Personal hygiene and physical training for women

by Anna M. Galbraith

A strong woman, who has always been accustomed to taking cold baths, may all the year round, except just before, during, and immediately after the menstrual period, take a cold dip on rising in the morning. It must be literally a quick dip in a tubful of cold water, from 65° to 55° F., or, if she is sufficiently strong to stay in the tub longer, there must be a constant brisk friction kept up while in the water.

It is permitted only a woman in good health, with a strong heart and normal kidneys, to get into a tub of cold water, take a cold plunge, or attempt sea-bathing.

For the woman who is a semi-invalid, the only time allowable for a cold tonic bath is in the afternoon.

In cold weather the shower, like all other forms of baths, must be taken in a warm room. The shower bath can be taken every day to the greatest possible advantage. An ideal way is to rest for half an hour on coming home in the afternoon; to sleep, if possible, then take a quick scrub, and follow it first by the hot shower of 100° to 104° F., and finish with the cold shower. A brisk rubbing should be kept up until the skin is in a good healthy glow. This bath is followed by a feeling of great exhilaration, and it gives a beautiful glow to the face and skin. It removes the tired feeling of the day’s work, and leaves one feeling greatly refreshed for the evening. A daily ablution or a daily shower, with friction, will not cause an undue removal of the oil of the skin. All cold baths, when given in suitable cases, tone up the system to resist disease, and are the best preventives against ordinary colds and sore throat.

A hot tub-bath is best taken at night just before retiring. In winter it must never be taken immediately before going out-of-doors, because the pores of the skin are more or less open and there is great danger of chilling. A hot tub-bath, remaining in the bath for some minutes, should not be taken more than twice a week, as it is too debilitating, and a prolonged stay in the hot water causes an actual loss of flesh.

A woman may take a warm sponge bath in a warm room at any time of the month, but during the menstrual period she must, under no consideration, take a cold tub-bath or even a cold sponge-bath, since this would be apt to cause a chill of the surface of the body and a congestion, if not an actual inflammation, of the pelvic organs.

No bath should be taken within two hours after eating, as the bath draws the blood from the stomach toward the surface of the body and so interferes with digestion.

The Care of Wash-cloths.—After using each time, the wash-cloth must be thoroughly washed, well rinsed, and hung up to dry. But this is not sufficient: once every week all wash-cloths must be sent to the laundry to be boiled, thus insuring the destroying of any germs that may lurk in the cloth. If a woman has any kind of skin disease, it is quite possible for her to reinfect herself after the disease has apparently become cured. Further, each member of the family should have her own individual towels, soap, and wash-cloths. Aside from all sanitary questions, in a matter so intimate as the bath, there is something repulsive in the thought of having your toilet articles used by any one else.

A pure Castile soap is one of the best that can be used. All cheap scented soaps should be avoided, as they are apt to contain impure materials that will actually injure the skin. If the skin is rough, rubbing it with a good sand-soap, and rubbing the same on the flesh-brush, will remove many of the scales and leave the skin much smoother and softer. Medicated soaps should never be used except by the direction of a physician.

Cleansing the Face.—The face should be well washed twice a day with cool or cold water, but the temperature of the water should not be below 60° F. The degree of coolness must be determined by the feelings and judgment of the individual. If the face were washed with very hot or very cold water, and then exposed to the cold air, the skin would become rough and chapped. The water should be soft. To soften hard water, put 1 pound of bran into a muslin bag, place in 4 quarts of water, and boil for fifteen minutes. Add enough of this bran water to the bath to make the water milky.