We all like to visit Florida to get some sunshine and perhaps a suntan? Even if it’s cloudy, you can still get sun burn so take some sensible precautions and don’t ruin your vacation!
- Do wear high factor sunscreen at all times (anyone with short hair, don’t forget your ears!)
- Important parts to protect are your face, shoulders, back, neck and shins – in fact, any area not usually in the sun or with tender skin.
- For infants or children, make sure you shield them from the sun at all times and use a higher factor sunscreen for them.
- Always keep small kids’ protected, even in the pool – get them to wear an old T-shirt if necessary
- If you spot one of your party asleep in the sun who is turning red, wake them up and get them to move to the shade.
- If you’re out an about, then a hat is great for all ages, but especially for kids – make sure that the kids have one with the back of their neck protected.
OK, the worst has happened and someone’s got sun burn!
Here’s a few tips to minimise that burning pain, which is especially painful after dark.
- Apply some after sun lotion or cream – this is soothing and also moisturizes the skin.
- You can purchase after sun cooling sprays to use
- If it’s really painful, then try some ice cubes in a plastic bag on the worst parts.
- If you have blisters, don’t break the skin.
- If your skin starts peeling then use plenty of moisturizer
Even worse, someone has got sunstroke!
Sunstroke is particularly nasty – if you’ve ever had it before, you’ll know!
Sunstroke occurs when you’ve been in the sun too long and you may or may not have sun burn with it.
The symptoms can be pretty alarming and include looking red, feeling hot, unwell, shivery, shaky (just like ‘flu), perhaps with sun burn and blisters.
- If it’s really bad, go to bed and rest.
- Drink plenty of fluids, ie water
- Don’t try to eat if you feel nauseous, just make sure that you drink plenty of water – sip it frequently if you can’t keep it down
- If the symptoms continue for more than 24 hours, then seek medical help.
To avoid feeling awful, please take sensible sun precautions as that’s much easier than dealing with the aftermath or trying to treat the symptoms of sun burn or sunstroke. Taking care of kids is very important because they’re not able to take care of themselves and probably just want to keep having fun.