The Feet. Wash the feet every night when a bath is not given. Dry thoroughly between the toes. Perspiration is acid and soon causes soreness if it remains. Once a week trim the nails, cutting straight. If the feet are cold, put in cold (75°-80°F.) or hot (96°) water for three minutes, apply a 25 per cent. solution of alcohol, rubbing dry. If cold from exposure, always use the cold water. Chronically cold feet indicate wrong shoes, poor general circulation, or need of more exercise for feet. Corns, callouses, bunions, or misshapen toes can be prevented by using shoes that are comfortable and adapted to the shape of the foot.
The strength of the arch should be increased by foot exercises: (1) Rising slowly on the toes and slowly descending, keeping the weight of the body on the soles; (2) Alternately stretching the toes and the heel; (3) Massaging the ankles. Braces in the shoe prevent development of ankle muscles. Braces and arch supporters should be worn only on the advice and prescription of a physician, if possible, an orthopedic specialist. Much harm may be done by their wrong use.
Care of the Hair. During the second year the head should be washed two or three times a week, or oftener if scurf appears. Use Castile or Palmolive soap and rinse thoroughly to remove all soap and prevent formation of scurf. If a crust appears, gently rub in fresh lard, olive oil, or liquid vaseline at night, and wash off in morning; never use a comb or harsh rubbing to remove. During the third and fourth year shampoo weekly, and thereafter every two or three weeks.
The shampoo should be given in the daytime, when there is ample time and means for drying quickly and thoroughly, preferably in the sun. The scalp should be massaged five or ten minutes every day, through childhood, to promote good circulation in the scalp and keep it loose and clean, and the hair brushed thoroughly to remove dust. This is Nature’s own tonic, and more effective than any bought at the drugstore. If the hair is thin, olive or cocoanut oil or vaseline rubbed into the scalp will stimulate new growth. Going without a hat (except, of course, in cold weather or hot sun) is beneficial for the hair. The hairbrush should be soft, and brush and comb should be cleaned every week. Tangles should be patiently and gently brushed out; braiding will prevent them.
Curly or straight hair is hereditary, and curls can be only temporarily produced in naturally straight hair. Heated irons, metal curlers, tightly rolled curlers, dampening the hair, are all injurious. For curling, only soft rags, or kid, on which the hair is loosely rolled, should be used, and these not applied at night around the head, to interfere with comfort in sleep.
When hair is trimmed, it should not be shaved off close at the base of the head, as is sometimes the fashion, leaving this most sensitive part of the head and neck suddenly and unduly exposed.
If the eyelashes or eyebrows are short, stubby, rough, light, they may be improved and darkened by daily application of vaseline, and brushing with a soft, narrow toothbrush. Such attention adds greatly to the beauty and expressiveness of the face, and will be a cause of much gratitude in later years.
Nose. The nose should be kept clean. For children under four, it should be cleaned every morning with the liquid vaseline or warm water, using a sterile piece of twisted gauze which is immediately wrapped in paper and disposed of. Repeat at night and during the day, if the nose is not clean. At three years, children should be able to blow the nose, and this should be a regular part of toilet-making both morning and evening.
In blowing the nose, one side should be held closed, while the other side is blown. To blow both sides at once produces pressure in the ears that may cause injury. Nasal douches are to be avoided except in illness and by the physician’s orders.
Avoid (1) dusty air, as in the city streets, or in a room that is being cleaned; (2) overdry air, as in artificially heated rooms. Both of these are thought to promote adenoids. The former contains many disease germs. The latter drys the mucous membrane, preventing, therefore, its work of germ destruction, and producing uncomfortable, cracked membrane.