Sun days can be painful

THE TROUBLE with having a heatwave in England — and no, I’m not really complaining — is that I see patients who seem to have forgetten that sun over here can be just as damaging as sun abroad. So while parents plaster their children with factor 50 when in Spain, they are slightly more laid-back here, leading to rather too much sunburn for my liking. To be honest, it can happen even when people are being diligent, so it is worth knowing what to do.

If you or your child does get sunburned, the skin needs to be cooled with cold compresses and should then be moisturised with a very plain emollient cream such as aqueous cream.

It will get itchy, so use an antihistamine such as piriton to prevent scratching, which can damage the skin further. If you feel the sunburn is very severe, you should see a GP for an urgent appointment for a silver-based cream, or even a steroid cream.

The amount of exposure to sun as a child is known to increase the risk of developing skin cancer as an adult. Sun cream only partially protects the skin and does not give children the green light for hours of sun exposure.

Using a factor 30 or more sun block on children is the safest way to reduce burning, although young ones should never be directly in the sun without a hat and loose, cotton clothes covering their skin. This is particularly important for those under five.

Babies should be kept out of the sun completely, especially when it’s hot, to prevent dehydration, which happens very quickly.

People also seem to be surprised by the notion of “heat exhaustion”. The symptoms to watch out for are a sudden onset of fever with nausea or vomiting and sweating. If this happens, go indoors and have plenty of cold drinks. The symptoms should start to reverse within an hour after plentiful fluids and a cool environment. But should the symptoms persist, seek urgent medical help as it may be heatstroke, which is more serious.

The Australians got it spot on with their “slip, slap, slop” campaign years ago.

Slip on a T-shirt, slap on a hat and slop on the sun cream and you can’t go wrong.

Sure it’s been nice to see the sun for a change of late, but you still need to approach it with care.

Slip on a T-shirt, slap on a hat and slop on the sun cream