TALKS ON HEALTH

Greymouth Evening Star, 7 November 1931, Page 4

TALKS ON HEALTH

SORES ON THE FACE [by a family doctor.] Sores on the face are, not only irritating and painful, but cause mental anxiety as well, on account of the dis'figurement. They spread over the face and head very rapidly, because the secretion from one sore infect a fresh area of skin and produces another crop. This secretion, or matter, from the sores can easily be conveyed to another person through the medium of towels or handkerchiefs or pillows, or, in the case of children, by direct contact fi«om kissing. If I can satisfy myself that a man knows how to look after himself and protect others from infection, I sometimes allow him to continue at work. But I frequently find it advisable to keep a man or a female worker from work for a few days at first. It is fairer to their fel-lew-worlters, and it enables the patient to devote more time and care to the management of his own case. I ncvei allow children to remain in school with sores on their faces.

METHOD OF TREATMENT In the treatment of this complaint the attention is directed tb two objects: (1) The removal of the scabs; and (2) the application of some antiseptic ointment or lotion. The first part of the treatment should not be overlooked—it is Important to remove lhe scabs. It is useles to apply ointment to the scab; the beneficial effect can oly be obtained by applying the ointment to the raw skin underneath the scab. The sores should be treated with the ointment, or lotion about, four times a day. If any difficulty is found in removing the scabs, a fomentation should be applied. This is d'one by taking some pink boracic lint, folding it double, and wringing it out of water as hot as can be boine. One or two fomentations will loosen the scabs, and they can then be lifted off with a pair of scissors or a blunt knife. All old dressings should be burnt; they should never be used again.

SOAP AND, WATER Have you ever noticed that boils on the back of the neck always grow on masculine and never on feminine necks? This at once suggests that the chafing of the collar is one of the predisposing causes of boils on the neck. But. that is not all. The collar is half the story, the other half is the little glands and pores of the skin. These pores get clogged up and in an unhealthy, state —first a blackhead forms, then a red pimple, and finally it comes to a head and a tiny abscess appears. Just as a stately mansion may be consumed by a conflagration starting from a glowing match in a' wastepaper basket, so an enormous boil may start from a microscopic blackhead. This suggests the treatment. Th'ose clogged-up pores must be attacked before they become abscesses, and the attack is made with soap and water. I do not suggest for a moment that you do not wash vour necks, but there is no doubt that to cleanse those pores something more than ordinary washing is needed. It requires friction with a rough towel, rubbing and squeezing for some minutes at a time. The treatment should be vigorous.

BLACKHEADS The spots on the skin that doctors call acne are difficult to remove. They can he attacked by two meth- ' ods—the local and the general treatjinent. The local treatment to the | face can be carried out. as follows: I'The face should he steamed so as to open the pores. After a few minutes’ steaming the skin should be gently squeezed and pinched and massaged.to empty the little pockets of the skin of their contents. Blackheads may be squeezed out or removed by pressing the end of a small key 'over them. Spots that have come to a head must be pricked with a needle, and the matter carefully jwiped off with a clean piece of lint; i the matter from the little abscess must not be smeared over the skin. (When all the blackheads have been removed and the pustules pricked the face must be washed thoroughly with I plain water, and wiped over with pieces of soft lint that can be thrown away.

A MASK FOR THE FACE The water used for the washing is hot and is gradually cooled by adding cold water. Water is cheap, and plenty of it may be used. The massaging of the skin has brought all the stale perspiration and clotted dust and grease on to the surface of the jskin, and the object of the washing lis to carry away all that debris. Do I not use soap. The skins of young , people with acne are generally too greasy, and to add greasy soap to greasy skins is to add fuel to the fire. Finish up the washing with quite cold water. Then from a piece of white lint cut out a mask to fit the face, and make holes for the eyes and mouth. Soak the mask in calamine lotjon and apply it to the face. You can lie down and read a book with the mask on. The stuff may be kept on the fact for half-an-hour or so. The powder left on when the lotion dries need not be removed. The whole process should be carried out at night before going to bed.

DISEASES DUE TO BAD TEETH Toothache, neuralgia, gumboil, face ache, swollen jaws, are all to be put on the preventable list. Dyspepsia is to be dimissed. And please remember that the back teeth are very near the tonsils, and bad teeth are a very common cause of tonsilitis. Many a sore throat have I cured by persuading the sufferer to have the septic stumps out. The fangs of the teeth extend far up into the bone of the jaw. Disease of the fangs is a common cause of abscess of the pose. We ought to breathe through our noses, but most of us breathe through ■ our mouths. The air which is carried 'down into our lungs is laden with the igenns that live in the mouth. If you had lived in a hospital, as I have, you would remember many patients on whose head*,boards was written “Septic Pneumonia.” That means that the lungs are inflamed by the septic matter beinfc inhaled into them. The pneumonia would have been prevented if only the mouths had been dean.