Continued from previous page
Stafford &_______________________ Company Insurance
Home • Auto Business • Life
Insurance Choice… Talk to a professional in your hometown OR Call an 800# in Fargo
Celebrate the Choices www.stafford-insurance.com
(508) 673-5893 — Since 1881 —
Fall River 10
Somerset
July 2013 / The South Coast Insider
their skins) or dab with moistened tea bags. Spoon on plain yoghurt or slightly-beaten egg whites, rinse off with cold water after thirty minutes and re-apply until the pain subsides. Keep a spray bottle of vinegar or tea in the ‘fridge for fast relief while you whip up another treatment for your sunburn.
More than skin deep Sunburn is hardly the only skin affliction you’re likely to suffer in the summer. There’s the heat rash called prickly heat, “ocean itch,” and the dreaded poison ivy. Prickly heat (aka diaper rash) is caused when the sweat glands are clogged beneath tight clothing, especially if there’s skin-to-skin friction involved. Take off the tight running shorts, diapers or swimsuit, jump into a cooling shower and find an airconditioned room where you can dust yourself with baking soda or cornstarch. Switch to wearing cotton-only loose clothing. For those of you who aren’t used to swimming in ocean water, you might find yourself scratching a red rash along the lines of your swimsuit a few days later after you frolicked in the surf. This is where tiny, larval jellyfish have feasted on you: welcome to “ocean itch.” Rinse the rash with a 50:50 mix of water and vinegar, and always shower immediately (naked) after swimming at the beach; don’t let the suit dry on you, because this
will “excite” the little critters and make them bite. Poison ivy (and oak and sumac) is everywhere, and if you’re one of the unfortunate 70 percent of people who react badly when you come in contact with it, take precautions before and after the event. It’s important to wash with soapy water to remove the plant’s oily residue even if you’ve only walked through an area where you saw poison ivy. You might not find out for a few days whether or not you came into direct contact with the leaves. If you think you’ve contracted it, don’t scratch yourself and then touch someone before you’ve completely cleansed and treated the area: you can spread the misery to others, even by sharing a towel. If you’re in the lucky 30 percent, don’t cut it down and then burn it in your backyard fire pit. The smoke carries the poison to your neighbor’s yard. If you do break out in that insanely itchy rash, take a cooling bath with baking soda. Or, you can make a paste of baking soda mixed with cooked oatmeal and spread it on the affected area. Try rubbing the inside of plaintain or banana skins onto the area every hour. Soak facecloths in warmed apple cider vinegar and drape them until they cool. Make a puree of cucumbers and spread it on the rash. And, if you’ve ever wondered if there was a use for all those drippy watermelon rinds, there is: chill and