Omaha daily bee., 1916-01-20
Why W. inter
Causes
Skin Troubles
BY WOODS HUTCHINSON, NJ. d.

disturbances, though they fortunately
ere comparatively trivial as far as Sc
rious injury to health is concerned.
These are the apparently causeless and
uncallcd-for attacks Of itching, tickling,
and even burning, which come on over
considerable areas of the body. particu-
larry about this time Of year. when the
weather is changing from warmer to
colder
They may also occur before a storm
or change in the weather, and very fire.
quently after a bath or just after I'M
dressing and retiring at night
These itching and prlckling spells are
comparatively unimportant so far as i'll
health or even serious discomfort is
concerned but they are often extremely
annoying, and those that come on at
bedtime may sometimes very unpleas-
anty interfere with sleep, while those
that occur in the daytime after a bath
or change in the weather produce
such sense Of restlessne.s and dis
comfort as to considerably interfere with
concentration upon whatever work may
be in hand
Furthermore. no one who has ever ex-
perienced It needs to be told how in
tensely exasperating. even maddening is
u
comfort as vigorous and incessant tickling
and itching, if it only just keeps up long
enough
The sevcrest forms, such as associated
with severe chronic disease of the skin
Of the nervous system. have actually
been known to drive their victims insane
by robbing them of sleep. rest. appetite.
so that they have scarcely a moments
t,lp IL, &c
tain slight and remote basis for the YER
nacular expression. "Tickled to death"
Even tickling. however, does not come
without some physical provoking cause
though 1t be but the proverbial straw
These annoying and uncalled-for pranks
on the part of our skin have each of them
a more or less definite basis. although
they often seem absurdly out of pro-
portion TO il.
But this is accounted for by the fact
that it is the skins business TO be SEN
sitive, and that the same loneliness which
gives rise to these cutaneous brain
storms is the delicate and vitality i'm
portant sense which keeps us so promptly
and unerringly Informed of change OF
temperature, moisture, pressure and cleo
trio tension in our surroundings.
Take one of the simpler cases first
the itching which follows bath. II is
chiefly due to a comparatively simple
physical change. and that is the wash
ing or soaking or soaping, as the case
may be, of a little too much of the
natural lubricating oil or homemade
cold cream out OF the skin.
The skin like a piece of kid or wash
leather, is ordinarily kept supple and
smooth by being both coated and sat
urated with this oil. deposited there by
the sweat glands.
Cold water has comparatively little ef-
feet upon it except by prolonged soaking'
but both hot water and soap dissolve
it out quite quickly, and as soon as we
are dry after a bath the surface layer
of QUIZ skin, robbed of its coating Of oil,
breaks, at the very first movements Of
the body, into a network Of tiny micro
scopic cracks.
These expose the delicate end organs
OF the skin TO the air. and they respond
by itching. In fact. the physical basis
of itching Is precisely this irritation Of
the sensitive nerves of the skin through
tiny cracks IN the outer layer Of the
cuticle. or, less commonly sudden
stretching Of these nerves by rapid
swelling, as in urticaria, or hives.
diseases OF the skin which produce
these physical changes Of either minute
cracking or quick stretching of the skin
are attended by itching; those diseases
which do not no matter how severe
they may be, are not itchy.
The process. in fact. may be seen MAG
nified fifty fold in the familiar Chap
ping" or cracking OF the skin in winter
time. Only in this case the cracks going
deeper produce pain and burning. which
either cover up the itching or render 4
less noticeable.
The remedy for THIS after-the-batl
itchiness is simple enough in principle
that U.s. to check this undue teaching o
its natural oil out of the skin. but thi
is not always as easy at it sounds
In some cases. not taking the batl
quite so hot or cutting short the perio'
OF blissful soaking and parboiling Is sui
ficient In others, it Is due TO impuritie
in the water.
In other cases the main trouble Is in al
insufficient supply of the natural lubri
cant In the skin, and in that case rub
bling the skin with some pure and harm
less cold cream. particularly of the van
ishing' that is to say, made with mill
Curds-varieties Almost any intelligen
physician or Board of Health will fur
nish you with the formula Tor pure an
inexpensive cold cream. which you ca
either prepare yourself or have made u
at the drug store.
The reason why these attacks OF irrf
tation, either spontaneous or after thu
bath, are more likely TO occur in tn
changeable weather of the fall and early
winter or during severe storms with wine
and cold in the winter, is twofold.
First and most important the first eff
feet of cold is TO shrink up and contrac
the dense mesh OF blood vessels in tn
skin. capable OF holding nearly a thir'
OF all the blood i'm our body, so as I,
drive their contained blood into the vita
ORGANS of the body to keep them warn
and diminish the loss OF heat from on
surface.
The moment that this is done the &C
ton OF the sweat glands drops TO almos
nothing. and as their most importan
product is this natural skin cream, tn
surface layers Of the skin are almost Gu
off from their supply and become DIR
and wrinkled and cracked.
As soon as we have got hardened
tue cold its tonic effect upon the hear
and blood vessels and upon the appetit
has had time TO get in its work and tn
blood comes rushing back to the ski