Summertime First-Aid Kit
Spend a weekend in New York City in July or August and you'll find yourself wondering where everyone has gone. It seems like most of the city clears out to the beaches, mountains and lakes and I'm no exception. I love being outside in the sunny heat, reconnecting with nature: surfing in Montauk, hiking in the Adirondacks, kayaking at the lake, cycling up the Hudson or just sitting on my deck soaking up the rays. Add in the excess of a barbecue or two to all that activity and sometimes my body doesn't love me in the morning.
That's when I whip out what I call my summer toolkit, which is a little bag I travel with containing all I need to handle things like sunburn, achy muscles, upset stomach, bug bites, poison ivy or anything else that might get in the way of summer fun.
Here are the top five things in my bag:
1) Homeopathic arnica (30C potency): I don't leave on a long biking or hiking trip without this. Muscle strains, sprains and overuse benefit from a dosage or two when the day is done. Arnica gel is also in the kit for topical relief.
2) Activated charcoal tablets: Whenever I start to feel queasy or off from something I ate, I'll pop a few tablets of this. It binds to toxins and pulls them out through the digestive tract so you don't absorb them.
3) Homeopathic apis (30C potency): I just used this yesterday when I got a giant mosquito bite while on a walk through the woods. Apis is great when you've got an insect bite or sting that's swelling quickly.
4) C-C-C Cream (Eclectic Institute). That stands for comfrey, calendula and coneflower (echinacea). This powerful blend of herbs comes in handy for everything from sunburns to poison ivy and can often zap inflammation after one application. I don't go anywhere in the summer without it.
5) Essential oils: Instead of commercial bug sprays that are filled with chemicals, I like to put a few drops of eucalyptus, clove and citronella oil in a jojoba oil carrier to repel insects. A couple drops on the arms, legs, and along the neckline are usually enough to keep critters out of your way.
Hope your summer is relaxing, joyful and healthy!
Dr. Maura