Protection from Sunburn

Many people enjoy the summer fun and stay outdoors long. Don’t forget to take precautions against sunburn. Be protected with all methods listed below.

Minimize the exposure under the sun

Some people hold an umbrella to block the sunshine; some wears broad-brimmed hat instead. Don’t rely on either exclusively, thinking that you are immune from sunburn. Ultraviolet (UV) can still reach you to do harms. 

Stay in the shadow whenever you can. The place could be under a roof of foliage, the kiosk in the park, porch roof and the covered walkway, etc.

Pitch a tent next to your picnic so that you can hide from the sun during the nap or reading.

Use a beach umbrella when you are lying on the beach or in the swimming pool, or sitting for a barbecue. Don’t get your skin overtanned.

Protective clothing

Do you know that there is clothing material that can block UV? They are the sun protective clothing. In the midst of finding a good buy, consumers will come across UPF (Ultraviolet Protection Factor). Let’s learn more about the UV blocking capacity.

UPF rating ----- Protection category ----- % UV radiation block

UPF 15 – 24 ----- Good ----- 93.3 – 95.9

UPF 25 – 39 ----- Very good ----- 96.0 – 97.4

UPF 40 – 50+ ----- Excellent ----- 97.5 – 99+

If your clothes are not made of blocking UV material, the best you can do is to alleviate the sunburn by wearing long sleeve, full collars, full-length trousers and shorts. Surprisingly, darker colored fabrics can offer more protection than lighter colored fabrics.

Don’t forget wearing the broad-brimmed hat. If possible, wear a sunglass that can block UV to protect your cornea from opacity cornea and keratoconjunctivitis.

Also, get a towel to cover the neck. It’s good for absorbing the sweat and minimizing direct exposure under the sun.

Sunblock lotion

There are many brands in the market and the price range is wide. Be mindful that some products are particularly made for children whose skins are much tender than the adults’.

Consumers will come across two popular terms, SPF (Sun Protection Factor) and PA.

SPF measures the effectiveness of a sunscreen. 1 SF sunblock could last for successive 20 minutes. Thus, the effectiveness for SPF 30 could come up to about 600 minutes successively.

PA (The Protection Grade of UVA) system measures the UVA protection a sunscreen provides. PA+ is the double ability to resist sunblock, PA++ triple, PA+++ four times (the maximum protection level we can enjoy so far).

Sunblock can be in the form of lotion, cream, gel and spray. Read the product specification carefully and pick the most suitable one for your own protection.

Don’t be lazy and overlook the possible protections that you can get, lest you may subject to the three potential health risks that often arises after long and continuous exposure to the ultraviolet.

1)      Skin damage: lost flexibility, formation of black pigment, and skin cancer for severe case.

2)      Destruction to the immune system: lower the resistance to the bacteria and cause infectious disease easier.

3)      Eye damage: opacity cornea and keratoconjunctivitis.

Play hard and protect harder in summer. We can maximize the fun without endanger our health. Enjoy yourself safely.

Author’s note:

What fun will you get in summer? Try some beach sports to have fun and lose weight as well.

10 Summer Beach Sports for Fun and Weight Loss

Beside sunburn, you may also need some cooling tips to protect you from heatstroke. Read the article below for more details on how to resist heat.

How to Resist Heat in Summer: 11 Cooling Tips

Sodium in Diet

Toe pain revealed to me how careless I had handled my diet. Learn from my experience and be aware of your intake amount of sodium in diet from now on.

What’s wrong with my toes?

One evening I walked for two hours successively to shop an item. Pain from my feet tortured me throughout. I used to walk longer than this and encountered no problem. What’s wrong?

When I got back home to examine my feet carefully, I noticed that the pain came from my toes. How numb the ten little toes looked? A little bit too purple, hardened and swollen, I would say. The idea of “death” stole into my mind. Were my toes all dead? Not yet for pain still existed.

To find out the cause of this abnormal change, I tried a few possibilities. The cold weather might be the cause. So, I wore two pairs of socks instead of one pair at a time and even dug my feet into four layers of blanket. Well, there was no improvement. The toes were still like dead fish.

Was I walking too little recently and so the feet couldn’t stand the two hours exercise? I stretched my feet as much as I could, but again, no improvement. Wait a minute, if the inadequacy of exercise was to be blamed, why the pain came from the toes only, not the whole feet?

I couldn’t help knitting my brow. There was a common saying, “Pain from a specific area of the foot means a part of your body is undergoing health problem.” So, which part went wrong?

I decided to examine my recent diet see if it would give me some hints. I listed out the foods and drinks that I consumed and checked the labels of their packaging. I found the villain eventually. It was the excessive sodium in diet. 

What is the safe level of sodium intake?

Healthy adults should have their sodium intake not more than 2300mg per day, and no more than 1500mg per day for those with high blood pressure. Patients of congestive heart failure, liver cirrhosis and kidney disease may need even lower amounts. Always consult your doctor for the safety level according to your body and health. In other words, it will be fine to maintain a low sodium intake, but excessive intake is definitely hazardous to health.

(The alarming difference for one serving: left is the instant noodle, right is the udon, photo taken by the author)

Where was my excessive sodium intake come from?

Surprisingly, the villain was an instant noodle that alone contributes to 2107mg. No matter how much I love eating, it couldn’t stay in my diet anymore. I replaced it with an Udon (Japanese noodle) that only consisted of 84mg per serving. The difference is alarming, isn’t it?

Usually I eat one serving of noodle for a meal. But we have at least three meals per day. There are many foods and drinks consisted of sodium, we may add up the amount for the ingredients we used in cooking, but we easily lose count when dining outside. A little bit here, a little bit there, we don't need to worry about inadequate intake. On the contrary, we must still count and check the excessive intake shortly. Don't let your body run wild to tell you this.

How to check the excessive sodium intake?

As mentioned above, I replaced the ingredient with a low sodium portioned one upon discovery. Drink a lot of water to wash out the undesirable elements. A lot doesn’t mean over-drink; here it means to replace your usual coffee, tea, soft drinks with water for a while to let water work its magic.

Prevention is always better than cure. We must learn to read the labels for every ingredient albeit its commonness. Do a little bit calculation to get a rough idea on the intake level and make the adjustments among the meals to bring down the intake level of sodium. Keep a good balance strictly in a daily basis.

We may need to forsake some favorite foods and drinks or reduce the intake amount and frequency, but good health should be given the top priority. Eat well and be healthy all the time.

Other health related articles you may be interested in reading:

Reminders of Wound Care

Develop Healthy Eating Habits