It's summertime again

Ok, ok, so it's been a while. The in-laws were in town. Cold season is in full swing. The muse just wasn't quite hitting me. Excuses, excuses. Time to get back to work. Hopefully, I'll be back in full swing here now.
So my wife had me working out in the yard yesterday. While I love working out, running, lifting, biking, swimming, I don't actually like working very much and yesterday was work. However, I was enjoying the sun, listening to frogs do their chirping and listening to the birds. Here and there, there were splotches of green showing in the undergrowth in our landscape. So, I guess it was all good.
It reminded me, however, that more of my patients will be spending more time outside here soon. School is out in about 6 weeks. Daylight savings time has started, so evenings are spent outside. It's time for me to start considering problems that occur outdoors compared to indoors.
The most obvious is injuries. While many injuries are unavoidable (hence the word, "accident"), many can be minimized or avoided all together. Bike helmets are critical, especially in neighborhoods where drivers may not be constantly alert. Trampolines should be limited to one user at a time. Children should be supervised anytime they are outside running around. I still remember a camping trip we took with a group. During evening fireside time, several parents were enjoying themselves instead of watching their children dance around the fire. By the time I went to bed, I was a nervous wreck keeping everyone elses children out of the fire pit. Water time should always be supervised and the dangers of river swimming constantly appreciated, even while on a "lazy" float trip. Hiking trips often take hikers close to significant falls and children are very curious what is on the other side of that drop.
Insects and arachnids become a nuisance or worse over the next few weeks. Mosquitos carry West Nile virus. Ticks carry Rocky Mountain Spotted fever, Erlichia and Lyme disease. The occasional brown recluse spider is seen and carries a wicked bite. Chiggers are a constant problem in many grassy or woodland areas. DEET containing products are fairly effective at hiding our presence from many of these critters. Higher concentrations last longer and are probably more effective. Deep Woods Off may be the best. "Natural" insect repellants have not been shown to be effective in discouraging ticks, mosquitos or chiggers.
Sunburns are a constant threat during this time of year, as I found out yesterday, again... High levels of SPF are required as well as frequent reapplication of product. Mixed sunscreen/insect repellant products have not been shown to repell bugs. Sweat and swimming both dramatically decrease the useful life of the applied product. Reapplication as often as every 1/2 to 1 hour may be necessary.
Natural sources of water, while very entertaining, are not really good to be drinking, whether accidental or not. While e. coli tends to be the primary concern of most county health departments in neighborhood lakes such as Lake St. Loius, giardia tends to be a much larger problem. Giardia is a smal protozoa found in many lakes and streams in many parts of the country. It tends to cause loose stools several times a day, often for weeks before anyone discovers that it is the problem.
So, while being outdoors is important for the health of our children, it does pose many risks as well that are very different than their risks indoors over the winter. Until next time, enjoy the beautiful weather we've been having.