Women's Problems

Dear reader, my sister:
This corner is at your service, to solve your problem and the cares of your heart. What troubles you in your relations with your husband? In the raising of your children? Why have you reached thirty without marrying?
Write to us, and we will lay your problem before the specialists. Send your letter to:
The Editor of The Woman's Voice — the Bandak Building — Aghriba Street — Beirut.

Q — I am a girl of eighteen, troubled by the "acne of youth" spread over my face. What is the way to remove and cure it?
W. A. M. — Abadiyeh

A — Acne, Miss, is caused by two basic factors: the age of puberty, with the menstrual irregularity that accompanies it, and then chronic constipation. The first — the age of puberty — excites the oily secretions spread abundantly over the face and between the shoulders; the second causes a local congestion in the pelvis, which affects the secretions of the ovary, and these in their turn affect the oily secretions.
To remedy this condition you must, first, take a quantity of water or other liquids of not less than six glasses a day between meals. Second, ease the bowels by taking a teaspoon of compound licorice powder with a glass of water before sleeping. Third, consult a physician specializing in women's diseases to regulate the menses if they are irregular.
It is also necessary to avoid fatty foods and those cooked in animal samn.

Q — I am a married woman, and after giving birth to my second child I suffered a nervous breakdown. My husband took me to a doctor of nervous diseases, who gave me medicine. But I despair of life; I hate the house and my husband and the children, and sometimes running away and suicide occur to me — especially as my husband's family live above us on the upper floor and whisper about me that I am mad. What do you advise me to do?
The despairing A. J. — Beirut

A — Your condition, my dear, does not call for despair, or for thoughts that drag down your home, your husband, and your children... You did well to go to the doctor of nervous diseases; keep on visiting him, listen well to his recommendations, and carry them out to the letter. Your condition is not out of the ordinary: many women suffer a nervous breakdown before or after childbirth, but it is always a passing, temporary condition that soon disappears — and you will certainly be cured, God willing. This is what you must trust and believe; so work together with your doctor of the mind and nerves to overcome this weakness that has struck you, and strikes dozens of women like you every day. Once you have confidence in yourself, you will overcome your despair and your cure will be easy.
And attach no importance whatever to the empty talk your husband's family whisper — you are not mad at all; every one of us is liable, at some stage of life, to a nervous breakdown that requires gentleness and care, and a little time, to be completely healed.

Q — I am a married woman with a baby two months old who suffers from heat rash on his thigh next to the diaper. To treat it I have used the talcum powder made specially for babies, and sweet olive oil, without benefit. What is the way to cure it?
N. K. — Beirut

A — The problem, as it appears to me from your account, comes down to the soap — I mean the traces of soap left clinging in the diaper after washing; I have heard much of similar cases.
The first thing you must attend to is rinsing the diapers or napkins thoroughly after boiling them, to make sure they are entirely free of any trace of soap. Then, what kind of soap do you use for your baby's washing? It may be

the very kind of soap that has caused him this heat rash or eruption, and it would be better to replace it with another kind. Here I may whisper to you that the white country soap made of pure olive oil is among the best things we can use for our children. It is preferable, too, to cut down the use of soap, whatever its kind, when "rinsing off" the baby, as we say, and to content ourselves with lukewarm water alone — making certain the napkins are free of any trace of soap.

Q — I am a married lady, happy in my marriage, yet I feel that I am still far from perfection, and I have one fault: "stubbornness." If I quarrel with my husband — and no married life is free of quarrels — I am never the one to begin making peace with him; even if the quarrel stretches on for two days, it is always he who speaks to me first. What do you think, Madam, of my attitude, and do you believe it will in the end affect my married happiness?

N. K., Basta — Beirut

A — Your acknowledging your temper as a fault, my dear, is half the answer. And know that yielding, at times, your moral rights toward your husband raises you in his eyes. Stubbornness is certainly among the things that wreck married happiness, while forbearance, understanding, and giving are among the things that make its foundations firm. Beware of going to sleep while you and your husband are at odds; many a tender kiss has wiped away mountains of anger. Let your weapons be tenderness and gentleness, not stubbornness and contrariness — and you will always be the winner.

Q — I am a girl of eighteen; my height is 140 cm. I have a sister only fourteen years old who is much taller than I, and this causes me annoyance and worry. Is there a remedy for lengthening the figure? And what clothes suit me better than others?

B. M. — Beirut

A — Medicine has not yet discovered a remedy that lengthens the figure, though vitamin B12 has sometimes been mentioned as useful for this purpose. My advice to you, however, my dear questioner, is to keep your body in proportion, so that it is well filled out — neither fat nor scrawny. As for clothes, wear your dresses in a single color, and let them be simple in style — like schoolgirls' dresses, for example. Take up physical exercise, for it gives your body suppleness and lightness; and center your attention on strengthening other sides of your personality, for appearance is not everything in a girl's personality. Have you talents that can be nourished and brought out? The important thing is not to fix your thoughts on your short stature as though it were the greatest calamity that ever befell you, but to pass beyond it toward building up your personality — culturally, socially, and athletically — and you will see how you get the better of it.

Q — I am a young woman about to be married, and I have concealed one thing from my fiancé: a slight defect in my body. I am afraid that when he discovers it after marriage I shall lose his love. What do you think, Madam, of my problem? (She mentioned the defect, and it is slight.)

R. W. — Beirut

A — There is no doubt, my dear questioner, that the first condition of a happy marriage is frankness and truthfulness. But the defect you imagine is of no importance whatever, and I assure you that your fiancé will not be vexed with you or turn against you; make of this defect a joke you can laugh over together. And I would point out to you that the cause of this very defect may have some connection with the ovary, and I advise you to consult a specialist in women's medicine — though it is not necessary that you do so before the wedding.

Q — I am an unmarried young woman of twenty. I used olive oil to soften my hair, and the color of my hair changed toward black; I want it golden blonde, as it originally was. How can that be done?

A. M. — Beirut

A — All oils, my dear, darken the color of the hair, so beware of using them from this day on; soften your hair by treating it with a stiff brush — a hundred strokes before sleeping and as many in the morning, if your time allows.

As for making your hair fair again, there is the old country method followed by our grandmothers, God rest their souls: take a quantity of yellow chamomile blossoms and other yellow wildflowers, and steep them in water until their color dissolves and the water turns yellow; then use this solution to moisten your hair while combing it, and with time it gives the hair a natural fairness. But if you cannot bear to wait and prefer speed, a solution of peroxide at 3% will give your hair a light fairness. Consult the pharmacist about it.