Whether you’re a kid or an adult, summertime brings more fun and life. The sun, the flowers, the hike, the beach, the waves, life outdoors is just perfect. But this longed-for season may not be as fun as it seems. Allergies, asthma attacks, rashes, and other health issues might cut off your fun in the sun, sand, and wind. Aside from preparing for the fun under the sun, prepare yourself for the health issues that are likely to come your way. Here are eight of them.
1. Cuts and wounds
Summertime is garden time or lawn mowing time. There is no other season when you can take pride in your well-manicured lawn than during summer. Unluckily, you can get yourself injured when you forget to take safety precautions while mowing your lawn and beautifying your yard. You may cut your fingers, toes, or hands unclogging debris that get caught in the blade. Wearing safety gears or tools should be a must. Wear gloves, steel toe or closed shoes, goggles, and safety apparel while mowing your lawn. Make sure to steer clear the area of stones to avoid dangerous flying debris.
2. Asthma or allergy attacks
For people with allergies or asthma, summer can be the worst season for them. It could mean a prolonged anti-allergens or controller medications intake. Staying outdoor is not fun as well since smog, pollutions or pollen can trigger asthma attacks. To be safe, you need to stay indoors in an airconditioned room.
3. Ear infection
Swimmer’s ear infection is most common during the hot summer. This is often caused by bacteria that grow much faster with heat and humidity during summer. To prevent yourself from getting this infection, you need to take good care of your ear, especially when you’re out in the sun swimming.
Remove water that gets stuck in your ear canal and be sure to dry your ears after taking showers. Tilt your head to the side to allow water to escape from the ear canal. Pulling your ear lobes in different directions can also help in draining the water out.
Cleaning your ear with a cotton swab can be tempting but one you should never do. It’s because ear wax helps protect the lining of your ear from infections. Removing this earwax is exposing your ear to harmful infections.
4. Accidents at sea
The number of boating or surfing accidents spike during summer. Most often, people associate fun with alcohol. Thus, when they go out to the sea, they can either be tipsy or drunk, which increases the likelihood of drowning or falling out of boats. Take extra precautions when riding on boats. Let kids and others who don’t know how to swimwear life jackets. Though everything looks alright, accidents can happen even in the best of circumstances.
Taking swimming lessons or first aid is important when you plan of spending a few days by the beach. If you’re taking actual surfing lessons, make sure there’s a medical facility or medical practitioner in the place. A slight mistake during the course of the lesson may cause you injury.
5. Heat stroke or heat exhaustion
No matter how young are you, exposure to too much heat can be dangerous for you. Simple heat exhaustion may likely progress to a heat stroke. Heat-related illnesses can be fatal. When your body overheats, it will try to cool down by sweating. But at times, sweating isn’t enough to prevent yourself from heat exhaustion. Drinking lots of water is advisable during hot summer days. You also need to lessen activities that require more exertion of energy as well as working in poorly ventilated places.
Older adults, children, and people with medical conditions are more susceptible to heat-related illnesses. Discourage the older people in your home to get too much sun exposure since their bodies can no longer dissipate heat as much as they can while younger. Drinking lots of water might be a lifesaver but people with medical conditions should ask their doctor if taking lots of liquids is safe for their condition. Earlier signs of heat exhaustion can include heavy sweating, weakness, dizziness, and nausea. Seek immediate medical help when you see some of these signs.
6. Dehydration
Having too much fun outdoors may lead you to forget splurging on water. Before you know it, you feel thirsty or worst dizzy, which are the first signs of dehydration. Dehydration can be mild, moderate, or severe. But don’t wait to get dehydrated before you replenish your body with fluids that it lost.
Whenever you’re out in the sun, always bring bottled water with you. Refill it when it runs dry and cool down yourself by finding a shade nearby. If you can’t resist swimming, do it in the early morning or late in the afternoon when the sun isn’t too strong.
7. Sunburn
While doing activities in the midday sun is fun, the aftermath of it isn’t. Your skin may suffer from sunburn and the agony could last for days. According to experts, you can increase your risk of melanoma by up to 100 percent when you have had five sunburns in your lifetime. Sunburn is an unnecessary misery and should be avoided as much as possible.
If you don’t want the sun to prevent you from enjoying yourself, you can still do it without hurting yourself. You can use sunscreen to protect yourself against UVB and UVA rays. You can also cover yourself with protective clothing, such as long-sleeved shirts or wide-brimmed hats.
8. Food poisoning
Cases of food poisoning are also widespread during the summer. As we have mentioned earlier, bacteria do well in hot and humid conditions, like summer. Food left unrefrigerated for more than two hours may spoil. If you spend time outside with your food, make sure to put it inside a cooler with ice, especially the ones with egg, mayonnaise, and meat products in it.
Diarrhea caused by heat-related illnesses can result in dehydration. This can be dangerous for older adults or people with chronic conditions. You can take care of mild cases of diarrhea at home. This can be done by avoiding solid foods and drinking clear liquids in small amounts more frequently. Once your stomach settles, you can slowly include bland foods in small amounts into your diet. But in cases where the symptoms get worst, never delay seeing your doctor.
