Look after your family's health this spring

As the flowers bloom, the grass grows and the weather warms up, we often find ourselves spending more time outdoors! Here are a few ways you can protect the health of you and your family, whilst enjoying the great outdoors this spring!

Allergy Awareness

Spring is a beautiful time of year, the trees grow back their leaves, the daffodils are in bloom and everything feels new. However, all this growth can trigger allergic reactions to grass and tree pollen. Good news is, there are effective ways you can reduce the symptoms:

• Keep windows and doors closed
• Change your clothes and bathe at night after being outdoors to remove any pollen
• Buy a pollen filter for your car air vents
• Use a cool compress or flannel over eyes to relieve stinging
• Start taking antihistamine tablets before the end of March and continue throughout the season. It’s easier to reduce the allergy symptoms before they appear.

Ticks & Lyme Disease

Ticks are blood-sucking relatives of spiders typically found in most gardens in towns and the countryside. Tick infestations are seasonal and occur between March-June and August-November. Most tick bites are harmless, but a small number are infected with Borrelia bacterium which causes Lyme disease.

Check your children for ticks after they’ve been playing outside, particularly behind the ears, around the neck and on the scalp. If you find a tick, you can remove it by grasping firmly with tweezers as close to the skin as possible and pull it off.

The symptoms of Lyme disease are:

• Circular red skin rash often described as looking like a bullseye on a dartboard
• High temperature
• Fever
• Headache
• Muscle and joint pain
• Fatigue

Poisonous Plants

Always keep an eye on your children when they’re playing outside, as previously mentioned, plants start to flourish in spring and some produce poisonous berries. These berries might look tasty to a child but can have dangerous consequences eg. Deadly Nightshade and Daphne Mezereum.

Giant hogweed is one particular plant to look out for. This plant can grow up to 14 feet tall and it’s covered in toxic sap which causes painful burns, blisters and scars. It might look fun to play hide and seek in, but if it gets in contact with the skin, the reaction can occur within 15 minutes.

Sunburn

We’ve had some pretty balmy spring months in recent years and they may get even warmer. But even on overcast days, the sun’s UV rays can still damage our skin. Always make sure you apply sun cream to exposed skin if you’re going outside for more than 20 minutes.

Check the UV forecast, if it shows levels of 3 or above, sun protection is highly advised. Avoid direct contact with the sun and seek shade between 11am and 3pm as this is when the sun’s rays are strongest.