A FAMILY DOCTOR'S ADVICE ON SEA-BATHING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 9022, 29 October 1892, Page 2 (Supplement)

A FAMILY DOCTOR'S ADVICE ON SEA-BATHING.

If we consider the effects of sea-bathing from a practical point of view, we noticethat there are great factors which determine whether it is expedient for any particular person to bathe. In the act of bathing, the immersion in the cold water abstracts a certain quantity of heat from the body. lis loss of heat is replaced by greater activity in our tissues, and the greater activity in the tissues necessitates an increased supply of food. It follows, therefore, that the system (1) must bo able to withstand the initial depressant action ; (2) that it must be able to react vigorously ; and (3) that it must be capable of digesting and absorbing more food. We may conclude from these considerations that seabathing is not for young children, nor for old people, nor for the weak, nor for those whose digestive powers aro so impaired as to prevent an increased solution and absorption of food ; but for those in youth and early maturity, whose physical powers enable them to overcome sucessfully the greater strain thrown upon the system. Owing to the great changes in the bloodsupply induced by cold bathing, persons who suffer from a diseased heart or a feeble circulation ought to abstain from bathing except under very special circumstances. Certain precautions must, however, bo observed even by the most robust. 1. If the body bo in an over-heated state, the sudden rush of blood to internal organs duo to its displacement from the surface vessels may induce a "congestion," which may bo only temporary, or which may if it readies a certain intensity cause serious illness. 2. Bathing must not bo indulged in immediately after a meal. Dining the reaction tho blood is withdrawn from those organs which need a large supply for tho duo exorcise of their digestive functions. .'}. Nor after a too long abstention from food — for under these circumstances tho reaction is apt to bo delayed or foeblo. 4. Another obvious precaution is to avoid remaining an inordinate length of time in the water. Reaction begins in from throe to five minutes, and lasts a varying length of time, not often exceeding ten to fifteen minutes. lb is well to leave tho water before tho reaction is succeeded by depression, for tho secondary depression is more profound and lasting. Continuous motion of tho limbs while in tho water, as in swimming, diminishes tho depression, and enables tho immersion to bo prolonged. Cramps aro induced by a lengthy immersion, and the bracing of tho system is replaced by exhaustion. Tho bather may then suffer from lassitude and fatigue for many hours. , 5. Although cold bathing is more valuable for the proper hygienic oare of the skin, yob persons with irritable skins or suffering from any skin disease would bo well advised to abstain from sea-bathing.— Ifroia OftßWll'a Family Magazine.