Page 4 - RVO What Women Want May 2016

4VV • What Women Want • An Advertising Supplement to the River Valley & Ozark Edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette • Sunday, May 1, 2016
While enjoying the summer sun, it’s important to liberally apply sunscreen to protect skin from the damaging effects of both UVA and UVB rays.
FUN in the SUN Tips to help you prepare for a healthy summer
Families throughout the River Valley have begun thinking about warmer days. It will soon be time to round up the kids for an outing at the lake, a trip to a sunny locale or even a
day trip to a park or Petit Jean Mountain.
Swimming, sunbathing, taking vacations and attending outdoor festivals are on the minds of fun-starved central- Arkansas residents.
Summer in Arkansas can be so much fun. It can also be painful for those who don’t pay attention to their health.
Sun damage
Coming home from the lake is much more fun without a painful sunburn, insect bites or broken bones.
Most skin cancer results from past sun damage, said Lori Reynolds, a certified oncology nurse educator for Conway Regional Health System and a registered nurse with 15 years of expe- rience caring for cancer patients.
Sunburns don’t have to spoil the day. Reynolds advised a liberal appli- cation of sunscreen lotion to protect against both UVB and UVA rays. She said the lotion should have a mini- mum SPF rating of 15. SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor and refers to the theoretical amount of time a per- son can stay in the sun without getting sunburned. For example, an SPF of 15 would allow them to stay in the sun 15 times longer than they could without sunscreen protection.
Going solely on SPF levels is not enough when it comes to sun protec- tion. For instance, the SPF number does not rate UVA rays, so it is import- ant to check labels for zinc oxide or titanium dioxide because they protect against the full spectrum of UVA rays.
Here are some additional tips:
• Don’t forget to apply sunscreen to the earlobes, neck and feet, and re- apply sunscreen every 90 minutes. • Make sure the sunscreen is water-
proof.
• Wear loose clothing and a large
hat.
• Check skin areas every two months
for abnormalities such as the fol-
caffeinated and carbonated beverages are not substitutes for drinking water and often lead to dehydration,” he said. “Also, children are more susceptible to dehydration than the rest of us, so they need additional attention to keep hydrated.”
Some general symptoms of dehy- dration and heat injury to watch for include the following:
• Dizziness;
• Headaches;
• Fatigue;
• Nausea and/or vomiting;
• Lack of sweating and urination;
and
• A rapid heart rate.
Try to avoid tick bites
The denizens of summer usually come in a mosquito swarm, but ticks can also cause skin irritation and sometimes make one very ill. Unlike a mosquito bite, a tick’s bite is typically painless. Most of the tick-borne illness, such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, ehrlichi- osis, tularemia and Lyme’s disease can cause a rash, fever, body/muscle aches, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, a headache, etc. If these symp- toms sound familiar, it’s because tick illnesses can often be mistaken for a simple viral syndrome. Untreated tick- borne illnesses can cause permanent disability and, although rare, death.
General precautions in outdoor ar- eas where ticks are present include us- ing repellent sprays, wearing pants and long-sleeve shirts instead of shorts and T-shirts to provide additional covering, and routinely checking the body during baths and showers and quickly remov- ing ticks. “My experience has been that a tick is more likely to spread disease if it is attached for a longer period of time,” Gregory said.
Most of these hazards are easily avoidable without lessening the fun of those weekend getaways to the out- doors that so many Arkansans enjoy.
— Courtesy of Conway Regional Health System
with Jeff Craig, M.D., Central Arkansas Pediatrics, Conway
Q. I believe my child is up to date on his immunizations. Why does he still need a yearly wellness visit?
A. Yearly wellness visits are necessary to evaluate your child’s physical, emotional and social development. Each stage of life brings new things. It’s important to remember that every child is unique. Wellness visits provide an opportunity to discuss what to expect in the upcoming year of your child’s life so that you, as a caregiver, can be as prepared as possible. Also, immunization recommendations may change. Your provider can verify that your child is current on immunizations, according to the most recent recommendations. Summer is a great time to see your child’s health care provider for his or her annual wellness visit.
lowing: wounds that do not heal; new irregularities that appear, such as scaly or upraised areas; and growth in diameter, changes in col- or or asymmetry of existing areas.
• Apply sunscreen on cloudy, as well as sunny, days. “Some of the worst sunburns are on cloudy days,” Reynolds warned.
In addition to possibly resulting in skin cancer, sun damage also reduces the skins elasticity, causing premature wrinkles. “You can’t undo what has al- ready been done, but you can learn from it and make sure it doesn’t get worse,” Reynolds said.
While skin protection is very import- ant this summer, there are other, more dramatic health hazards that can turn a summer outing into a trip to the emer- gency department.
Conway Regional emergency-de- partment physicians treat numerous summer-related injuries each year, in- cluding heat exposure and heat stroke, dehydration, boating accidents, ATV injuries, insect bites, campfire burns and fireworks injuries.
“There are more people outdoors, and we can all tend to be accident prone,” said Dr. Wade Gregory, emer- gency medicine. “Most of these acci- dents are related to extracurricular activities, and many of these injuries can be prevented by being more aware of our surroundings and using basic safety precautions, such as wearing hel- mets or safety gear with all water/land ATVs, wearing life jackets, not using a propellant such as gasoline to make a fire, and spraying insect repellent copiously and often.”
Stay hydrated
If outdoors, people may need more than the standard six to eight glasses of water per day. “It is important to remember that drinking alcoholic,
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