TOILET & HEALTH-WHY GROW OLD!

Ladies' Mirror, Volume 4, Issue 5, 2 November 1925, Page 34

TOILET & HEALTH-WHY GROW OLD!

ETHEL LLOYD PATTERSON

THE OUNCE OF PREVENTION

A FTER a woman passes her fortieth birthday she remains young as the result of consistent precaution. Youth is no longer a matter of course. The task before her is not so much to cling to a fictitious girlhood as for a time to prevent age, a kind of miracle that in our days—thanks to modern science and scientists at least possible to almost any intelligent person. Only, when a woman is forty she takes chances if she waits until the damage is done before she attacks her problem. “Prevent” must be her watchword. She should have her eyes examined by an oculist at least every two years, whether or not she herself believes her sight to be failing. She should have her teeth examined and cleaned by a dentist every six months, no matter how perfect they seem to her; and have them X-rayed every year. She should give special attention to the care of her ears, so that she may discover at once any failure in hearing. She should give her hair regular attention of not less than one hour every week. She should weigh herself at least once a month, so that she may be sure that she is maintaining the correct and healthy weight. r I 'AKE the matter of her eyes. At about the age of forty a woman’s sight does change. No matter how young she may feel, an actual physical difference takes place in the construction of her eye. And from forty on to about sixty years of age her sight changes every five years. Therefore, the only sane thing for a woman of forty to do is to consult a reputable oculist, because attempts to deny or ignore these physical conditions are not only silly, but may make her sight worse than it would be under proper conditions. Moreover, anyone squinting and scowling in an effort to see certainly seems older than she who regards you easily through glasses. Although there is no way of avoiding glasses, once your hour has struck for them, a woman may put back the hands of the clock somewhat if she keeps a few commonsense rules in mind. One should be that she ought not to read in bed. But, having eased my conscience by transcribing this edict, I may add that even oculists admit that nobody ever pays any attention to it. So, if you do read in bed, have the light placed above your head and behind you, and have enough pillows beneath your shoulders to make you sit almost upright. Reading in bed is a strain upon the sight because of two factors—the light is apt to be wrongly placed, and part of the fun for the reader is to lie almost flat while reading in some comfortable but highly unscientific position. One reads easily and normally only when the book is held a little more than a foot away and just a little below the level of sight, so that the eyes remain fairly wide open. One of the bad phases of reading in bed is that one is inclined Become a Subscriber Fill in Form—Page 72

to hold the book so far below the level of the eyes that the reader looks out almost horizontally. Oculists say that this posture while reading is bad for the eyes. lasting the Cyes YAF course some women have to put on glasses sooner than others. _There are defects of sight that have nothing to do with age. But the woman with normal eyes may know that she should consult an oculist when she begins to hold whatever she is reading farther and

farther from her. Around fifteen inches is the average distance from the eyes for reading. However, women hold books and papers nearer than do men, because their arms are shorter. They have accustomed their sight to the more comfortable position. Moving pictures, as smoothly run as they are now, ought not to tire healthy eyes. But, on. the other hand, oculists believe that reading while travelling upon modern trains is injurious. This is not so much because of the shifting light as because of the vibrations of rapid progress, that

make it impossible to hold the print steady. Incidentally, a book always is physically easier to read than a newspaper, because the longer lines of the paragraphs in the book do not cause the eye to shift back and forth so often. In other words, the longer the line on the printed page the less the muscular effort demanded of the eyes. Which is not such a bad thing to remember in selecting books or magazines to be taken upon a long journey. Oculists also advise women who are sewing or knitting or bending above any fine task, occasionally to put down the work and gaze off into

distance. Any woman can demonstrate the value of “day dreaming’’ by trying it. After looking into space for a minute or two. one is able to see the work. at hand much more clearly. ? Of course women forty years or more old have been told before this to relax completely for at least an hour in the middle of the day. This is undeniably good advice for the woman who can follow it. But many of us have neither the hour nor the place in which to relax. Still, specialists now prescribe a way of resting the eyes which is practicable even for the busiest woman. The treatment is particularly good for stenographers, book-keepers, proofreaders, and so on, or those women whose working day is a constant tax upon their sight. Such women are advised to sit down for a minute or two, several times in the day, and close their eyes. But, since light comes in even through closed eyes, a greater degree of relaxation can be obtained by excluding it. For this purpose cover the closed eyes with the palms of the hands, the finger crossed on the forehead, and the palms cupped slightly over the eyeballs so as not to press on them. Now sit as tranquilly as you can for as long as you can, in this little darkened place that you have made for yourself, exactly as though you were in a darkened room. T F your brain and your eyes are -*■ very tired, instead of the restful dark your closed eyes will seem to see clouds and forms of flashing and rolling colours. Try then to sit quiet with covered eyes until this phase passes. With practice it will pass

more and more quickly, because with practice one learns to relax - more quickly and completely. And do not say that you cannot find time for this or any other way of snatching a' few moments’ rest. Even one minute twice a day, or two minutes out of your whole eight working hours, probably will preserve your sight. If you work or live in a city, form the habit of using an eye cup with a solution of boric acid before you go to bed at night. Personally, I always use an eye cup to remove any particules of dirt before I sleep, after train or motor travel. I asked a well-known oculist if the constant use of an eye cup could injury or dry the membranes of the eye. He assured me that it could not. Though I must say, in spite of all these suggestions, that I believe if a woman thinks too much about herself physically—her eyes, her ears and the colour of her hair—she soon becomes a nuisance to herself and to everybody else. I recently noticed in a newspaper a dispatch that informed the public that a beauty doctor in Paris had sewn; hair into the eyelids of a patient, and that these hairs had taken root and grown. So many women yearn for sweeping eyelashes that after reading this item I sallied forth to discover if there was hope for them along these lines. The suspense may be relieved at once by announcing that the chances are slim-—very slim. I verified the fact that the operation, exactly as it was described in the newspaper, probably was not possible.

A surgeon could not sew hairs into flesh and have them take root. But eyelashes have surgically been given patients by grafting a strip of skin that contains hair roots upon the eyelids. This sliver of skin, for example, can be taken from the scalp. Then the hair—or eyelashes—can be trimmed in as shapely a way as possible, and if the skin grafting is successful the patient is equipped with a fairly good set of lashes. But observe the “fairly good,” because a surgeon, who had performed this operation many times, believes that these grafted lashes are only better than none. “With grafted lashes the hair seldom grows evenly along the edge of the eyelid,” he explained, “and the patient cannot be sure that the hair will grow either the usual length or follow the usual line. Even if a woman’s eyelashes are scanty she would better get along with what she has than attempt to beautify her eyes through surgery.” A new school of oculists maintains that nearly all cases of nearsightedness, farsightedness and the failure of sight due to age will respond to exercise and treatments that preclude the necessity for glasses. Several of these oculists advertise extensively and have written books and pamphlets. I read their literature carefully and then took the questions that arose in my mind concerning them to several oculists of standing. Their attitude towards these new “treatmens” was summed up in the words of one of them. “Don T to (Safeguard IWearing “A 'HE very names of these oculists,” said he, “who advertise that they can make people who need glasses see without them, are like a red rag to a bull to me. During the last few years these men have pestered every oculist I know in an effort to have their claims supported. Personally I consider this ‘perfect sight without glasses’ campaign dangerous to the public. Of course some apparent cures are accomplished, because what is practiced is a kind of autosuggestion. There are plenty of people in the world who like to believe themselves sick when there is little or nothing the matter with them. Naturally, it is not difficult to persuade such persons that they have been cured when they were well in the first place. Not that scientists have any objection to that kind of ‘cure,’ either. But it seems to me cruel to hold out hopes of sight to patients for whom there really is no such hope. Moreover, some of the advertised treatments actually might injure the eyes. Observe the bills that these men send, and the story is told. When any physician both advertises and charges exorbitant fees, he at least is not building his practice along lines endorsed by the recognised members of his profession.” The sight of a woman of forty is more apt to begin to fail than is her hearing. Still, deafness often grows upon a woman past girlhood, through recurrent infections of her nose and throat. Remember at forty the watchword “Prevent,” and so,

among other things, to safeguard your hearing: Don’t dive in cold water. In all diving possible infectious materials is forced up the Eustachian tube. And the danger to the hearing is increased in salt-water diving. The salt clears the mucus from the nose and throat and leaves them bereft of Nature’s normal protection against infection. Protect your ears with cotton when you dive. Don’t use a hairpin or any other metal instrument to clean your ears. Clean them gently by carefully syringing them with warm water or by wiping the walls with a wooden applicator well swathed with cotton. Don’t viciously dig out superfluous wax in yours ears. Leave some of it, anyway. Nature has it there for a purpose. Don’t drop warm oil into your ears for earache; and don’t put warm raisins in them or stuff cotton far into them. It is safe enough to apply heat to the ear by sleeping on a hot-water bag, but it really is safer still to consult a physician in any and all troubles with the ear. A ND since we are speaking of preventing the appearance of age, I must say a good word in this respect for my permanent wave. Maybe I cheer because my own waves have been successful. I have had eighteen or twenty permanent waves, and yet my hair is not burned, it does not break, and it certainly looks much healthier and prettier than it did in the years before waves were invented, or before I knew about them, anyway. The women I meet casually and socially seem interested in my permanent wave. But there is little to say more than to tell of the process and its approximate cost. You must decide for yourself the momentous question whether to wave or not to wave, or consult a specialist before you have it done. Because, after all, maybe mine is the quality of hair that “takes”, a wave, while yours may be the kind made frizzy by it. The Gost ofTermanent Waves PERMANENT -waves, I believe, *■ first were shown to the public about seventeen years ago, and it took between seven and ten hours to get one in those days. I had my first permanent wave about ten years ago. My last one, a few weeks ago, took only two and a-half hours. But then the heat on my hair is turned on for only seven minutes. Sometimes, for other women, according to the quality of the hair, the heat is turned on for fifteen minutes. But since the process as a whole involves washing the hair and drying it; winding it for the waving; turning on for heat; allowing it to cool, then washing the hair again; drying it again; and finally “setting the wave” —I do not see how it could be done in less than a couple of hours even with the most skillful haste. However, all this need only be endured twice a year. And it is not painful, merely tedious.

A permanent wave is expensive, or so it seems to me. Not that mine is comparatively expensive. '“pHERE are bobbed heads that A cost fifty dollars, and more, to wave. Since the charges in nearly all places that do this work are from one dollar to one and a-half dollars a curl, the first impression is that the cost can be kept down. In my case I do not have all my hair waved; instead I have only fifteen or eighteen curls. Even so I pay about twenty-five dollars every time my hair is waved, and this happens twice a year, because while permanent waves do last six months, they last only that. time. And the actual permanent wave is not certain to be all the expense. For example, since my hair is fine and inclined to be dry, I take every precaution to keep it from becoming brittle. To this end it has to be treated never less than an hour a week, often for two hours. The woman who treats my hair naturally does not do it for nothing. So, in short, the care of my hair costs about one hundred and seventy-five dollars a year. As I write it, that seems appalling. Nor is it even entirely necessary. A woman, if she wished to do so, could care for her own hair— is, do to her own hair all that I have had done for mine—and thus save about one hundred and twenty-five dollars each year. Fortunately, too, hair that has been permanently waved under the newer processes does not require the care that the first waves did. I believe most honest experts admit that the old processes of permanent waving were almost sure to discolour white hair. Now they maintain that present and perfected methods not only will not discolour white hair, but actually will help to keep it white. But if I had gray hair and wanted a permanent wave, I would investigate carefully before I submitted to the process. But then I believe in modifying all rules with common sense and personality. For instance, I never have followed the advice about shampooing that is given women by the wave experts. According to them, I always have had my hair washed too often for health. I have a shampoo about every other week. Experts say hair should not be washed more than once a month. “It could be made unnecessary, too,’ they say, “with the proper dry cleaning.”

A SPECIALIST’S idea of “the proper dry cleaning” is to wipe the hair and scalp with soft paper. I was told that porous white Japanese napkins would take off the dirt and yet leave enough natural oil on the scalp to protect it. But when I am living in the city and see each night the dirt that I wash from my face, I want the accumulation of it washed from my hair pretty often. It should be a comparatively simple matter when the hair is clean, if the scalp seems dry, to rub a little clean oil into it. But I am told my methods are unscientific, although my own hair flourishes under the treatment. In caring for the teeth and preventing their decay a woman should know what frequently causes cavities in them. Acid is the usual enemy. Acid eats and cracks the enamel of the teeth and allows the germs that cause cavitiesthe decaying particles of foodto lodge in the cracks. So to preserve your teeth, guard against too much acid in your mouth. If your digestion is not good, the chances are that the saliva in your mouth is acid; therefore rinse your mouth with some anti-acid solution before going to bed. Milk of magnesia is excellent for this purpose. Do not use dental floss or orange sticks to clean your teeth unless a dentist shows you how to use them. Improperly used they may injure the gums. TX7ITH women of about forty * V years of age modern dentists are putting in fewer crowns and more bridge work in caring for their teeth. Roughly, the theory is that no tooth is better than a diseased tooth, and a dead root always is a possible source of trouble. The teeth always should be cleaned thoroughly every night. While you sleep, if the conditions of your mouth are not healthy, cavities form and pyorrhea begins. All women past forty should have their teeth X-rayed every year or at least every two years. For, at that age, rheumatism sometimes gives a warning twinge. Often devitalised rootswhat are commonly called “dead roots”are infection centres for rheumatism. Many of these troubles are revealed only by the X-ray. The woman of forty to-day who makes intelligent and regular care of her health a habit of mind will find her reward in something very like prolonged youth.