In fitness the skin should be soft, supple, and moderately oily, without cracking and scaling, and free from eruption. Elasticity of the skin declines with age. Lack of skin suppleness is a fairly accurate indicator of physiological age.
General Health: General health is imitated in the functioning of the skin. Resiliency and tone as well as clearness of the skin need that the general level of health be high. Basic to the progress of every skin condition is the elevation of general health.
Circulation:
Circulation is of particular substance in promoting skin function because of the intimate relationship of blood to every skin functions. Ruddiness is not the cardinal index of a healthy skin or of the blood picture of an entity. A person with an olive or even somewhat sallow coloration may have a healthy skin. When the vessels of the skin are really near the surface, however, a person whose coetaneous vessels are structurally rather deep in the skin may show little of the ruddiness of other individuals and still have brilliant circulation and function in the skin. Dilation of peripheral vessels also varies.
Metabolic Rate:
Metabolic rate as an expression of thyroid production has a direct relationship to the condition of the skin. A low production of thyroxin is reflected in a dry, inelastic, dull appear the skin. Application of oil may compensate fro the skin dryness but at best would serve as merely a supplement. Under the direction of a physician the correction of the basic metabolic deficiency could provide the means by which the skin would supply its own products necessary for a soft, supple, and reasonably oily condition.
Nutrition:
Nutrition affects the function of every body tissues, including those of the skin. Vitamin A is essential, or lining, tissues of the skin. Vitamin C affects the vessels of the skin. Vitamin C affects the vessels of the skin as well as the other vessels of the body. Vitamin B affects other nerves of the body. The production of vitamin D in the body depends upon an sufficient amount of coetaneous fat. Minerals enter into the function of the skin. A balanced nutritional for general health includes the needs of the skin.
Cleanliness:
Cleanliness is primarily for esthetic reasons rather than for health reasons. Yet cleanliness removes bacteria, detritus, excessive oil and grit, as well as other accumulations, and permit unencumbered skin function.
Bathing:
One of the most controversial topics in health circles is the value and application of bathing to well-being. Much of the controversy arises from the propensity to generalize about bathing rather than to distinguish the diverse types of bathing and their specific purposes.
Cleansing Baths:
Cleansing baths are primarily to remove perspiration, odors, and other objectionable accumulations from the body surface. As such the cleansing bath is of esthetic value, although the contribution to mental health is not insignificant. A few protections against infection is inherent in the cleansing bath. Soap alters the permeability of the membrane which encloses a bacterium so that the casing becomes permeable to water. As a result, water diffuses into the bacterium protoplasm in excessive amounts (hydration) and destroys the organism.
Water at body heat feels warm but not hot. Water at a temperature between 95? and 100? F. will be sufficiently warm for cleansing purposes. At this temperature the bath does not unduly disturb circulation or body temperature. It may have a few sedative or relaxing effects.
In a cleansing bath, soap should not be rubbed onto the skin, except upon the palms of the hand. Soap rubbed in a straight line upon the skin may close ducts and interfere with normal skin function if the soap is not dissolved. In addition soap will tend to make an undesirable dryness of the hands and then briskly applying the later to the skin is the approved technique.
Individuals who are allergic to soap constituents or find soap to be exasperating can use liquid germicidal detergents, which are as cleansing as soap and serve as satisfactorily. Individuals with unusually dry skins may need to bathe less frequently than most individuals and perhaps use olive oil or a few other skin lubricants after the bath when no correctable basic factor financial records for the dryness.
Finishing the bath with slightly cooler water can be an aid in regulating to the coolness of the surrounding atmosphere. It should be emphasized that extremes in hot and cold should be avoided in usual bathing. The practice of athletes of abruptly changing the temperature of the shower from hot to cold is of doubtful benefit and is typically shocking to the constitution. Although the human body has a remarkable ability to adapt to environmental form, it cannot create sudden extreme adjustments without some disturbances. From warm to cool is the prescription in changes in the temperature of bath water.
Contrast Baths:
Contrast baths have therapeutic value and are used frequently in hospitals to stimulate circulation, relax and stimulate muscles, speed up metabolism, and tone up the body normally.
Warm water for three or four minutes followed by cool water for about three minutes is the procedure. irregular the warm and cool water from three to six times, depending upon the person’s needs and condition, should have a beneficial effect. Athletes use a contrast bath to hasten improvement from fatigue.
Sedative Baths:
Sedative baths are those in which water at a lukewarm temperature has a sedative effect; they also are called tepid baths. An entity who is upset, restless, or irritable will find the effects of a tepid bath comforting and soothing. A tendency to have the water too warm defeats the intended purpose of he sedative bath. The water should be just comfortably warm.
Stimulating Baths:
Stimulating baths are those that are abnormally hot or cold. A hot bath elevates body temperature, stimulates the nervous system, and speeds up circulation. It is particularly valuable to individuals who have complexity in functioning at a high level in the morning. Cold water is stimulating to the nervous system but tends to keep the blood away from the surface of the body. However, body heat increases, and if the bath is followed by a brisk rub, the total result is that of a hot bath. If a cold bath tends to produce a shock condition, an individual should trial with a cool bath or with a hot bath.