Are YOU as Smart as Your Pediatrician?
dispelling summertime myths
Welcome to the game show Are You as Smart as Your Pediatrician?! Today’s contestant is Dr. Bryan Wohlwend from Priority Care Pediatrics. Are you ready to see if you are as smart as this pediatrician by answering these questions regarding summertime? We’ll find out soon if you know your heated facts or are you just caught up in the tall tales of summer. Let’s begin.
True or False:
1) Poison ivy is contagious.
False. The poison ivy plant contains a chemical called urushiol that causes the classic blistering rash. Luckily, the rash doesn’t contain urushiol, so it’s not contagious at all. Clothing can have the urushiol, so you should make sure to wash everything that was worn at the time to prevent a re-exposure. But you can be comfortable knowing that the rash itself is not contagious.
2) You must wait one hour after eating before swimming.
Nope! There is no medical reason to wait. It used to be believed that having food in the stomach would deprive the body of oxygen and cause you to get severe cramps (and thus drown) if you went swimming after eating. This is not true. However, regardless of when your child last ate, close supervision while swimming must be the rule.
3) Scratching a mosquito bite will make it worse.
True. When a mosquito bites you, it injects saliva into your skin. This saliva causes your body to release histamine, which is the chemical that causes the redness and itching sensation. Whenever you scratch the bite, it causes the body to release more histamine and makes the bite even itchier.
4) Putting butter on sunburn will lessen the burn.
False. There is no evidence that putting butter on a sunburn lessens the burn. In fact, it could potentially increase the risk of infection. The best treatment for sunburn is to not get one in the first place! Make sure you are applying (and re-applying) sun block frequently.
5) Swallowing watermelon seeds is not harmful.
True. While I wouldn't recommend eating a lot of them, accidentally swallowing a few watermelon seeds is usually not harmful for kids. And it definitely won't cause watermelon plants to grow in their stomachs!
As always, please contact your medical provider with any questions.
Stacey Hatton is a humorist, a former pediatric RN and the co-author of the best-selling book I Just Want to Pee Alone.