TALKS ON HEALTH.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 642, 21 December 1932, Page 6

TALKS ON HEALTH.

Philosophy for the Bald. BY A FAMILY DOCTOR. 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 are no roots for the hair to grow front, we will make up our minds to be bald and keep as cheerful as we can. Of course, we will, first of all, spend a good tenpound 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 ten-pound notes to us in these times? Nothing at all; if we 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 the baldness. It is a curipus 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 say 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. Allusion to the subject of the hair reminds me that I get many letters asking for advice on the subject of superfluous hair on the face. In devoting attention to this question, I 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. Hyper-sensitiveness becomes almost a disease in itself, and you must not imagine, because you have a few hairs on your face, 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. 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. Hair grows very fast. I 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 roots alive. Such preparations have to be used over and over again, and the sensitive skin cannot stand it. I cannot recommend the use of X-rays for the removal of hair from the face. If the rays are 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 be 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 downy 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. Electrolj'sis is most useful in cases where there are only a few scattered coarse hairs; these few can easily be taken away, and the result is eminently satisfactory. Bleaching. If the hair is dark it may be 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.