Does your family dream of amusement park rides every summer? This time of year the amusement park ads are in full bloom getting everyone itching to get to their local parks.

There is no doubt that amusement parks can be a great family outing and offer something for everyone – even non-ride people. At the same time, while it’s easy to assume that a clean-looking, well-run park is “safe”, statistics suggest otherwise. Safekids.org recently reported 6500 emergency room visits in 2001 for amusement park injuries in the United States – and the majority of those actually avoidable and due to families and attendants bending the posted rules. Equipment problems do occur but result in a small amount of injuries overall. Continue Reading

Sea sickness is really motion sickness on the water. Many people, young and old, are very sensitive to changes in motion.  Depending on how fast our body adjusts to the motion, we may have few symptoms or feel quick sick.

Our Internal Balance Beam

Our body has built in motion sensors that work together to keep us balanced.  Actually, sensor is a misnomer – it is more like a relay system involving our eyes and inner ears that report to our brain. Anything that interrupts this interplay, causes us to feel off kilter. For example, if our eyes can’t see what is happening and our inner ears sense motion, our body begins to feel off balance and senses the motion. Similarly, if our eyes see motion that our body can not feel such as on an amusement park ride or in a car, we similarly feel funny. When we feel the motion and our body can’t correct for it, motion sickness sets in. It can occur at any age and to any of us but kids are more prone, particularly between the ages of 2-12.

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It could easily be the start of a new Dr. Seuss book: “Your health…here, there and everywhere!”

You could read that one line so many ways:

Your health happens here, there and everywhere.
Your health involves places here, there and everwhere.
Do you know the details of your health – here, there and everywhere?
You need to be healthy here, there and everywhere.

You get the idea! Your health is part of you and travels about with you where ever you go. Even though it doesn’t always make itself visible, it makes its presence known by how you feel. When your health is good, you feel good. When your health is so-so, your not at your best.

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It started with such promise: unroll on flat ground, put in water, and Voila! instant backyard pool with hours of endless lounging and splashing fun. That was last summer’s dream. The reality was quite different. The pool never quite held its water, the pool top kept flying off and the ladder barely fit over the pool’s sides. “Lasted long it did not”, Yoda would say of our pool.

True backyard pools and whirlpool spas now have competition with these smaller, “temporary” pools as well as a variety of other backyard water toys: super soakers, sprinklers of all shapes and sizes, and slip n’ slides. And why not? Summer adventures at home are often the best kind to have. But buyers beware! Most of these toys are great fun but are not only expensive but dangerous. Injuries from these recreational toys span the spectrum from minor cuts and bruises to significant broken arms, necks and concussions. Continue Reading

The lazy days of summer are quickly approaching. Before long, carpools and homework will be a distant memory and we will fill our days with all sorts of outdoor adventures. Unfortunately, the very features that make the summer so wonderful can also be very dangerous, especially for children. Luckily, a bit of planning and a tad of common sense can keep your family safe without interfering with even an ounce of fun.

Fun in the sun and fun in motion are what makes the summer so spectacular and dangerous at the same time. You may be surprised to learn that the heat and the sun do not necessarily go hand in hand. We can burn in the shade and get dehydrated on a cloudy day. It is possible to get too much sun without intense heat and it is also possible to experience hot temperatures without a lot of sun. And, when they occur together, there is double the trouble. Continue Reading