4 Summertime Health and Wellness Tips

As spring transitions into summer, many people take advantage of some much-needed vacation time to indulge in a variety of fun activities. Unfortunately, summer fun can also pose certain risks of health challenges, from dehydration and overheating to skin disorders and bacterial infections.

Once you understand the potential health concerns awaiting you and your loved ones this summer, you can guard against them while still enjoying your favorite seasonal activities. Start by absorbing the following four helpful tips for maintaining your summertime health and wellness.

1. Stay Hydrated

Water makes up the majority of your body composition, providing such key benefits as helping to regulate your blood pressure and body temperature. Even a small degree of dehydration can cause weakness, nausea, headaches, and more serious issues. Summer heat and activity can cause you to lose water unusually quickly.

As a general rule, men need 3.7 liters of water per day, while women need 2.7 liters. However, you may need more fluid than that if summer fun makes you sweat. You can get this fluid from a combination of water and water-rich foods. You may also need additional supplements to replace sodium and other electrolytes lost through sweating.

Even caffeinated drinks such as coffee and tea can help you replace water. However, you should resist the urge to rehydrate with beer or other alcoholic beverages, which can hasten water loss due to alcohol's diuretic properties. If your urine looks darker than usual, make a point of rehydrating immediately.

2. Know Your Overheating Trouble Signs

Dehydration and sun exposure in the summer heat can cause the human body to malfunction. The loss of water and electrolytes can lead to heat exhaustion, while the body's inability to regulate its body temperature properly can lead to an emergency condition called heat stroke.

You need to recognize the symptoms of these disorders in time to seek professional medical care. Heat exhaustion tends to cause weakness, intense sweating, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and cold or moist skin. Heat stroke symptoms include a high fever, elevated heart rate, loss of consciousness, and hot or dry skin.

3. Protect Yourself From the Sun

The summer sun can do more than dry you out and cause heat-related illnesses. The ultraviolet rays of a bright, sunny day can do serious damage to your skin. In addition to leaving you with a brutal sunburn, this radiation can trigger skin cancer. The same rays may also cause eye irritation and cataracts.

To protect your skin from UV damage, always wear sunscreen with an SPF rating of at least 15, with an SPF of 30 or above providing optimal protection. Choose sunglasses that can block all or almost all harmful UV rays. A broad-brimmed hat can help protect both your face and your scalp.

4. Swim Safely

A summer swim can provide a refreshing break, or it can jeopardize your health. Make sure your kids know how to swim, or at least equip them with Coast Guard-approved flotation devices, before venturing into pools or swimming holes. Take a safety course so you’ll know how to respond to a drowning emergency correctly.

Any public body of water, even a chlorinated pool, can harbor harmful bacteria and other germs. For this reason, you should avoid swimming if you have any open wounds that might permit these germs to enter your body. You should also stay out of the pool if you have diarrhea, both for your sake and to protect other swimmers.

No matter how much care you and your family may take, summertime injuries and illnesses can still occur. If you need help overcoming a seasonal mishap, come to Nashville Healthcare Center. We can diagnose your symptoms and administer the appropriate treatment to help you recover. Contact us to learn more.