Personal hygiene and physical training for women

by Anna M. Galbraith

For the congestion of the liver, which is so often at the bottom of these disorders, it is generally necessary to consult a physician.

Pure air, associated with the proper kinds of exercise, promotes the functions of the skin, assists in keeping the blood in good condition, increases the vigor, keeps the complexion clear and increases its beauty; while, on the other hand, a sedentary life in a confined air produces a pallid and frequently a blotched skin, with headache and dyspepsia.

Steaming the Face.—It seems that the blood-vessels of the skin are much better able to absorb vapor than water. The vapor penetrates and softens the epidermis much better than the simple application of water would. The increased secretion from the skin which is thus caused is beneficial. After using the vapor bath the outer layers of the epidermis peel off and the complexion is improved by the substitution of new pigment. The absorption of the moisture also causes a roundness of the skin and a filling out of the wrinkles. Generally, vapor baths can be used in those cases of skin diseases where the skin is rough and dry. Next in importance to the vapor bath is steaming the face. Bathing the face with very hot water is also recommended.

Massage of the Skin.—Where the complexion is sallow, or there is a tendency to pimples or blotches, massage of the skin of the face will do much to improve the circulation.

The massage is most effective when it follows steaming or washing the face in hot water. The tips of the fingers should be dipped in cold cream, and then, pressure being exerted by them, the skin of the forehead should be deeply stroked from the middle line out over the temples. The nose should be stroked from the bridge outward and downward. The skin of the cheeks should be pinched up and rolled between the fingers and thumb. All these movements facilitate the emptying of the follicles.

Never use an ointment on the face that contains vaselin or lanolin, but particularly the former, as they are both apt to produce a growth of hair, but these preparations are excellent to increase the growth of the eyebrows.

Wrinkles.—In very many cases wrinkles are the result of habit of expression, as in scowling; or an expression of dejection, when the angles of the mouth curve downward, and so forth.

There are twenty-eight muscles about the mouth. Since all these muscles are developed by use, the mouth comes to assume the expression given to it by the thoughts of the individual. The figurative expression, “down at the mouth,” comes to be literally true, and the angles of the mouth are seen to be habitually drooping, until at last this is the fixed expression of the face. A healthy frame of mind is the only means to keep the face from being converted into a map of wrinkles and drooping angles at the mouth.

Fig. 3.—Muscles of the right side of the head and neck.