Skin Revelations
SKIN.—A dry, scaly condition of the skin is indicative of costiveness and dryness of the intestinal canal. It is found also in certain nervous affections, in diabetes, gout, enteric fever, in many old persons, and in those who have not properly cared for the skin, either by neglecting bathing or from exces¬sive bathing with hot water with or without soap. Offensive odor and yellowish tints result from reabsorption of effete matter. Other conditions have characteristic odors: Addison’s disease, negro-like; hepatic abscess, like liver; jaundice, musky; measles, like freshly plucked feathers; acute rheumatism, sour; scarlet fever, like new bread; uremia, like ammonia or urine. A doughy feeling and pale color are evidences of poor circu¬lation, and possibly some serious organic disorder.
HAIE.—Hair in health has luster and gloss, is neither brit¬tle nor excessively oily. Baldness is often due to lack of clean¬liness and scalp ventilation and to anemia. Brain congestion also has much effect upon the loss of hair. But the chief cause is heredity.
REQUIREMENTS FOR HEALTH RECOVERY.—In order to be able to give intelligent treatment, one should strive to ascertain what organs, structures or tissues are involved and in what manner they vary from the normal standard of health.
When an organ or a structure becomes highly tense its normal action is interfered with by diminished caliber of the vessels which permeate it. Too great relaxation of tissues is an indication of deficient organic power. Methods of treat¬ment, therefore, while having for their first object the purifi¬cation of the blood-stream and the building of vitality or nerve power, should aim to relax tense and contracted conditions and to tone up and stimulate relaxed conditions. These results may best be accomplished by means of hydrotherapy, helio¬therapy, electrotherapy, and manual therapy, appropriate exer¬cises, deep breathing, air-baths, sun-baths, rest of many organs through fasting or a modified diet and the other natural meas¬ures discussed in the preceding volume. One should aim to remove all accumulations, obstructions and poisons, select a suitable vitality-building diet, fast if necessary, provide a proper environment, induce ease of mind and in all cases make the body as comfortable as possible, in accordance with the instinctive (but unspoiled) demands of the patient.