BEWARE HOW YOU SUN-BATHE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18014, 26 November 1926, Page 12

BEWARE HOW YOU SUN-BATHE.

Most people’s idea of taking a sunbath is to choose an intensely hot day. and having found a deserted spot, to lie basking in the direct rays for a couple of hours or more. This is as sensible as if, having heard that arsenic is good for the blood, they proceeded to swallow an ounce or two because you can’t have too much of a good thing! The sun is the most potent, health-creating force in the world; but only harm can come of its The greatest authority in the world on the science of sun-bathing is Rollier, and one cannot do better, if one wishes to get the best out of sunbathing, than to follow’ his instructions. A Little at One Time. According to him, the essence of the matter is to begin by exposing a limited part of the body for a very short time, and then each day to increase both the area exposed and the period, of exposure. Thus, on the first day, you would expose to the sun only the feet, and you would do this for three periods of five minutes each. On the second day you might include the legs for the same period, increasing to three ten-minute periods on the third daj’. Gradually the arms are added, and then the abdomen, and finally the trunk—until, after no less than a fortnight, the whole body may be exposed for two hours a day. The Correct Symptoms. You will soon know if you are getting the right, health-giving amount of sun. If after each sun-bath you feel invigorated, cool, and full of desire for strenuous exercise, you know you may go forw*ard. Soon your skin will acquire the beautiful bronze pigmentation and the velvety texture that only the sun can confer. If the skin, however, becomes hot, red and burning, and you feel tired and a little sick, it is a warning that you arc attempting too much. In this case, to quote Kipling, “ The worst of your foes is the sun overhead.” You must expose less of your body and for a shorter time. And, finally, it is better to lie in the sun bathed in cool air than to swelter. The health-giving value of the sun is not in the heat waves, but in the invisible, cool ultra-violet.