Summer is the season for fun and adventure, but with the warm weather and time spent outside come a whole host of ailments, from sunburns to poison ivy, and a wide range of home cures for those ailments. Although some of those cures are based in some drop of truth, most are outdated or complete nonsense, so here are three summer health myths and the truths behind them.
1. Chewing tobacco is healthier than smoking.
Baseball. That good ole American pastime. Summer is baseball season, and smokeless tobacco is almost as old as the sport. Chewing tobacco kept players’ mouths from drying out in the outfield, while the juice from the chew was great for softening up a mitt.
To this day, people are under the impression that chewing tobacco is safer than smoking. While it’s true that smoke isn’t entering your lungs, the tobacco still poses a very real health risk. Excessive use of chewing tobacco leads to gum disease, cavities, mouth lesions, and cancer of the mouth, throat, cheek, gums, and tongue. A recent study suggests that chewing tobacco is actually riskier than smoking.
If you enjoy chew or just like having something in your mouth, there are plenty of chewing tobacco alternatives out there. Non-tobacco chew, made from a medley of herbs, provides the same taste and feel as tobacco without the bad stuff.
2. Poison ivy is contagious.
Among the many types of rashes, a poison ivy rash isn’t one that will rub off on others. Your reaction to poison ivy comes from the chemical urushiol. Once this chemical is washed off, you can’t spread the rash by scratching it or touching others. By the time the rash appears—about two or three days after exposure—the chemical is long gone. This delayed reaction is often why people assume the rash is spreading when it’s not. To avoid the itch, immediately toss your clothes in the washing machine and wash your skin after exposure.
3. Peeing on a jellyfish sting eases the pain.
It’s one of the most far-reaching myths today. You’re swimming in the ocean, brush against a jellyfish’s tentacles, and experience immediate pain. You swim to shore and ask a friend to pee on the sting to relieve the pain, but in reality, all this does is leave a stink and leave you and your friend a bit embarrassed.
What you should do is splash some sea water on the sting. This will remove any remaining jellyfish parts, like tentacles of venom sacs the sea jelly may have left behind. Don’t use fresh water or rub the sting with a towel. Doing so can cause the tentacles to release even more venom.
Use a credit card to brush off any bits that remain. Wash the area using vinegar for at least 30 seconds to neutralize the sting. Alternately, a paste made of baking soda and sea water will also neutralize the venom. Finally, soak the area in hot water to relieve the pain.
Posted at: 10:55 AM
