A Handbook of Health

by Woods Hutchinson

CARE OF THE NAILS

Importance of Clean Nails. On account of their constant use, your hands are brought in contact with dusty or dirty substances in your work and in your play; and it is very easy for some of this dirt, and such germs as it may contain, to lodge in the little chink under the free edge of the nail, between it and the rounded end of the finger. It is of great importance that this nail chink should be kept clean, not only because it looks both ugly and untidy to have the ends of your fingers "in mourning," with black bands across them, but also because the germs lodged under your nails may get onto your food the next time that you eat, and set up irritation and fermentation in your stomach. They may also cause other trouble; for instance, if your collar chafes the back of your neck, and to relieve the itching you rub it a little too hard with your finger, your nail may scratch the skin; and if it be blackened with infectious dirt, this may get into the little scratch and give rise to a boil, or a festering sore.

How to Clean the Nails. This cleaning of the nails, however, must be done carefully and gently; for, if too harsh methods are used, the delicate skin on the under surface of the nail will be torn, the nail will be roughened or split, the dirt will work in just that much deeper next time, and the germs in it may set up inflammations under the nail. For this reason it is best not to use a sharp-pointed knife in cleaning the nails, but a blunt-pointed nail cleaner, such as can be bought for a few cents at any drug store, or such as many pocket-knives are now provided with. It is also best to trim the nails with a file or with scissors, instead of a knife, as the latter may split or tear the nail, or cut down to the quick. Before any of these are used, the nails should be thoroughly softened in warm water, and scrubbed with a moderately stiff nailbrush, such as should be kept on every washstand.

It is also best not to push back the fold of skin at the base of the nails, with instruments of any sort; or indeed, with anything harder than the ball of the thumb or finger. This fold protects the delicate growing part, or root, of the nail; and if it is shoved back too vigorously, the root may become exposed, or even inflamed and infected, and cause one of those extremely irritating little sores known as a "hangnail."

DISEASES AND DISTURBANCES OF THE SKIN

Their Chief Causes. Skin troubles are of two main kinds according to their cause: internal, due to the irritation of waste-poisons, or toxins, in the blood; and external, from direct injury or irritation of the skin from without.

The latter are often due to the wearing of too tight or too heavy clothing, or the failure properly to wash, cleanse, and ventilate the skin. Some of the lesser disturbances come from the chafing of collars, wristlets, and belts, and are, of course, relieved by loosening the clothing or substituting soft, comfortable cotton for rasping flannels. Others come from the use of too strong soaps, or the too frequent use of hot water, or too vigorous scrubbing of the skin, and these can be relieved by the avoidance of their cause.

Sunburn and Freckles and how to Cure Them. Upon the hands and face, sunburn and freckles may occur from exposure to the weather. They are not caused necessarily by exposure to direct sunlight; as the bright light and the cold air out of doors, also, will produce this irritating effect upon the skin.

The best way to cure sunburn is to bathe in cool water, take a night's rest, then go out the next day, and the day after, and take another dose of exposure, keeping this up until your face is hardened to stand a reasonable amount of sun. If you are in proper condition, neither your face nor your hands will sunburn uncomfortably. If they do, except under extreme exposure, it is a sign that you have not been living out of doors enough.

The various face-washes and creams and dusting powders which are used for the relief of sunburn, while they may, if mild enough, make the face feel somewhat more comfortable for a little time, owe most of their virtues to the fact that they are generally used at bedtime and then get the credit for the cure which nature works while you are asleep. If you should buy them, and keep them on your dressing-table unopened, where you could see them before you went to bed, you would in nine cases out of ten be just as much better in the morning as if you had used them.