371. Young people are subject to Pimples on the Face, what is the remedy?
These hard red pimples (acne) are a common and an obstinate affection of the skin, principally affecting the forehead, the temples, the nose, and the cheeks; occasionally attacking the neck, the shoulders, the back, and the chest; and as they more frequently affect the young, from the age of 15 to 35, and are disfiguring, they cause much annoyance. “These pimples are so well known by most persons as scarcely to need description; they are conical, red, and hard; after awhile, they become white, and yellow at the point, then discharge a thick yellow-colored matter, mingled with a whitish substance, and become covered by a hard, brown scab, and lastly, disappear very slowly, sometimes very imperfectly, and often leaving an ugly scar behind them. To these symptoms are not unfrequently added considerable pain, and always much unsightliness. When these little cones have the black head of a ‘grub’ at their point, they constitute the variety termed spotted acne. These latter often remain stationary for months, without increasing or becoming red; but when they inflame, they are nowise different in their course from the common kind.”[[307]]
I find, in these cases, great benefit to be derived from bathing the face, night and morning, with strong salt and water—a tablespoonful of table salt to a teacupful of water; by paying attention to the bowels; by living on plain, wholesome, nourishing food; and by taking a great deal of out-door exercise. Sea bathing, in these cases, is often very beneficial. Grubs and worms have a mortal antipathy to salt.
372. What is the cause of a Gum-boil?
A decayed root of a tooth, which causes inflammation and abscess of the gum, which abscess breaks, and thus becomes a gum-boil.
373. What is the treatment of a Gum-boil?
Foment the outside of the face with a hot chamomile and poppy-head fomentation,[[308]] and apply to the gum-boil, between the cheek and the gum, a small white-bread and milk poultice,[[309]] which renew frequently.
As soon as the gum-boil has become quiet, by all means have the affected tooth extracted, or it might cause disease, and consequently serious injury of the jaw; and whenever the patient catches cold there will be a renewal of the inflammation, of the abscess, and of the gum-boil, and, as a matter of course, renewed pain, trouble, and annoyance. Moreover, decayed fangs of teeth often cause the breath to be offensive.
374. What is the best remedy for a Corn?
The best remedy for a hard corn is to remove it. The usual method of cutting, or of paring a corn away, is erroneous. The following is the right way: Cut with a sharp pair of pointed scissors around the circumference of the corn. Work gradually round and round and toward the center. When you have for some considerable distance well loosened the edges, you can either with your finger or with a pair of forceps generally remove the corn bodily, and that with little pain and without the loss of any blood.