Blog About Health & Medicine

Ideally, you should behave as though you were convalescing from an illness for about a week, preferably two weeks, after the baby arrives, no matter how well you feel—and you should feel very well.

Gradually, after a week or so, increase your activities—stairs once a day, and so on. These activities should not all be work, but should include walking outdoors for a few minutes if the weather is pleasant.

By the end of the month, you should be on a practically normal schedule, except that you still need an afternoon rest and plenty of sleep. Usually it will be two months before you are completely your old self.

You may take a shower or sponge bath as soon as you want, and a tub bath in two or three weeks. Ask your doctor before you take a douche. You may wash your hair whenever you feel up to it.

Wait at least six weeks before having sexual intercourse. At this time, the doctor will examine you to make certain your tissues have thoroughly healed. If intercourse is painful, take a hot bath first, and then use a bland lubricant to lubricate the vagina; if the pain persists, consult your doctor.

Menstruation usually returns within four to eight weeks. The first menstrual period is almost always unusual in some way. The flow may be profuse, there may be clots, or it may stop and start again. The second period should be normal, or nearly normal. Menstrual periods are usually postponed if the mother nurses her baby—but not always. Do not count on the fact that you will not get pregnant while you are nursing.

It may take a while for your muscles to recover their springiness and your figure to return to normal. Whether or not to wear a girdle is up to you and your doctor.

The following exercises will help make you feel stronger and better. Start them about two weeks after the baby is born.

1 Lie flat on your back in bed and raise one foot slowly for a few

inches, keeping your leg stiff. Lower it slowly. Do the same with the other foot. Repeat about half a dozen times, if you are not tired. The following day, lift each leg a little higher, and so on; by the end of the first week or so you will be able to raise your legs until they are at right angles to your body.

Lie on your back and paddle your legs as though you were riding a bicycle. Do this until you begin to tire. Work up to about 25 strokes.

Assume the knee-chest position for about five minutes every morning and evening. Be sure that you have your knees far apart, and that you put your weight on your chest rather than your arms or elbows.

Ask your doctor if and when you should begin a full set of abdomen- and back-strengthening exercises.

Ask your doctor about the need for breast-firming exercises.

*175\68\2*

Personality disorders

Disorders of personality are difficult to define. A person who drinks too much, for example, may have his problem under partial control and be considered a neurotic. He may be a psychopath, practically without a conscience. Or alcoholism itself may be his most serious problem, so serious that he can hardly function in society and may eventually have to be hospitalized. Because I feel that the following personality disorders are so serious that they affect a person’s mind and personality completely, I have included them in this section. In a very real sense, such people are crippled, but they need not always be treated in hospitals. Their illnesses are often difficult to diagnose and to treat, but modern psychiatry has new techniques and new drugs that make the outlook for these unfortunate persons much brighter.

Alcoholism and drug addiction

Alcoholics and drug addicts are chronically sick people whose ailments show themselves in their behaviour. Unlike many other maladjusted individuals, they have turned to something outside themselves to find an inadequate but temporarily satisfying solution to their problems. As in the case of other maladjusted people, this does not solve their difficulties. In addition, they face the problems that result from excessive drinking or from taking drugs. In advanced cases, their physical conditions are very poor; in fact, deterioration often sets in. In many cases, hospitalization is necessary if a cure is to be effected.

*120\68\2*

Dry skin

An insufficient production of fat by the sebaceous glands in the skin causes dry skin. This often occurs in middle and old age, encouraging wrinkling. If your skin is dry, do not wash it too often with soap and water; use a cleansing cream or oil or a soap substitute. Before going to bed, apply a lubricating cream that contains lanolin or cholesterol. Do not use plain lanolin. Olive oil or one of the commercial products such as Nivea cream is satisfactory. Apply more than once daily if necessary.

Dry skin is very apt to chap during cold weather or when the air is very dry. If your skin becomes chapped, treat it as I have just suggested you treat dry skin. A commercial lotion or a hand cream gives good protection for chapped hands.

Oily skin

This can be more distressing than dry skin. To correct it, use plenty of soap and water, avoid creams and greasy lotions, and follow the rules I gave you for general care of the body. Go easy on heavy powder or pancake make-up.

*65\68\2*