Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-08
A GIRLS HEADACHE
MAY COME, FROM OVER STRAIN
ING THE EYES.
Not Always From Excessive Study
A Doctors Sugges-
ton.

interests thousands who are working Tor
| the welfare of rising generations. For,
with the present curriculum based on
physical development and hygiene, with
! health rules taught every day, the scheme
to help young people to have strong bod
F.; les should eradicate pain, especially such
! as temporary aches in the head. While
excuses for headache are granted daily
| throughout the public school system, the
+; proportion is not alarmingly large, only
about two out of twenty-five, according to
statistics. But even this per cent may be
reduced If the girls will take proper pre-
cautions to ward off pain in the head, de-
clares a prominent physician who doctors
| many school girls.
Headache from over study, or too much
crowding of the brain is fallacy. 1 think"
he said, for In my experience all the cases
that have been attributed to brain fatigue
came from strained eyes or from catarrhal
trouble, both in the head and in the stom-
ach.
II think am safe in saying that nine
tenths of the headache school children,
from either strained eyes or from bad
colds of q catarrhal nature. Contrary to
the accepted opinion that many pains in
the head are induced by disordered stom-
aehs. believe that they are few in COM
parison to those that are made by strain
ing the eyes, or congested noses and
threats
Catarrhal Headaches Prevalent Here.
I'm this climate, especially, catarrhal
headaches are prevalent and simple home
remedies should be used by those who are
not so afflicted just as precautionary
measure.
IF mothers would insist that their
daughters, and sons, too, use a nasal
douche with salt and water every morn
ing before going to school, or every night
before retiring. much of the headache
that is now causing suffering would be
eliminated. This cleansing of the nasal
passage is simple and, after the children
the sensation, for it is soothing and will
relieve a cold in the head almost imme-
diately.
I'm making this wash for the nose and
throat it should not be too strong of salt,
for that stings and is sometimes unpleas-
ant. To a tumblerful Of lukewarm water
add a quarter of a tablespoonful Of salt,
and when it has dissolved pour the solu-
it's nose in the bath and inhale, first
through one nostril and then through the
other.
This treatment will help slight ca
the catarrh has been allowed to get into
the system the best plan is to go to a
physician for advice, for catarrh of the
stomach generally follows that in the head.
annoy the sufferer.
with catarrhal headaches the pain is
more insistent than with those caused
from strained optic nerves, for If the eyes
are not constantly used there will be no
pain, while with the former children will
frequently not be entirely free from an
ache for weeks at a time.
lone girl who suffered from severe head
aches three four times week came to
me for treatment and I found that her
eyes were weak, that the nerves of sight
had been strained from study at night
with a poor light. She was fitted with
glasses, but they helped only little, for
when she studied several hours without
stopping her head would pain terribly.
She finally finished and since leaving
school has not had a headache once in
three months, for she uses her eyes care
fully, and does no reading or work requir-
ing constant concentration Of the nerves
of sight after dark.
Strainig the Optic Nerve Causes Pain.
Its the study at night when tired after
a day full of excitement, and incidentally
using the eyes under lights that are too
glaringly bright, are too far away, that
makes so many girls strain their optic
nerves, and then have headache. If they
could only be persuaded to go early to
bed, and rise early and do their studying
before breakfast there would be lever
headaches and less necessity for wearing
glasses, and the general health would I'M
doubtedly be better.
How frequently we hear a school girl
say, The sight of that food make me sick
at my stomach or the taste of that fruit
Cor whatever the dish) turns my stomach
and Immediately the majority Of mothers
think that their daughters stomachs are
out of order and begin to treat them for
indigestion, when the real cause in most
cases is catarrhal affection that weak
ems the eyes, makes the child sick at the
stomach and causes headache. Then, too,
| if there is any catarrhal trouble in the
stomach, indigestion and frequent spells
of nausea come on, accompanied by head
ache, and these symptoms are invariably
taken for a disordered digestion.
Headaches caused from bad ventilation
are rarely known nowadays, for in all the
public schools the teachers see to it that
there is plenty of fresh air to breathe, for
they realize that when the air Is vitiated
the scholars get drowsy from the foulness
and that headache is bound to follow from
the slow poisoning of the blood that is
sure to result from inhaling over and over