Ailment #1 – Folliculitis: Managing Shaving-Related Skin Irritations
Naples is known for its fabulous beaches. However, spending more time at the beach sometimes results in the ailment of ladies shaving their legs more often. And shaving our legs more often leads to a common summer-office complaint of a patient’s thighs being covered with itchy pus-filled bumps.
For many women, this can be so embarrassing that they avoid even wearing a bathing suit. Most of these annoying bumps are due to folliculitis, a common infection of hair follicles that spurs tiny, itchy, white-headed pimples at the base of the hair shafts. This can occur when irritation from shaving, friction from tight clothing, or perspiration damages the follicles, making them susceptible to staphylococcus bacteria or fungus invasion.
Flare-Up Prevention
Mild cases of folliculitis clear within a week or so, but a few simple steps can speed the process:
- First, soothe the inflammation by applying a washcloth soaked in warm water to the affected area for 10 minutes, three times daily. This can be alternated with apple cider vinegar packs.
- For the vinegar pack, mix one tablespoon of vinegar and ½ cup of water together.
- Dip cotton gauze into the mixture.
- Apply this to affected areas for 10 minutes, twice a day.
- Then, in the morning and before going to bed, gently wash the area (do not scrub) with a hypoallergenic cleanser made for sensitive skin.
If the skin does not look better within 2-4 days, see your doctor. And to prevent future bouts of folliculitis, consider shaving with a less traumatic double-bladed pivoting razor and wearing loose cotton and linen clothes. Also, make sure to remove wet clothing after the beach or the workout and replace it with the dry clothing.
Ailment #2 – Chronic Exertional Headaches: Managing Heat-Triggered Pain
Another common hot-weather complaint is a headache while playing outdoor sports. After ruling out dehydration, trauma, and high blood pressure, I always assess for the presence of chronic exertional headaches, which can occur after exercise, sex, coughing, or even straining with bowel movements.
These headaches are more common during exercise in hot, humid weather or at high altitudes. The theory is that abrupt, intense activity can dilate blood vessels in the head, triggering pain.
Prevention Tips & Natural Remedies
To prevent these headaches, try to play early in the morning or after sunset to avoid the heat and the sunlight, as both provoke headaches. Start off with a little warm-up where you stretch while performing the sport-specific motion, such as swinging your tennis racquet, for example.
For other natural remedies, you can:
- Supplement with 400 mg of magnesium citrate daily and use 15 drops of standardized liquid herbal extract twice a day dissolved in a glass of water.
- Avoid acidic, pungent, sour, and salty foods, as they tend to provoke headaches in predisposed people.
If your headaches get worse within a week despite this regimen, I’ll say it again: SEE your doctor.
