Make sure you and your kids know how to identify poison ivy.
It looks like summer is — dare we say it? — finally here. We hope you’re getting out and enjoying the warm weather. And we hope you’ll take care of yourself when you do. Here’s a selection of summer health and wellness tips from Yahoo! Shine:
- Practice food safety. If you’re going on a picnic, tailgating, or bringing food to the beach, take extra caution, because hot weather makes it much easier for dangerous bacteria to thrive. Don’t fix picnic foods more than 24 hours in advance, and keep food outside the “danger zone” of 40 to 140 °F — especially melons, which are a frequent source of salmonella.
- Watch out for poison ivy. If you or someone else does touch it, rinsing your skin within 10 minutes will help lessen the effects of the rash. However, do not scrub or use hot water, as these can drive the irritant deeper into your skin. Avoid scratching, and wash all your clothes, because the poison can stay active for a year!
- Wear sunscreen. Doctors recommend using about a full shot glass’ worth of sunscreen to get good and truly covered. Use a “broad-spectrum” sunscreen that’s at least 30 SBF and that protects against UVB and UVA rays. And reapply it every hour and a half to two hours.
- Drink water. Lots of it. This is especially important for kids. Remember that juice and soda are nowhere near as effective when it comes to hydration.
See more tips at Yahoo! Shine. Let’s make this a great, safe summer!