Skin diseases and their natural cure
THE perfect skin goes far to make a woman look beautiful. The
hygiene of the skin reflects the general hygiene of the body.
But even when there are skin diseases like black heads,
blotches, pimples, a sallow, mothy or greasy skin, there is a
cure.
Health comes first as a good skin requisite, health born of
exercise, wholesome food, plenty of soap and water. Take care of
the skin locally. Avoid the direct rays of the sun; avoid
exposure to wind, and dirt, lest your skin turn coarse and
rough. Water does not injure the skin, nor dry out its natural
oils. Use soft water for cleaning face and hands. If the water
you have available is hard, soften with salt, borax or baking
soda, add bran or a quarter cup of almond meal to make water
more soothing to a tender skin.
If chapping, warm a bath, tepid water, a soft soap, plus olive
oil massage or toilet powder will remedy it. Cold water in the
morning (it stimulates) and warm water at night is a good
washing rule. Never use a cheap, but always a good soap, Castile
preferably. Green soap (potash soap) is meant for oily scalps
and only irritates dry skins. Though medicated soaps are useful
for some skin diseases, they should be used only on a doctor's
orders.
Thorough, careful drying lends color to the cheeks and
increases circulation, and cream and powder are good skin
protectors if rightly used and removed. If the skin has been
exposed to sun or wind, rub cold cream well into it. Then remove
with a damp cloth, and follow by washing in cold water.
Vanishing cream, greaseless, is a good face powder foundation,
and a skin protector. Always remove cream from the face before
going to bed, and in general use it only every alternate day. No
complexion stands cream day in, day out, nor does cream take the
place of soap and water. Cream, if not removed, clogs the skin
pores. Clogged pores mean black heads, and black heads cause
other skin affections. Clogged pores, too, are responsible for
yellow, sallow complexions.
Oily skin, often accompanied by enlarged pores, black heads and
pimples, should be treated before worse ensues. Use a soap made
of a cup of oatmeal or boiled oats, a pinch of sulphur, a pinch
of powdered benzoin, and a teaspoonful of Castile soap, shaved
fine, mixed, in a small cheesecloth bag. An application in warm
water twice a day, should correct the oily tendency.
Sunburn and Freckles.-- Four lotions: 1. Two teaspoonfuls of
benzoin in pint of cold water. Bathe face night and morning. 2.
Mix flour of sulphur with milk, and rub into skin when the
mixture has settled a couple of hours. To be applied in small
quantities daily. 3. One drachm muriatic acid, to which
half-teaspoon of spirits of lavender has been added. 4. Three
drachms carbonate of potassium, two drachms common salt, eight
ounces rosewater, a little orange or lavender flower water. Mix
and make frequent applications.
Freckles -- Two lotions: 1. One ounce lemon juice, one pint
rosewater. Apply to skin four, five or six times a day. 2. One
drachm muriatic acid, half teaspoonful spirits of lavender, one
pint rainwater. Apply carefully to freckles, using camel's-hair
brush.
Blackheads -- It is not well to steam out black heads. It does
cleanse the skin and the black heads have to go. But it also
relaxes the skin, and brings forth a crop of early wrinkles.
Better is the use of one of the following lotions. 1. One and
one-quarter ounces of Green soap, two and one-half drachms
alcohol, two and one-half drachms glycerine, one and one-half
drachms borax. 2. Two and a half drachms rosewater, two and a
half drachms spirits of lavender, two and a half ounces alcohol.
After they have been rubbed in, the blackheads may be removed
with a watch key. Never risk infection by squeezing out
black-heads with the fingers. Once they are removed, close the
pores with alcohol.
Pimples and Blotches. -- An absolutely clean skin has no
pimples. Hence the cleaner your skin, the less likely pimples
are to appear. Women are more apt to have pimples than men, but
are also more skilled in removing them. "Acne" is a spread of
pimples due to improper blood conditions. It usually occurs
during puberty, and calls for medical treatment. The use of
salves is not recommended and though carbolated vaseline tends
to dry pimples up, it increases oily skin conditions.
A purely surface pimple, after an alcohol wipe, may have its
head (the little yellow point) pricked. After the pus has been
squeezed out, clean with a bit of cotton soaked in alcohol. The
use of warm water and Ivory soap with a flesh brush, rinsing
with cold water (and after drying, steaming the face every
fourth day), should cause pimples to disappear. A grateful and
healing lotion, too, may be made by mixing an ounce of tincture
of haxnamelis with an equal amount of warm water, and applying
frequently.
Tan and Moth Spots. --Too many coats of tan--Nature's skin
protection against sunburn -- coarsen the skin. The so called
"moth spots," brown spots or patches which appear after middle
life, are due to this tan pigment. Any lotion which is
efficacious for freckles is good for tan. A teaspoonful of milk,
to which a little common salt has been added, may be applied at
night and washed off in the morning. Another good lotion is made
up of two ounces of lemon juice, a half drachm of borax,
powdered, one drachm of powdered white sugar.
It should stand for several days before using, then be applied
as in the preceding case. A mixture of lemon juice and carbonate
of magnesia is also valuable in correcting skin discolorations.
It should be allowed to remain some time after it has been
applied to the skin.
Warts and Moles. --Moth spots are only "bleached" by these
lotions, and usually have to be removed by the specialist. A
good dermatologist can easily remove the small, brown moles
which are often encountered. An old-fashioned remedy, yet one
which "works," is: when the mole protrudes enough, to wind a
hair tightly around it. If the hair is allowed to remain, the
mole gradually detaches itself and falls off. Small moles should
be at once removed, lest they grow larger. The same applies to
raised, colorless moles. Red moles should never be touched.
Cancer often results if an attempt be made to remove them.
Warts are usually harmless. They are apt to disappear of their
own accord. In general, your family physician or a skin
specialist of standing should be consulted for any serious skin
disorder. Avoid the common run of beauty doctors, and the "home
treatment" salves and ointments, for all troubles that go beyond
tan, sunburn, freckles, pimples, blackheads and chapping.