Sun, Sand, Sea…and Stings?

At the moment it seems that the only way we’re going to get any summery weather is to go abroad – with the attendant collusion in pollution from aircraft fuels.  After so many weeks of damp, grey, chilly weather, it’s very tempting to make tracks for sand, sea and sun!  These remedies and tips will help with the problems that can mar sunshine holidays:

Insect Stings
Bees, wasps and mosquitoes can be encountered in Great Yarmouth just as much as Gran Canaria, and they’re just as troublesome wherever in the world you suffer from them.  Packing one or two remedies in your suitcase could save you a lot of inconvenience (not to mention pain!).  If possible, scrape out the sting using the tip of a sterilised needle.  Don’t use tweezers, as the pressure can empty the poison sac still attached to the sting and cause more poison to enter the sting site.  If your reaction to a sting is very severe, seek medical help immediately.

Rescue Remedy is marvellous for stings of all kinds.  I was stung between my toes by a bee (a good old English honey bee!) a couple of years ago and a drop of Rescue Remedy applied to the sting rapidly took the pain and swelling right down.  Rescue Remedy is a mixture of five of the 38 Bach Flower Remedies and can also be used for emotional trauma.  So if you or your child are shocked after being stung, use Rescue Remedy internally and externally for quick relief.

Homoeopathic tinctures are available from homoeopathic pharmacies and can be very effective for stings.  Dab them neat on stings or bites.  Arnica tincture is good for wasp stings; Hypericum is a great healer and good for extremely painful stings of any kind (apply neat or use in a compress until the swelling goes down); Pyrethrum not only really takes the itch out of stings but can be used as a non-toxic insect repellent.  Some pharmacies stock it in a handy little spray bottle; Ledum tincture is good for the itching and swelling of any type of sting.

Sunburn
Always apply high factor sunscreen, even if you think it’s not that sunny!  Limit your exposure time, wear a sunhat, pack some long sleeved shirts…  These days there is no excuse for allowing yourself or your children to get sunburnt.  I am seeing more and more people with sun-related skin lesions, the seeds of which were sown years ago before all the publicity about sun damage and skin cancer, so be careful out there!  If you do catch the sun, these remedies can help:

Cantharis:  burns; burns with blistering; burning pains.  Better for cold compresses.  Urtica Urens:  Minor burns with biting, stinging pains.  Also good for prickly heat with those symptoms, and for hives.  Arsenicum Album:  Burning pains better for warm compresses.  Arsenicum is also a wonderful remedy for food poisoning and has saved many a foreign holiday from disaster!

Have a wonderful summer break, wherever in the world you choose to spend it.  Come back relaxed, rested – and healthy.

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