Water skin

“ You have often seen little drops of water on your skin, when you were very hot. This sweat, or perspiration, as we call it, cools the body by making the skin moist. You know how cold it makes you to be wrapped in a wet sheet. Well, the skin cools you in just the same way, when it becomes wet with sweat. The sweat comes from the blood under the skin; so that, as we saw before, by letting this moisture pass through, the skin acts as a sieve to let out the waste from the blood. ”

“ It is not wonderful that so many people have torpid skins. The remedy is obvious, and always available.
How to Make the Skin Healthy.—A man who has a perfectly healthy skin is nearly certain to be healthy in other respects. In no way can the health of the skin be preserved but by frequent bathing. A daily or tri-weekly bath, accompanied by friction, will keep the skin clean, supple, and vigorous. There is no reason why the whole surface of the body should not be washed as well as the face and hands. ”

“ Some of our own species seem fairly to dread the touch of water. When the necessity of absolute cleanliness by means of frequent baths was being preached by a friend who had been reading Combe’s Physiology, in which he had learned something of the wonders of the skin with its millions of pores that had to be kept [189] open for health, one of our neighbors remarked: “Oh! that’s unnatural. It’s well enough to wash in a tub maybe once or twice a year, but not to be paddling in the water all the time like a frog in a spring-hole.” ”

“ Many people are afraid to use cold water after hot, in bathing, for fear they will take cold, but that is just the way to prevent such a result from the hot bath. The hot water has caused all the pores on the surface of the body to open, and the bodily heat is rapidly lost through this cause. The cold water, quickly applied, causes the pores to close, leaves the skin in a tonic condition, and conserves the bodily heat. ”

“ Salt-water is more energetic in its action on the skin than fresh, and, after a dip in the sea, there is not the same liability to take cold from insufficient drying as after a fresh-water bath. Some bathers go so far as to habitually only half-dry themselves, the saline particles left on the skin further exciting its action, and producing a healthy and more vigorous glow. ”

“ As the water evaporates, it leaves behind these non-volatile poisons, which are deposited as a thin film over the whole surface of the skin. As each day passes, the process continues, and the film thickens. If the skin is moderately active, three or four days suffice to form a layer which may be compared to a thin coating of varnish or sizing. ”

“ In the case of medicated baths we therefore only look (in addition to the action of heat and cold, or more properly to the abstraction or communication and retention of heat) to any stimulant action on the skin that the ingredients of the bath may possess.
The powerful influence of water on the capillaries of the skin, and the mode and extent of that operation, depend primarily on the temperature of the fluid. The human system bears changes of temperature of the air much better than changes of the temperature of water. ”

“ A fallen skin contains less water than when in the swollen condition, but the difference between the percentages of water in the skin in the two states is only relatively small, and obviously insufficient in itself to account for the great difference in the physical properties of the skin in the two conditions. ”

“ Very few stand the test of the bath. It is there that they can be judged, from the ankle to the throat. Especially on leaving the water are the defects revealed, although water is a powerful aid to flabby skin. ”

“ It is a well-known physiological law that it is necessary, in order to enable the skin to carry on its healthful action, to have washed off with water the constant cast of scales which become mingled with the unctuous and saline products, together with particles of dirt which coat over the pores, and thus interfere with the development of the hairs. Water for ablution can be of any temperature that may be acceptable and agreeable, according to the custom and condition of the bather's health. ”

“ When the foul matters which ought to be eliminated by the skin and quickly removed from the body are allowed to remain unremoved, the skin becomes clogged and inactive, soon loses its natural luster and color, becoming dead, dark, and unattractive. ”

“ As to the use of water on the body, this physiology has to be taken into account. The skin is covered with scales that are constantly dropping off as they mature, each to uncover a bright, clean one. As the{203} skin is not an absorbent membrane, and as old scales are constantly dropping off, the need of frequent baths is more a need to satisfy the personal sense of cleanliness than a physiological need. ”

“ The bog-earth is well picked, and in some places sifted, so as to remove all the fibrous and woody parts, leaving the fat unctuous substance to be mixed with the mineral water of the place. In general these baths produce a pricking sensation, and sometimes an eruption on the skin, an effect which I did not experience. ”

“ Rain-water, too, is useful to the eyes, but it makes the trachea and the lungs rough, just as oil does, although it soothes the skin; and the sea-torpedo placed on the extremities makes them numb, but is harmless when placed on the rest of the body. ”

“ Besides the sweat glands there are glands which exude fatty substances upon the skin, keeping it suitably lubricated and somewhat impervious to water. In some animals this secretion is so abundant that the skin cannot become wet in swimming. ”

“ It is this function of the sweat glands which makes it necessary for us to bathe the surface of our bodies with water. Dirt, in the ordinary sense of the word, is not harmful to a sound skin. Our reason for bathing is really to remove the wastes which we ourselves have poured upon the surface of the skin. ”

“ The prevailing opinion among medical men is, that the latter is by far the more efficacious in most disorders, and more conducive to health than the former; because, where a person continues immersed in saline water for some time, it enters into the pores of the skin, and by that means is more likely to be of benefit in cutaneous or other disorders for which it is usually recommended. ”

“ In our chapter on the use of water as an irrigator for the internal man, we told you of the importance of keeping the pores open, and how soon a man would die if his pores were sealed, as shown by experiments and occurrences in the past. And this accumulation of worn-out cells, oil, perspiration, etc., will at least partially seal up the pores unless the body is kept clean. And then, again, this filth on the surface of the skin is an invitation for stray germs and bacteria to take up their abode there and thrive. ”

“ It is safe, and for many reasons most beneficial, to use cold water. The flesh brush is of great service in stimulating the skin to action, opening and cleaning out the pores, promoting a copious circulation of blood, and producing a healthful and exhilarating glow ”

“ By absorption they produce skin diseases not without danger and very difficult to cure. Hence when handling the wet tissue the fingers should be protected by India rubber tips, and any yellow, stains on the hands should be rubbed with a dilute solution of aqueous ammonia, and the hands well rinsed in water. ”

“ Through the pores of the skin the body gets rid of much waste and poisonous matter. Therefore remove this and keep the pores open by bathing once every day, if possible. If water is scarce, rub the body over with a wet towel. ”

“ He never takes a bath, because he thinks that if he bathes often he is more susceptible to cold, that a covering [42] of dirt serves as clothing, although he frequently gets wet either in the rain or when fishing or crossing streams. This is probably one reason why skin diseases are so common. ”

“ We know besides, that the pores of the skin can absorb not only the moisture that floats in the atmosphere, but a variety of foreign bodies, whether noxious or medicinal, which may be applied to their orifices; and as the air is in certain places loaded with noxious matter, may not clothing be considered as a filter, as it were, to separate the impurities of the air before it comes in contact with the surface of the body? ”

“ Taking a bath and using soap and brush, and creating a friction until there is a red reaction of the skin, may then prevent the danger of catching cold, but after such a bath it is most important not to leave with a hot, red skin and opened pores, but to cause their contraction by a quick cold douche, continued at intervals until the skin is cooled and the pores thereby contracted. An energetic friction of the skin must follow before leaving the bathing place. ”

“ We hurried on—men and animals together rushing into the stream, the men lapping the water up like dogs, and dipping their whole bodies in without even stopping to pull off any of their clothes. It is a wonder the sudden change from heat to cold did not kill some of us; but the fact is, that our pores were so completely closed up with dust that the bath, by removing the dirt, allowed the perspiration to escape and saved us from fever. ”

“ This seems also to be the reason why bathing in Mineral waters are such soveraign remedies for multitudes of distempers, especially chronical; for the liquid & warm vehicles of the Mineral particles, which are known to be in very considerable quantities in those healing baths, by the body’s long stay in them, do by degrees steep and insinuate themselves into the pores and parts of the skin, and thereby those Mineral particles have their ways and passages open’d to penetrate into the inner parts, and mingle themselves with the stagnant juices of the several parts ”

“ For all derangements of the stomach, liver, and kidneys, chronic diarrhœa, chronic thrush, and for delicate females, these waters enjoy a wide and rapidly-growing reputation; while for diseases of the skin, or cutaneous affections of whatever sort, they are invaluable, and perhaps not surpassed by any mineral waters known. ”

“ The bath should be daily. Now do not say that you have not the time, for the sponge bath—which will make the blood tingle and the flesh glow—can be got through with in almost no time. It is most imperative that the secretions of the skin and the dust gathered during the day should be removed. When the body is not kept scrupulously clean the complexion is sure to suffer, for there the pores of the skin are most susceptible, and eruptions and blackheads come from very slight causes. When the hands become rough and tender, and will not stand soap, prepare a little almond meal. ”

“ As the free entrance of air to the pores is an essential condition for skin respiration, and as the elimination of harmful products is only possible when the pores remain open, we must get rid of the foreign matters which clog them, for which purpose we take a bath. ”

“ It is evident that the skin, with its myriads of blood-vessels, nerves, and sweat and oil glands, is an exceedingly complicated and important structure. The surface is continually casting off perspiration, oily material, and dead scales. By friction and regular bathing we get rid of these waste materials. If this be not thoroughly done, the oily secretion holds the particles of waste substances to the surface of the body, while dust and dirt collect, and form a layer upon the skin. ”

“ It is necessary, however, that the skin should be maintained continually moist; for if it become dry, its action ceases, and death is the speedy result. “But,” remarks Professor Bell, “as the frog is frequently exposed to a dry atmosphere, it is essential that there should be some provision made for a constant supply of moisture to the skin. ”

“ However, for those who are not strong enough to take a large amount of exercise, and who cannot in this way bring about free perspiration, other methods of accelerating the activity of the pores of the skin may be employed. I have already referred to the influence of air baths, friction baths and sun baths. Remember that through these agencies the pores may be made very active without any apparent result in the form of liquid perspiration, for under ordinary conditions perspiration evaporates and the body may not become wet. ”

“ In order to understand the value of bathing we must glance briefly at the anatomy and physiology of the skin. In the first place, we have on the entire outer surface of the body a layer of membrane, like thin leather, called the epidermis or cuticle ”

“ In order to avoid catching cold in such an air bath it is advisable to rub the entire skin surface of the body. This causes much blood to be brought to the skin; thus more blood is conveyed to the sudorific glands which are thereby enabled to absorb a larger quantity of harmful matters from it, while at the same time more air can be taken in by the pores. While rubbing—which is best done by a brush—we can also move about, and while standing also beat the periphery of the body with a thick rough towel in the same way as in Finland they do with brushwood after hot baths. ”

“ Besides removing, by a bath, the injurious products that clog the pores, we must take particular care to allow air to penetrate to the pores as freely as possible, thus permitting a free issue to the body exhalations and facilitating respiration by the skin. ”

“ The bath should not be so hot that you cannot bear your hand in it. It will act like magic. Then you can gradually finish your work on the skin, so as to keep it safe from harm. Very often quick work, and a warm bath with plenty of alum in it, will save a skin in fine, mountable shape, when nothing else will. The alum acts as a powerful astringent, drawing together the fibres of the epidermis around the root of each individual hair, and likewise binding together the cutis and epidermis. ”