Health news blog » Skin Care http://aboutdoc.com Health News, Medical Articles, Medicine Information Fri, 22 Jul 2011 14:38:46 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 BATHING AND HEALTHY SKIN http://aboutdoc.com/2011/05/bathing-and-healthy-skin/ http://aboutdoc.com/2011/05/bathing-and-healthy-skin/#comments Thu, 19 May 2011 13:55:01 +0000 admin http://aboutdoc.com/?p=167 The skin is self-cleansing and does not depend for its essential cleanliness on soap and water. If people exposed their bodies to the air and sun there would be no question about skin odours or other such things. But as the body has to be constantly clothed, then the ordinary water bath is of vital necessity.Other things being equal, the body should be washed all over once a day with soap and water. The full bath-tub makes this practice easy and luxurious but it is by no means entirely necessary. So far as cleanliness is concerned, there is no doubt that a large vessel of water may take the place of the bath, and, without immersing the body in the water, the wash-down can be made just as effective.The best time for the bath for ordinary people is just before retiring, so that all the secretions of the skin that have collected under the clothes can be removed before going to bed. If the full bath is taken it should not be too hot, because this will tend to increase the temperature of the body and stimulate the heart, and this makes sleep very difficult for some people. The ideal way to take the bath is to have the water pleasantly hot when getting into the bath and just cooling off when one leaves it. It is not necessary to use too much soap. If one lathers the feet, under the arms and other parts wherever the skin is in folds, then the rest of the body need only be lightly soaped.In addition to the ordinary cleansing bath one may, with advantage, use the Epsom salts bath occasionally even when the skin is healthy, as it seems to have a slightly stimulating effect upon it and is useful in relaxing all the muscles under the skin. About two pounds of crude Epsom salts may be added to the bath of fairly hot water, and from fifteen to twenty minutes may be spent in it comfortably relaxing.For those who have a really healthy skin and a system that can stand a good reaction the cold bath may be advised. The bath is filled, and the bather gets quickly in and out and rubs down vigorously. Such a procedure is not advised to those who are not sure of their general condition, and in any case one should go into a training period before making the plunge. On the other hand, the cold rub down is very stimulating to the skin and helps to keep it in good condition. Use a bowl of cold water and sponge the body over with it, and then rub down with a good rough towel. Those who find this too strenuous are advised to wring out a towel in cold or warm water, depending on their reaction, and rub down thoroughly with it. In this way the advantages of both the air-bath and the friction bath may be enjoyed.
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]]> http://aboutdoc.com/2011/05/bathing-and-healthy-skin/feed/ 0 SKIN CARE: ACNE- TREATMENT http://aboutdoc.com/2009/05/skin-care-acne-treatment/ http://aboutdoc.com/2009/05/skin-care-acne-treatment/#comments Fri, 08 May 2009 14:20:12 +0000 admin http://aboutdoc.com/2009/05/skin-care-acne-treatment/ Specific treatment aimed at unblocking comedones (black-beads or whiteheads) involves the use of various topical preparations which may be applied to the skin. These include preparations containing salicylic acid or sulphur, which promote dryness of the skin and light scaling or peeling. The advantage of these preparations is that they may be gradually increased in strength to achieve the required effect. Other preparations which may be cosmetically more acceptable include retinoic acid. This is perhaps more effective in penetration, but is frequently irritating to the skin. Other preparations which are very useful in causing exfoliation of the skin and subsequent unblocking of comedones are the benzoyl peroxide gels. These may cause irritation but if used carefully are very helpful as an adjunct to treatment.

Ultraviolet light seems to have a similar exfoliating effect on the skin and is therefore most beneficial in the treatment of this condition. It appears to be further helped by salt water, due no doubt to its drying action.

Oral antibiotics, particularly tetracycline, have a most dramatic and beneficial effect. Their action appears to be threefold. They reduce comedone formation, resulting in less blockages of sebaceous gland ducts. Furthermore they reduce the acidity of the sebum, which then results in less tissue breakdown when the glands rupture. They also decrease the amount of propionibacterium acnes. This results in less chemical or enzyme being released into the skin when the glands rupture. The overall result of this is much less inflammation. It can be seen, therefore, that the antibiotics are used not so much for their anti-bacterial effect as for a side effect that they appear to have on the oil glands. Very small doses of these antibiotics may be used, in fact much smaller doses than those required for the treatment of normal mild infections of the skin. Consequently they may be used for prolonged periods, except of course with pregnant women or children under the age of 12 years, or if side-effects appear.

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