With summer now here and more daylight hours, people are going to be heading outdoors
and being more active. Here are some great ideas of good summer activities include such
things as sports, hiking, swimming, boating, running a 5k and even going to a parade
or community event. These are great activities to usually are very easy on the wallet
and have added benefits of being a lot of fun for everyone in the family. So yes, it is
very important to get out and be active for your emotional and physical health it is also
very important to remember to take good care to avoid injuries from these fun summer
activities too. But summer is also a time when many families take time away from their activites and whip out their health care insurance cards to deal with summertime injuries.
Here are some helpful hints to have a lot of fun this summer outdoors and
in the sun but to also avoid unnecessary injuries or problems from participating in them
too.
Stay hydrated
It is important to make sure you and the family are drinking enough water. Many of
the patients treated during the summer by EMT’s and emergency rooms is from heat
exhaustion and dehydration. So a good suggestion is to drink lots of water (8 – 10 glasses
per day is recommended). A way to do this is keep a water bottle on hand when out
going and participating in outdoor activities. It helps if you freeze the water overnight for
longer day activities like hiking.
Use bug repellent
Its not only people who like to get out and be active during the summer months. There
are billions of our little “friends” who are out and really happy or really unhappy to find
people outside. It will be a much more fun and pleasant summer if you use some sort of
bug repellent to keep them away (mainly mosquitoes who can carry nasty things like west
Nile virus). There are tons of sprays, lotions, candles and even electronic devices to keep
them away.
Use sunscreen
If you have ever had a sunburn on the back of your neck, top of your feet or any tender
area of skin it probably goes with out saying that a good sunscreen is important during
the summer. It is recommend to use a 35spf or higher to avoid sunburns and if you have
fair skin the more the better. Using sunscreen to avoid sunburns is not just because
sunburns are unpleasant but also to avoid skin cancer in the future which is way worse
and really costly too.
So have a great summer doing all those great outdoor activities in the sun. I suggest
following some of these recommendations of staying hydrated, using bug repellent and
protecting your skin this summer. If you do I can promise you’ll be more comfortable,
have more fun and more importantly you will avoid most common summer injuries. Most
of these suggestions are simple, easy and straightforward. A ounce of prevention is worth a pound of rehabilitation or more!!