June 6-12 is dubbed “Sun Safety Week” nationwide, but living here in the Sunshine State makes it all the more important. Each summer, Solantic Baptist Urgent Care sees multiple patients with painfully severe sunburns or sun poisoning, an allergic reaction to the sun also called “photodermatitis.” This time of year, students of all ages are out of school on summer break and vacationing or weekending adults are looking for a little R&R. What better place to relax, recreate and have some fun than Florida’s sandy, sunny beaches. But if you’re not careful, you could end up back indoors nursing a painful condition for the remainder of your time off.

Solantic Baptist Urgent Care and the Sun Safety Alliance offer tips to "block the sun - not the fun!"

With a typical sunburn, your skin will take on a not-so-flattering shade rather than the bronze glow flaunted by swimsuit models fronting bottles of sun screen. It likely will itch and eventually peel. Chances are, you’ve had lots of experience with those. But severe sunburn may also bring small blisters that can become infected and require topical treatments. And if your day in the sun ends with nausea, fever, headache, dizziness, fluid loss and / or electrolyte imbalance, chances are you’ve got a case of sun poisoning. In this case, head to your nearest Solantic Baptist Urgent Care Center for treatment as soon as possible. If your condition worsens into extreme pain or vomiting, or if your fever tops 104 degrees, we’ll get you to an emergency room where you may need IV fluids to restore your hydration. A physician may also prescribe an oral steroid to reduce inflammation.

Solantic Baptist Urgent Care and the Sun Safety Alliance offer a few tips for avoiding and treating sunburns and sun poisoning:

- Keep covered whether you’re sunbathing or playing sports. Don a wide-brimmed hat and smooth on a sun block of at least SPF 30. Know that different beaches have different colored sands that reflect the sun in various intensities. The whiter the sand, the worse you’re liable to burn.

- Insect repellants can reduce your sunscreen’s SPF by 1/3rd, so up your SPF if you plan to use both a sunscreen and bug spray.

- Don’t count on just one slathering of the sun block. Reapply after dips in the water or playing sports. Be sure to reapply sun block to children’s skin even more often – especially rambunctious little ones who run, splash and play a lot.

- Seek the shade, especially between 10 am and 4pm when the sun’s UV rays are strongest.

- If you do get a sunburn that causes mild discomfort, drink lots of water and apply ice or a cold compress to reduce swelling or itching. Apply aloe and avoid oils, fragrances and exfoliants. Take aspirin or beta-carotene supplements to ward off pain and inflammation.

- For a more painful sunburn, soak for a bit in cool (not cold) water and pat, don’t rub your skin dry. Up your water intake and, if nausea hits, head to the urgent care center or emergency room.

- Keep in mind that a sunburn is more than a temporary nuisance. Each one makes you more likely to develop skin cancer in the long run.

Remember the Sun Safety Alliance’s motto: “Block the sun – not the fun!”

A trip to an urgent care center can be a bit nerve wracking for anyone – especially a kid. Being in an unfamiliar environment and placed into the hands of strangers can cause anxiety, especially when a child must undergo a medical procedure or get an injection – things that can be downright scary for little ones. We’ve all seen the resulting bouts of crying and temper tantrums. But it doesn’t have to be that way for you and your child. Solantic Baptist Urgent Care offers these tips to help make your child’s next visit to the doctor a bit less stressful, and perhaps even fun.

Allowing your child to get to know his doctor can help ease his anxiety, making each trip to the doctor less stressful and more fun.

Give some warning: When possible, tell your child in advance that he or she will be visiting the doctor soon. For older children, let them know a few days ahead of time. For younger children, a day is sufficient without giving them too much time to fret. This allows them time to express any fears or anxieties and ask questions about the visit.

Choose and stick with a doctor you and your child like: The more familiar a doctor becomes to a child, the less anxiety he will experience with each visit. Urgent care centers increasingly are replacing the family physician for many routine visits such as annual checkups, school and sports screenings and urgent care treatment for illnesses and injuries. This works to your advantage because it allows your child to get to know his Solantic Baptist Urgent Care physician, nurses and staff during routine visits, making things less stressful when a more urgent need such as an unexpected injury or illness occurs. Barring a more serious situation that requires emergency room treatment, the same urgent care physician who handles your child’s routine visits will be there for his urgent care situation.

Don’t make it a big deal: Let your child know that all boys and girls go to the doctor and that a visit to the doctor’s office or urgent care center is simply to make sure that his little body is working in all the ways it should. If a visit is for a particular health concern and your child is aware that something is different, tell him only the most essential information and assure him that the doctor will know exactly what to do to help set everything right again. Also be aware of your own facial expressions and body language when talking to your child about an upcoming visit. They pick up on nonverbal signals as well as adults, so keep a sincere smile on your face and maintain a cheerful and comforting tone of voice.

Read a book about visiting the doctor: Multiple children’s books address going to the doctor in ways that are informative, humorous and reassuring. A few of our favorites are The Berenstain Bears Go to the Doctor, Elmo Goes to the Doctor, Curious George goes to the Doctor and Madeline, in which the famous young heroine must visit the hospital in the middle of the night to have her appendix removed. Though it was written in 1940, it remains among the most used resources to help soothe a child’s anxieties about emergency doctor visits.

Keep your child occupied in the waiting room: Bring along a few favorite toys or stuffed animals, funny books, coloring books with crayons or simple games. A soft, familiar blanket and yummy snack will help as well. Toys can be a big help in the days before you go to the urgent care center or doctor’s office too. Role play allowing your child to play the doctor and an assortment of huggable dolls and stuffed animals to be his pretend patients. Educational doctor play sets work great for older children.

Be prepared yourself: Be on time and make sure you have all of your child’s insurance information, prescription card and any other necessary documentation with you, such as shot records from prior physicians. Write down any questions you have beforehand. This all helps assure that your visit will go quickly and smoothly.

Give your child something to look forward to: Reward a successful visit to the doctor with a trip to the park or ice cream shop. And be sure to pile on the hugs, kisses and words of praise. This will help lay the foundation for your child’s next trip to the doctor.

If you have any questions or would like to schedule your child’s next checkup, visit our website and find the nearest Solantic Baptist Urgent Care center.