Bath (hygiene)

“ Bathing.—The solid material from the perspiration, which is left on the skin, together with the oil from the oil glands and the dirt from the outside, tends to close up the pores and develop offensive odors. Keeping the skin clean is, for these reasons, necessary from both a health and a social standpoint. While one should always keep clean, the frequency of the bath will depend upon the season, the occupation of the individual, and the nature and amount of the perspiration. ”

“ For purposes of cleanliness the warm bath is the most efficient, combined with the free use of soap. The chief objection to it is that it produces an increased flow of blood to the skin, by relaxing the cutaneous blood-vessels, thus increasing the danger of chills if there is subsequent exposure. The increased sensibility to cold resulting from a warm bath may be obviated by afterwards rapidly sponging the body all over with cold water, and then drying the body quickly, and using the friction of a moderately rough towel. ”

“ Bathing promotes health by its immediate and remote 316 physiological effects on the system. When the body is moistened with a sponge wet with cold water, or when an affusion by the sponge or shower-bath is used, the skin instantly shrinks, and the whole of its tissue contracts. ”

“ But however important and beneficial the use of water in this way may be, the effects arising from the immersion of the body in that liquid, as in the practice of bathing, are far more extensive and complete. What the one does usefully but not completely, the other accomplishes readily, satisfactorily, and perfectly. There is no absolute succedaneum for the entire bath. Its physiological effects are peculiar to itself, and of the utmost importance in pathology and hygiene. ”

“ It is, however, to be preferred in those instances where cold water produces disagreeable effects, and if the bath be not too long continued it is followed by no ill results. Persons who become lean under cold baths not uncommonly take on flesh when they begin to use warm ones. ”

“ A great deal has been written about the value of a cold bath, particularly in the morning, and many people, from a sense of duty, suffer what is almost torture taking a shower bath or a cold plunge bath on rising. When a cold bath (which should not last more than a few seconds) is followed by a good reaction, that is, when after drying, a distinct glow is felt, there is no objection to its use, and undoubtedly it has a tonic effect for those whose vitality is able to endure the shock. ”

“ The different kinds of Baths.—All persons are not alike able to use the cold bath. When the health is vigorous, and the system does not feel a shock after such a bath, a prompt reaction and glow upon the surface will show that it is beneficial. ”

“ As we are daily getting rid of the above-mentioned skin scales, so it behooves us to take a daily bath. It is not necessary to stay in the bath more than ten to twelve minutes, or at the most fifteen. For the reasons above mentioned the effect of bathing is a rational hygiene of the skin. ”

“ In warm climates, and during hot weather, ablution should be more frequently practised. For a person in good health, a daily cold bath is advisable. To this should be added occasionally a tepid bath, with soap, water alone not being sufficient to remove impurities of a greasy nature. ”

“ Moreover, without frequent bathing it is impossible to keep the skin in good condition, since scales of dead skin, oily matter, and solid substances left by perspiration collect on the surface of the body when a person is lying still in bed as well as when he is leading an active life. The common belief that sick people are likely to catch cold from bathing is quite unfounded; every patient, unless his condition is such that the doctor orders otherwise, should have one complete cleansing bath each day. ”

“ The neglect of regular bathing results in overworking the liver and kidneys, and debilitates the skin. Regular bathing—ofttimes sweating baths—is very essential to the hygiene of pregnancy.30
The neutral bath (97 F.) is excellent to quiet the nerves and induce sleep. Morning bathing is an exceedingly valuable practice. If properly taken before breakfast or midway between breakfast and lunch, it is found to be refreshing and tonic in nature. The feet should be in warm water, the application of cold should be short and vigorous. ”

“ If the room is the right temperature and the bath is carefully taken there is no danger of a sick person taking cold. On the other hand bathing helps to keep people in condition to avoid taking colds. (See Red Cross Text Book on Home Hygiene and Care of the Sick, page 156.)
When a patient is very sick or helpless, the bath should be given by someone who is able to do it deftly and quickly, with the least exertion to the patient.
Very often, however, a person in bed is quite able to bathe herself, with a little help, if the necessary things are brought to her. ”

“ Such baths, also, are injurious to those who are pale and bloodless, or those who suffer from a tendency to congestion of the internal organs—excepting under medical advice. And, in addition, it must also be remembered that warm baths have claims for consideration from a cleansing point of view, and a few words upon them in this respect will not be thrown away. Now, the daily use of the cold bath, together with the assiduous application of soap, may be sufficient to keep the skin cleansed from impurities. ”

“ The body itself should be kept clean. Frequent bathing rids the body’s pores of clogging dirt and lets them do their important work of eliminating the body’s waste. A warm bath two or three times each week may serve, but a tepid bath each day followed by a cold sponge or shower is better. ”

“ When bathing is so much neglected, it is no marvel that paints, powders, lotions, and cosmetics of all sorts, are in such great demand. A daily bath, at the proper temperature, is the most agreeable and efficient of all cosmetics.
Bathing Protects against Colds.—It is an erroneous notion that bathing renders a person more liable to “take cold, by opening the pores.” ”

“ In order to insure functional activity of the surface of the body, frequent bathing is necessary at all times. For this purpose one cleansing bath daily is required. Dead, scaly particles of skin, dirt, and the products of perspiration are thus removed, and the other organs of elimination are relieved from the performance of extra labor. The rule of the body is that of cleanliness, internal and external. The importance of the daily cleansing bath during a fast period needs no further exposition. ”

“ Should the nature of the disease so require, the invalids may bathe twice a day. A purgative of cream of tartar or Epsom salts should be taken as a preparative for bathing in these baths. Strict attention to diet, daily exercise to favour perspiration, and great care to avoid exposure to damp or chills during the time of taking exercise, or coming from the bath, are requisite precautions. ”

“ Baths have their equal importance in sickness, and their direct effect upon many diseases. All the vital organs are affected through the skin, and by keeping it in a healthy condition the circulation of the 401blood, the action of the kidneys and bowels and all the digestive processes are promoted, many diseases warded off, and the assimilation of food aided. In many fevers, for instance, a sponge bath with water a few degrees cooler than the normal temperature of the body will give great comfort and relieve and reduce the temperature materially. ”

“ Numerous streams of cold water fall upon the neck, shoulders, and body of the patient who stands beneath the hose or reservoir. When the patient is plethoric, feeble, or nervous, or when some internal organ is diseased, the cold, shower bath should not be employed. In simple debility unaccompanied by inflammation or symptoms of internal congestion, its use proves advantageous. By moderating the force of the shower, and substituting tepid water, the most delicate persons can endure it and profit thereby. The usual means for inducing a good reaction, friction, and exercise, should be employed. ”

“ Never apply to the head such treatment as will cause shock, as the sudden cold douche, shower, or spray bath.
11. A light hand bath every morning will be none too frequent to preserve scrupulous bodily cleanliness. More than a week should never be allowed to elapse without a bath with warm water and soap. ”

“ Of course, certain baths may be advantageously prolonged in cases of disease; but no intelligent physician will now recommend the antiquated practice which we sometimes see represented by a patient seated in a tub, with an open book in hand.
24. It is of extreme importance that the patient should be carefully dried after any bath. A large sheet is much better for this purpose than a towel. An old linen or cotton sheet is preferable to a new one, being softer. Full directions are given under the heading, “Dry Rubbing-Sheet.”
25. A patient should never be left chilly after a bath. ”

“ Every house of any pretension ought to have a bathroom. Nothing would be more conducive to health than regular systematic bathing. A hot and cold bath, a sitz bath, and a shower bath—each and all in their turn—are grand requisites to preserve and procure health. ”

“ To promote cleanliness, I can recommend nothing preferable to bathing. The frequent use of tepid baths is not more grateful to the sense than it is salutary to the health and to beauty.... By such means, the women of the East render their skins softer than that of the tenderest babe in this climate.” “I strongly recommend to every lady to 28make a bath as indispensable an article in her house as a looking-glass.” ”

“ Where one is bathing for cleanliness he may well use soap and warm water over the whole surface of the body. If he takes this bath just before retiring, it is not necessary to take a cold shower or sponge at the end of the bath. If, however, one takes a warm soap bath in the morning the relaxing effect of the bath upon the skin makes it necessary to take a cold shower or a cold sponge after the warm bath in order to secure the tonic effect upon the skin and fortify one against catching cold. ”

“ The bath is a preventative of disease, by hardening the individual against the effects of variations and vicissitudes of temperature, by giving him power to resist miasmatic and zymotic affections, and by strengthening his system against scrofula, consumption, gout, rheumatism ”

“ Why We Bathe.—The first object of bathing is cleanliness. The importance of this object is so widely recognized as to have passed into a proverb, “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” A second object of the bath is to stimulate the functions of the skin. A large amount of waste matter is thrown off through the pores, and unless removed by frequent bathing, soon becomes clogged, and sickness ensues. A third object is the pleasurable exhilaration which attends a plunge into the swimming pool, stream, or surf. ”

“ There is no more invigorating process for preserving health, after the inhaling of pure air, than the daily use of the cold bath. The bath is not useful alone because it removes impurities from the skin ”

“ Much will depend upon whether the patient, when in good health, was very fond of the bath, and in the custom of taking it: for such persons, especially, feel the want of it, and are benefited if they are bathed, and injured if they are not. In general it suits better with cases of pneumonia than in ardent fevers; for the bath soothes the pain in the side, chest, and back; concocts the sputa, promotes expectoration, improves the respiration, and allays lassitude; for it soothes the joints and outer skin, and is diuretic, removes heaviness of the head, and moistens the nose. ”

“ Its effects on those debilitated by disease, on those exhausted by fatigue, and on those who are long exposed to it. First, in affection of the lungs, and intermittent fever, the bath is invariably had recourse to against the debilitating nightly perspirations. The temperature is kept low, not to increase the action of the heart or its secretions. This danger avoided, its effect is to subdue, by a healthy perspiration in a waking state, the unhealthy one in sleep. No one ever heard of any injury from the bath. ”

“ For cleansing, the warm bath is needed two or three times a week in winter, and every day in hot weather. The body surface is relatively [Pg 133] greater in children than in adults, and because of their greater activity and more rapid circulation, a relatively greater quantity of perspiration and waste material is constantly being poured out upon the skin. If this is not removed, it clogs the pores and thus keeps poisons within the body and prevents the normal absorption of oxygen through the skin.
The warm bath is best given at night, as a tub bath, before the supper, or an hour afterwards. ”

“ Our organs will for a time bear neglect or unhygienic conditions without protesting their annoyance. Many persons never use hot water or soap; others find one bath, in river or sea, quite sufficient for the year; others, again, feel the need of a bath once or even twice a month, or even once a week. But there are very few of us that seem to require a bath daily. ”

“ It has been my custom to recommend a hot soap-and-water bath once or twice a week, depending upon the individual requirements, and a daily cold bath. The hot bath is to be used as a cleansing agent while the cold bath is a tonic exclusively. A regimen of this sort will usually be satisfactory where one is taking a general system of exercise nearly every day which will insure a certain amount of internal functional activity. Note, however, that the cold bath, though of some value, is not necessary, when following the hot-water-drinking regimen. ”