Talks on Health

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18046, 5 January 1927, Page 15

Talks on Health

BY A FAMILY DOCTOR

A WORD TO THE BALD. Many people say try this or try that for baldness, but if there are no hair follicles in the scalp you will not. get any hair to grow. Therefore, when once it is established that there arc no roots for the hair to grow from, we will make up our minds to be bald and keep as cheerful as wc can. Of course, we will first of all spend a good ten-pound note or so on patent remedies—a hair restorer can make hair grow on a bald scalp just as easily as a patent gardener can make some lovely hyacinths grow from a bed in which no bulbs have been planted. And. after all, what are a couple of tenpound notes to us in these times? Nothing at all; if wc do not spend them on hair restorer we should only light our pipes with them. A Novel Hair Restorer. But if the hair has fallen out. and the roots are still in existence, we can do something to prevent baldness. It is a curious fact that the best hair restorer is to be found in toning up the general health. So long as the scalp is kept clean and healthy by an occasional shampoo of soap and water, the hair may be left to look after itself. But tonic treatment for the general health will do a lot of good. Extra nourishment in the form of an egg and milk every morning at eleven; going to bed early in a room with the window wide open: singing lessons; eating slowly; a walking tour; all these are useful. You may see that it is a far cry from singing lessons to hair restoring. But the. blood that is flowing to the roots of the hair comes direct from the lungs. Superfluous Hair. In devoting attention to superfluous hair 1 should like to begin by saying that some of you are far too sensitive about, this defect. I quite agree that we all ought to make ourselves look as nice as possible. It is a bad .sign when a girl is quite indifferent as to her appearance, but there must be a reasonable limit to all things. Ilypcrsensitivencss becomes almost a disease in itself, and you must not imagine because you have a few hairs on vour lace that everyone is laughing at you and poking fun at you behind your back. It may comfort some of you to know that the hair is not nearly so apparent as you think after a close and minute scrutiny with your face almost against the looking-glass. A Warning. Then I want to dissuade you against taking internal medicines. It is useless to swallow medicine for superfluous hair on the face. If you imagine that the drug you swallow is going to be so obliging as to pick out the hair on your face and to make that fall oft’, and leave the hair on your head severely alone, you are very much mistaken. If there were any drug which would make the hair come out it would be carried in the blood-stream both to the hair on the head and the hair on the face, and in the twinkling of an eye you would be as bald as grandfather. And every one of your eyelashes would fall out, too. Our eyebrows would disappear, and you would look more like an Aunt Sally than a respectable young lady of the twentieth century.

The Root of the Matter. In dealing with the removal of the hair from the face, it is necessary that you should bear in mind the difference between the hair and the root. You may pick the daisies on the lawn as often as you like, but you will never get rid of the daisies until you have destroyed the roots. It is the same

with hairs: mere plucking out. of the hairs or destroying the hair with some depilatory is useless if you leave the root or hair follicle. The hair will grow again immediately if the root is left alive. Ilair grows very fast. 1 have to shave every morning, or my patients would all leave me. So that, we must have nothing to do with internal medicines, and nothing to do with applications which destroy the hair and leave the root alive. Such preparations have to be used over and over again, and the sensitive skin cannot stand it. I cannot recommend the use of the X-rays for the removal of hair from the face. If the rays arc used in moderate doses, the hair always returns in a very short time, and if a strong dose is used there is danger of causing a burn, which is dreadfully disfiguring. Electrolysis. Hair on the face may lie of every description; it may be soft down all over the face; it may be a few scattered coarse hairs; it may be a thick growth -which amounts to a serious disfigurement, with much accompanying distress of mind. Electrolysis is useless for the treatment of fine down, or even thick down. It is impossible to attack every single hair on a down chin; it would take years to accomplish the task, and the skin would be so scarred by the hundreds of minute puncture-wounds that the final result would give no satisfaction. Electrolysis is most useful in cases where there arc only a few scattered coarse hairs; these few can easily lie taken away, and the result is eminently satisfactory. Bleaching. If the hair is dark, it may lie made less conspicuous by applying hydrogen peroxide to it.; this preparation bleaches the dark hair. It is a useful method of dealing with hair on the face and on the back of the arms. It is quite harmless. The darker the hair the better the results. The hydrogen peroxide should be bought in small quantities at a time and kept securely corked. It soon goes off like champagne if left uncorked. A Seat of Catarrh. The naso-pharynx is the name given to the part situated at the junction of the nose and throat. It is just behind the little soft curtain that hangs down at the back of the throat. It is an important part of the body because it is so often the seat of catarrh. This catarrh cannot be treated by mouthwashes or gargles, as they do not reach the naso-pharynx; it is too far back. Hence it is that catarrh goes on for months and months, and nothing seems to cure it, because it is so difficult to get at. The only way the trouble can be reached is through the nose, A Douche. The real importance of treating the naso-pharynx is sometimes overlooked. For instance, the unhealthy mucous from the back of the nose may fall down into the throat and voice-box. giving rise to hoarseness, and then the proper way to treat the hoarseness is to apply remedies to the back of the nose and not to the throat, because if you can cure the nose you cure the hoarseness. I find a useful prescription for a nasal douche is the following: Bicarbonate of soda, seven grains; borax seven grains; listerine, two teaspoonfuls; and water to one ounce. The best way to use it is to dispense with all douches and syringes and apparatus, and simply sniff the solution out of the palm of the hand. It should be used twice or three times a day.