Doctors Busy With Sunburn Cases; Be Modern But Moderate

Northern Advocate, 7 January 1938, Page 6

Doctors Busy With Sunburn Cases; Be Modern But Moderate

IT’S NOTHING NEW TO SAY THAT SUN BATHING IN MODERATION IS AN EXCELLENT THING BUT THAT OVERDOING IT IS DANGEROUS. Northlanders this summer, however, have not listened to the wisdom of the sages, or, for that matter, to the “babes and sucklings” who have protested at the heat of the sun. Consequences are that doctors of the town are kept busy, and one bad case of sunburn has been admitted to .hospital over the holiday period. With backless suits you can be modern as you wish, but ydu must also bo moderate. That real danger lies in excessive sun-bathing, may be judged when it is learned that in tire severe case of sunburn, shock almost invariably follows. Bad enough in itself, the consequences do not rest there. Often bad burning results in septic infection and that is a danger positive and everpresent.

Always Moderation. Scorching days invite sun-bathing, and the healthy tan of the beach-goer is a proud possession, but sun-bathing let it be stressed again, must be taken in moderation. Fair people are more prone to burning than are ones with naturally darker skins. Taken in small doses, the brown will come, and hours of agony and possible danger will be avoided. This year, a Whangarei doctor stated, sunburn cases that he had treated were easily three times as numerous as those he attended to last year. Generally, his experience is shared by other medical men, and this servos to stress upon Northlanders that extra care is necessary. “He Feels Pretty Sick.”

The 10-year-old boy who was admitted to the Whangarei hospital is fair-skinned. Thanks to skilful attention he is in no danger; nevertheless all the skin on his back is burned and as a doctor put it he naturally “feels pretty sick.” With clouds overhead and the air hot and humid, some throw caution to the winds, little dreaming that under these conditions they can be just as badly burned as if they exposed parts of their bodies to the noon-day sun. Ultra violet rays are in a large measure responsible for sunburn, and these rays penetrate the clouds. Sun-bath-ing, in fact, lias been undertaken in Switzerland all the year round —cloudy weather and fine—and even in winter people there may “brown.” Wind and salt make the seabather particularly prone to burning, and fair weather or foul, the picnicker may come home a “lobster-red,” if he indulged in too much sea-bathing; and he, too, may be next to ring the doctor’s door- , bell. Hot months we have had. but there are oven hotter to come. Take heed then, of the warning and realise that the sun—like all good things—must be taken in moderation.