by Allen M. Peabody, M.D., a board-certified pediatrician with Pediatric Associates of Franklin and is a credentialed physician with Williamson Medical Center.
As parents, we spend a good bit of the school year focused on flu prevention. Now that it’s summertime and your kids are out of school, you can take the summer off from worrying about your kids coming home with the dreaded flu virus.
With summer, though, comes a host of other things that should be on your radar as a parent.
There are the obvious dangers like sunburn or poison ivy that are troublesome during the summer, but we can’t overlook the more subtle things such as too much screen time or radically altered sleep patterns, especially in older children.
While any pediatrician, myself included, will strongly recommend that children need to be outside during the summer months versus being entertained by an iPad, there are a few risk factors that cause children to come to our office during the summer.
Two of the most prominent things we see during the summer months are sunburn and swimmer’s ear.
FUN IN THE SUN
Let’s start with sunburn. If you are going to be outside during the peak hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., even in Tennessee and even on a cloudy day, I recommend a broad spectrum sunscreen. If sunscreen is broad spectrum, it will be labeled that way and it will protect against both types of ultraviolet light (UVA and UVB).
WATER WORLD
The second most prominent issue we see during the summer in our office is probably swimmer’s ear. This is a condition that develops when water remains in the ear canal. It can change the Ph balance in the ear canal and foster bacteria growth.
It causes a painful outer ear infection of the ear canal. The ear can be painful to the touch and can be red. It’s easily treated with antibiotic ear drops, but it is important to see a physician if you think your child has swimmer’s ear.
You can read more about these two common summer ailments, as well as information on protecting your children from ticks and poison ivy here.
In addition to these tips, the community is invited to a free Kids’ Summer Safety Seminar at Williamson Medical Center on Wed, June 7th from 11:30a-12:30p. You’ll learn about car, pool and sun safety as well as how to treat insect bites.
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