It’s call cyanoacrylate, and these days we use it as the active ingredient in Dermabond, a skin glue for minor lacerations.  This idea probably came from the many instances, that people glued their own hands, or eyelids, or lips or nostrils shut.   I’ve seen it all!

So here’s the simple antidote for accidental Krazy Glue jobs . . . . .  oil.  Mineral oil, olive oil, whatever kind of oil, just soak the parts, and the glue will eventually let go.  For eyelids, if its not burning the eyeball, get some mineral oil, soak a small cloth, and continue to soak the eyelid until the glue releases.  Do the same with other body parts.

Maybe someday, I’ll tell you about the time I glued myself to a kid I was trying to fix a laceration on . . . . . .

The brain is like a central processing center of all the information that comes to it. Millions of ensors in your body head, along with your eyes and ears, constantly send your brain information about falling, spatial positioning, acceleration, and so on. One of the sensors in particular is found in the ear, and is responsible for sensing acceleration, deceleration. Now, if this sensors is irritated or simply hypersensitive, it can tell your brain, “Your falling!”. You brain then looks to the other sensors, such as the eyes, and if the eyes don’t agree, then you feel dizzy!! (no emails from ENT docs, neurologists or physiologists please! I’m just trying to keep it simple!)

Treatment and Expectations:

1. Try to find an area with least movement, such as the center of the boat or plane
2. Try to breath cool, fresh air. Many odors will make the situation worse.
3. Over-the-counter medications such as Dramamine or Bonine can be very effective for short trips or when symptoms occur intermittently. These medicines can make you drowsy however.
4. For longer trips, ask your doctor to prescribe medication called Transderm-Scop (scopalimine transdermal patch) comes in the form of a patch can be worn behind the ear. You place them discreetly behind the ear and they work for about 3 days, per patch.
5. Try not to drink alcohol at least one full day before traveling (at least don’t totally tie one on!)
6. Plan it out, be well rested.
7. If a person gets car sick easily, consider allowing them to drive! It works! It’s easier to prevent the onset of motion sickness, than to make it go away after it hits you.

Treatment and Expectations:

1. Try not to pop the blisters. Feet are by nature, dirty and full of bacteria, so even thought the outer skin is poofed out with liquid inside, try to not pop it.
2. Place moleskin AROUND the wound. Moleskin is a thick felt pad with one sticky side. Cut a hole in the center of piece at least twice the size of the blister, and center the hole over the blister. You want do this so you can put your shoe or boot back on, without the rubbing on the blister itself.
3. If you must pop a blister, follow these few steps:
   • Use a sterilized needle (to sterilize it, put the point or edge in a flame until it is red hot, or rinse it in alcohol).
   • Wash the area thoroughly, then make a small hole and gently squeeze out the clear fluid.
   • Apply some polysporin antibiotic ointment to help protect against infection.
   • If the fluid is white or yellow, the blister may be infected and needs medical attention.
   • Don’t strip the skin off the blister after popping it. The doctor may do this for you later to promote healing.
   • Look for signs of infection to develop. These include pus drainage, red or warm skin surrounding the blister, or red streaks leading away from the blister. If it looks infected, go see your doctor

If a situation persists, the victim’s condition may progress to a heat stroke in which the body simply quits sweating, while the internal body temperature continues to rise, in many cases to greater than 105°F (40.5º C). Persons with heat stroke may have signs of confusion, delirium, or may fall unconscious. The skin will be red or pale, and hot and dry, even under the armpits.

Treatment and Expectations: The first line treatment is immediate cooling of the victim’s body with a room temperature bath or covering the exposed body with towels soaked in cool water. Also have the person slowly drink lots of cool water, a little at a time.

Seek Professional Medical Attention If:
The victim has signs or symptoms of a heat stroke.
The victim has any change or decline in mental status, confusion, or loses consciousness at any time.
When in doubt.

Sunburns come in 2 flavors, first degree and second degree. First degree is simple redding of the skin that feels hot and hypersensitive. The burn becomes classified as a second degree burn, as soon as a blister forms, or there is any interruption in the skin.

Treatment and Expectations:

1. A sunburn can cause a lot of discomfort and fever from inflammation. You can take ibuprofen, such as Motrin for relief.
2. Drink a lot of water, chances are you have some degree of dehydration
3. Take frequent cool showers or baths. Use cool cloths on sunburned areas.
4. You can use some 1% hydrocortisone cream on the burn areas. It is available without a prescription and is pretty inexpensive.
5. Other than cortisone I don’t recommend putting anything else on your skin. I know there are a lot of home remedies like aloevera, lotions and such. The skin which is highly absorptive, is already injured and angry and in many cases those topical agents just make it worse.
6. If your desperate, and you feel like your going to jump out of your skin, you can spray on some topical Solarcaine, which calms the nerves down so you can sleep.
7. DON’T pop blisters! Blisters are annoying, but they keep the wound clean and infection free, until the new skin is mature enough to become your outer skin. When that time comes, the blister will pop itself.

Asthma is also known as Reactive Airway Disease (RAD) in which a person experiences a narrowing or spasming of the airways as a result of exposure and then allergic reaction to some irritant. Common things contribute to asthma include: dust, pollen, dead insect parts (microscopic like dust mites), animal dander. It can also be triggered by cold air and exercise, smoke, aspirin, emotional stress, and just about anything else. People have even been known to suffer asthma attacks from a reaction to certain foods.

Asthma is strongly associated with heredity and childhood environmental factors. If your parent had it, you
probably will too. If your kids are exposed to cigarette smoke in the home as an infant, chances are they will suffer from it. The good thing is that most kids will end up outgrowing the asthma, but they are always at risk for a recurrence.

Treatment and Expectations:
If its a bad attack, you should be making your way to the local ER or urgent care.  In the meantime . . . .
Colds and flu have a way of making the body hypersensitive to things that normally wouldn’t bother us, like asthma and shortness of breath! In the same way your nose gets plugged up, you can also suffer bronchial spasms and narrowing of the airways resulting from having a cold, and then being exposed to things that you are allergic to. It makes sense that you would want avoid all the things that could trigger an attack (make the dog sleep in the yard, and stick the cat outside, or at least not let ‘em sleep in the bedroom!!)

You should work closely with your health care provider to find the right regiment of medicines that will work for you. Until then, if you get an asthma attack:

1. Relax and stay calm to avoid increasing the need for more oxygen.
2. Do not take anti-inflammatory medicine such as aspirin, Motrin, etc. Extra Strength Tylenol is O.K.
3. Use your inhaler as labeled if your Healthcare Provider has given you one.
4. Drink lots of fluid to thin out the bronchial mucous.
5. There are some OTC products that work well such as Primatene Mist or Primatene Mist with Epinephrine, but be sure to consult your own Healthcare Provider before using this or any other OTC product.
6. If you are ever caught without your inhaler and are suffering an attack, you can drink a large amount of strong coffee to temporarily relieve some of the asthma on the way to the Healthcare Provider’s office, or ER.
7. For more great information I highly recommend reading The Asthma Source Book: Everything You Need to Know. This book was given a five star rating time after time by readers just like you who suffer from asthma. Provides very practical explanations and treatments for you and your family, and is also available in paperback.

Seek a Medical Professional if:

1. You are in doubt.
2. You run out of your usual prescription medications.
3. You have not been previously treated or followed for shortness of breath or asthma.
4. You cannot catch your breath or there is no relief of your symptoms after
your usual treatment, or if the OTC medicines do not work.
5. Your sputum become foul tasting and discolored, or if you have fever >
103.0° F (39.4°C)

UV radiation is a weird thing, because it’s cumulative. The more total hours you spend in the sun throughout your life, the higher the chance of skin cancer. It’s not like you can spend your first 20 years indoors, and then 1 glorious summer at the beach will immediately give you a death sentence. Continuous tanning and burning however greatly increased the chances of skin cancer however. So who’s more at risk? Beach bums, gardeners and other people who spend a lot of time in the sun. But genetic predisposition to skin cancer has been linked to people with fair, white skin.

• unprotected and/or excessive exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation
• fair complexion
• occupational exposures to coal tar, pitch, creosote, arsenic compounds, or radium
• family history
• multiple or unusual moles
• severe sunburns as a child

So here’s what to look for:

Have someone check you, if possible:

1. Moles or growths lager than 1cm (1/4 inch)
2. Any new growths, spots, bumps, patches, or sores that don’t heal after 2 to 3 months
3. Spread of pigment from the border of a spot to surrounding skin
4. Any change in color
5. Irregular or ragged border
6. One side of a mole or lesion, is different than the other side
7. Redness or a new swelling beyond the border
8. Change in sensation — itchiness, tenderness, or pain
9. Change in the surface of a mole — scaliness, oozing, bleeding, or the appearance of a bump or nodule
10. There are many more symptoms and appearances of this sneaky and deadly disease. If you find any lesions that you are absolutely not sure about, go see a doctor!

In the month of June, we will be focusing on first aid issues related to outdoors and weather related injuries. Stay tuned for a bunch of great posts on keeping safe and sane during your vacation!  We will focus on things like heat stroke, sun exposure, minor injuries, stress, water injuries and much more!

Recent data indicates that those who listened for five hours a week at high volume settings exposed themselves to more noise than permitted in the noisiest factory or work place.  Maximum volume on some devices can generate as much noise as an airplane taking off nearby.

Studies also warn that young people do not realize the damage until years later. “Regularly listening to personal music players at high-volume settings when young,” the report said, “often has no immediate effect on hearing but is likely to result in hearing loss later in life.”  But older people may also be vulnerable to hearing damage. The studies went on to say an estimated 50 million to 100 million people out of about 500 million may be listening to portable music players daily.  Users listening at high volumes for more than an hour a day each week risk permanent hearing loss after five years.

Such fears have already prompted litigation. In 2006 a man in Louisiana filed a lawsuit against Apple, claiming the company had failed to take adequate steps to prevent hearing loss among iPod users.  The suit, filed in Federal District Court in San Jose, Calif., claims that the iPod can produce sounds as loud as 115 decibels, when 89 decibels is considered that maximum for safe listening. Apple warns its customers about the danger of hearing loss in its iPod manual.

The market for personal music devices continues to boom worldwide despite warnings.  It’s just common sense that loud music continuously piped directly into your ears cannot happen without some long term consequenses.  I didn’t need a study for that!   I personally like it loud.  You just can’t listen to old AC/DC or Led Zeppelin, on the quiet.  I’ll just have to settle for high definition hearing aids in a couple of years!