Summer - Fun in the Sun 

The sun is returning form its winter journey, spring has sprung and the warmer weather is encouraging Mother Nature and her creatures to get out and about.  We too heed her call and get out into the garden, plan out door activities, light that first barbecue.  With all this activity come the incidents and accidents.

 Each year as the summer approaches we go through a process of self talk...now that the sun is back we need to be careful. So we  Slip...Slop... Slap. We religiously apply sunscreen, and follow the rules and then one day  we get caught out!  Sunburn…  Firstly make sure you drink lots of plain refreshing water.  This will help combat dehydration and keep the essential fluid levels needed for your body to help repair itself.  Then a cooling bath - lukewarm, not cold,  is ideal for soothing the skin.  Adding in one of Moon-Haven’s  After Sun Bath Tea Bags, will help and calm down some of the angry inflamed skin.  Our Nature’s Own Moisture Lotion, with a high percentage of Aloe Vera,  also contains skin soothing calendula and chamomile extracts, is ideal as a follow up moisturiser  to your cooling bath. Re-apply your moisturiser as needed.  If the pain is significant medical authorities recommend using paracaetamol or aspirin to help. Of course if the sunburn is extensive, blistering or extremely painful then do seek  medical advice.

 Bugs, Bities and other nuisances.  How many ways can summer make you uncomfortable - let us count the ways - mosquitoes, march flies, bull ants, bees, stingers, midges, wasps, fleas etc etc. Late spring-early summer brings our stinging friends out in swarms. Of course prevention is always better than cure… but despite our best defenses there will be occasions where we have to deal with being bitten or stung. Moon-Haven’sUniversal Herbal Ointment is ideal for dealing with these  nasties.  Just apply a thin coating to the affected area.  Many of our clients have reported that the pain is taken away quickly and the inflammation reduces soon after.  Continue to apply as needed to help deal with the itches that often follow a day or two later. For bee stings, if the sting  is still stuck in the skin, just flick the bee sting off  with your fingernail .  Do not tweezer the sting out, as this is likely to pump more of the bee toxins into the body causing more of a reaction.    If an anaphylactic shock (severe allergic reaction) is suspected - excessive swelling of body parts, difficulty in breathing, loss of consciousness etc then call for an ambulance or get the patient to medical attention ASAP. Apply first aid principles along the way.

Barbecues and Burns Burns and barbecues seem to go together.  Be it the finger tips when we scrounge that last bit of meat off the plate, the sizzle when we accidentally place our forearm on the edge of the Barbie or the fat spit on various parts of our body… these burns can be nasty.  While burns the size of the palm of your hand need immediate medical attention, most others you can generally deal with at home. First aid principles dictate that we run the burn under cool water for 10 to 15 minutes to help stop further damage.  If you have access to an aloe vera plant, snap off a small piece and apply the gel to the burn.  If there is no plant in sight then apply a small amount of Universal Herbal Ointment to help deal with the pain and assist in healing.