependence on artificial beautifiers and more on
scientific massage, they would get much better results. They would avoid
many a wrinkle and save their complexions. The neck and the face should
never be massaged downwards. The strokes should be either upwards or
from side to side, the side strokes generally being toward the median
line. Such massaging will prevent the sagging of the face muscles for
years and help to keep the face free from wrinkles and young in
appearance. The massaging should be rather gentle, for if it is too
vigorous the tendency is to remove the normal amount of fat that pads
and rounds out the face. Men can do the same thing, but most men have no
objection to wrinkles.
However, most men do object to baldness, which can be prevented in
nearly every case. To produce hair on a polished pate is a different
proposition. It is indeed difficult. If you will look at a picture of
the circulation of the blood in the scalp, you will notice that the
arteries supplying it come from above the eye sockets in front, from
before and behind the ears on the sides, and from the nape of the neck
in the rear. They spread out and become smaller and smaller as they
travel toward the top of the head, and especially toward the back. The
scalp is well supplied with blood, but it is not given much exercise.
The tendency is for the blood stream to become sluggish, deposits
gradually forming in the walls of the blood-vessels, which make them
less elastic and decrease the size of the lumen. The result is less food
for the hair roots and food of inferior quality.
This process of cutting off the circulation in the scalp is largely
aided by the tight hats and caps worn by men, which compress the
blood-vessels. It is quite noticeable that people with round heads have
a greater tendency to become bald than those with more irregular heads.
The reason is probably that the hats fit more snugly on the round-headed
people. There are many exceptions. Women are not so prone to baldness as
men, because they wear hats that do not exclude the air from the hair
nor do they compress the blood-vessels.
Let those men who dislike to lose their hair massage the scalp for a
short while daily, beginning above the eyes, in front of the ears and at
the nape of the neck and going to the top of the head. Then let them
wear as sensible hats as possible, avoiding those that exert great
pressure on the blood-vessels that feed the scalp. Thus they will not
only be able to retain their hair much longer than otherwise, but the
hair that is well fed does not fade as early as that which lives on half
rations.
In the case of preserving the hair, an ounce of prevention is worth a
ton of cure. The man who can produce a satisfactory hair restorer that
will give results without any effort on the part of the men can become a
millionaire in a short time.
The hair is a modified form of skin. Each hair is supplied with blood,
and the reason that the hair stands up during intense fear is that to
the lower part of the shaft is attached a little muscle. During fear
this contracts, as do other involuntary muscles, and then the hair
stands up straight instead of being oblique.
As a rule people protect the skin too much. The best protection they
have against cold is a good circulation. With a poor circulation it is
difficult to keep warm in spite of much clothing. Coldness is also
largely a state of mind. People get the idea of cold into the head and
then it is almost impossible for them to keep warm. On the same winter
day we may see a man in a thick overcoat trying to shrink into himself,
shivering, while a lady passes blithely by, with her bosom bared to the
wind.
The face tolerates the cold, because it is used to it, the neck and the
upper part of the chest likewise, and so it would be with the skin of
the entire body if we accustomed it to be exposed. We use too heavy
clothes. It is a mistake to hump the back and draw in the shoulders
during cold weather, for this reduces the lung capacity, thus depriving
the body of its proper amount of oxygen. The result is that there is not
enough combustion to produce the necessary amount of heat.
Wool is warm covering, the best we have. However, it is very irritating
to the skin and has a tendency to make the wearer too warm. It does not
dry out readily. Consequently the wearer remains damp a long time after
perspiring. The result is a moist, clammy skin. A skin thus pampered in
damp warmth becomes delicate, and like other hot-house products unable
to hold its own when exposed to inclement weather. A good way to take
cold easily is to wear wool next to the skin. The best recipe for
getting cold feet is to wear woolen stockings. Wear cotton or linen or
silk next to the skin. Cotton is satisfactory and cheap. Linen is
excellent, but a good suit of linen underwear is too costly for the
average purse. Remie, said to be the linen of the Bible, is highly
recommended by some.
Those working indoors should wear the same kind of underwear summer and
winter, and it should be very light. If people use heavy underwear in
heated rooms, they become too warm. The consequence is that when they go
out doors they are chilled, and if they are not in good physical
condition colds and other diseases generally result. By wearing outer
garments according to climatic conditions one can easily get all the
protection necessary. Those who take the proper food and enough exercise
and dry friction of the skin will not require or desire an excessive
amount of clothing. The feel of the wintry blast on the skin is not
disagreeable.
If we would only give the skin more exercise, through rubbing, and more
fresh air, we would soon discard much of our clothing, and wear but
enough to make a proper and modest appearance in public, with extra
covering on cold days. Nothing can be much more ridiculous and
uncomfortable than a man in conventional attire on a hot summer's day.
Of course, thin, nervous people should not expose themselves too much to
the cold.
Most of the diseases known by the name of skin diseases, are digestive
troubles and blood disorders manifesting in the skin. As soon as the
systemic disease upon which they depend disappears, these so-called skin
diseases get well. Erysipelas is one of the so-called germ diseases, but
it is controlled very quickly by a proper diet. It can not occur in
people until they have ruined their health by improper living. Pure
blood will not allow the development of the streptococcus erysipelatis
in sufficient numbers to cause trouble. First the disease develops and
then the germ comes along and multiplies in great numbers, giving it
type.
Acne, which is very common for a few years after puberty, shows a bad
condition of the blood. Even during the changes that occur at puberty no
disease will manifest in healthy boys and girls. About this time the
young people eat excessively, the result being indigestion and impure
blood. The changes that occur in the skin make it a favorable place for
irritations to manifest. Let the boys and girls eat so that they have
bright eyes and clean tongues and there will be very little trouble from
disfiguring pimples.
Eczema is generally curable by means of proper diet and the same is true
of nearly all skin diseases that afflict infants.
There are diseases of the skin due to local irritants, such as the
various forms of trade eczema, scabies (itch), and pediculosis
(lousiness), but the fact remains that nearly all skin diseases fail to
develop if the individual eats properly, and most of them can be cured,
after they have developed, by proper diet and attention to hygiene
generally. If the diet is such that irritants are manufactured in the
alimentary tract and absorbed into the blood, and then excreted through
the skin, where enough irritation is produced to cause disease, it is
useless to treat with powders and salves.
Correct the dietetic errors and the skin will cure itself. Specialists
in skin diseases often fail because they treat this organ as an
independent entity, instead of considering it as a part of the body
whose health depends mostly upon the general health.