Today's guest post is by Leslie Vandever.
Summer and the great outdoors go together like blue sky and
birdsong. Get out there and enjoy it, but make sure you’re prepared to stay safe
and healthy. As fun as it can be, summer can also present some unique dangers.
Sunburn: Painful and
Dangerous
Of all the cancers, skin cancer is the most common. To
protect yourself, practice sun safety:
·
Apply sun screen and lip balm rated at
least SPF 30 generously to all exposed skin, including the tips of the ears and
backs of the hands. Reapply sun every two hours and after swimming or sweating.
·
Wear a wide-brimmed hat to protect your
scalp, face, ears, and neck.
·
Sunglasses with 100 percent UVA and UVB
absorption will protect your eyes and the skin surrounding them.
·
Sunlight is at its most intense between
10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Avoid prolonged, direct sun exposure during those hours: stay
indoors, find shade, or cover skin with protective clothing.
Beat the Heat
When a hot environment overwhelms the body’s temperature
control system, heat-related illness, such as heat stroke, can result. The best
treatment is prevention:
·
Try to do most of your outdoor work
before 10 a.m. and after 4 p.m.
·
If you must be outdoors during the heat
of the day, drink at least 8 oz. water or a sports drink—not a sugary soda or
alcohol—each hour. Don’t wait until you’re thirsty. Sports drinks help replace
minerals and electrolytes lost during exercise.
·
Know the symptoms of heat stroke, heat
exhaustion, and heat cramps—and what to do about them should they appear. The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offer an excellent educational
webpage on these common but potentially dangerous heat-related illnesses.
·
Wear a wide-brimmed hat, and rest in the
shade frequently.
·
Never leave anyone—children, seniors,
pets, anyone—in a closed, parked
vehicle.
Those Buzzy, Buggy
Bugs
Encounters with insects—mainly of
the winged variety, like bees, wasps, and mosquitos—are much more likely during
the summer. Here are a few tips for dealing with them:
·
First, think prevention. Dump any
standing water around your house and yard to prevent mosquito breeding and
larvae.
·
Use a mosquito repellent with DEET in
it. Perfumed skin lotions will not repel the little buggers. To relieve the itch, use calamine
lotion or hydrocortisone cream.
·
If you know you’re allergic to insect
bites or stings, carry an emergency epinephrine kit (prescribed by your
doctor). Make sure family members/friends know how to administer it for you. Wear
a medical ID bracelet.
·
If a bee stings you, scrape the stinger
out with the edge of a credit card. Don’t use tweezers—you might squeeze more
venom into the wound. Wash the site of the sting thoroughly, then apply an ice
pack for 10 minutes on, 10 off, and repeat as needed. Take an analgesic like
Aleve or Motrin for pain. For itching, take an antihistamine or apply a topical
anti-itch cream. Watch for any allergic reaction as well as infection over the
next several days.
·
To avoid ticks, wear clothing that
covers all exposed skin. Tuck trousers into boots. Avoid hiking through brush
and tall grass. If you find a tick attached to your body, you’ll need to remove
it. Use pointy tweezers, not household tweezers. Disinfect the area around the
tick with rubbing alcohol. Place tweezers as close to the skin as possible.
Grab the tick’s head (or as close as you can get to the head) with them. Slowly,
steadily, pull upward until the tick comes out. Disinfect again. Don’t be
concerned if the tick’s head breaks off and remains in the skin. Without the
body, there can be no transmissible tick-borne illness.
Leslie Vandever is a professional journalist and freelance
writer with more than 25 years of experience. She lives in the foothills of
Northern California.
References:
·
Skin Cancer Facts. (2014. March 19) American Cancer Society. Retrieved on
May 7, 2014 from http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/sunanduvexposure/skin-cancer-facts
·
Frequently Asked Questions about Extreme
Heat. (2012. June 1) Emergency Preparedness and Response. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved on May 7,
2014 from http://emergency.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/faq.asp
·
Tips for Preventing Heat-Related
Illness. (2012, June 1) Emergency Preparedness and Response. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved
on May 7, 2014 from http://emergency.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/heattips.asp
·
Insect Bites or Stings. (2010, Jan. 13) National
Institutes of Health. National Library of
Medicine. Retrieved on May 7, 2014 from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000033.htm
·
How
to Remove a Tick. (n.d.) TickEncounter. University
of Rhode Island. Retrieved on May 7, 2014 from http://www.tickencounter.org/prevention/tick_removal
·
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