Precautions To Take When Gardening To Prevent Skin Problems

Skin rashes and injuries are actually quite common for people who garden. Beauty ‘N Fashion has come up with some ways you can protect yourself against injuries and skin irritations for the next time you are gardening or doing any yardwork.
Covering Up
One of the first and easiest ways you can protect yourself when gardening is by wearing the appropriate attire and using the correct tools. Wearing things like long-sleeve shirts, gloves, and sunscreen when you are outside gardening is essential. You might be working with plants that can irritate or hurt your skin. Some plants have thorns or spines that can stick into you, while sometimes the sap can irritate your skin and cause an allergic reaction. In order to avoid this, this is why you should be wearing all of the following when you go out to garden:
-Wide brimmed hat
-Pants
– A long sleeve shirt
-Gloves
-Shoes that cover your feet, this can include running shoes
-Socks
-Sunglasses
Sunscreen
Whether it’s bright and sunny or completely overcast and cloudy, you should be wearing sunscreen on all exposed skin when you go outside. This can include places like your neck, ears, and face. You should also get specialized lip balm with an SPF of 30 or higher. When trying to figure out what sunscreen to buy, make sure it has the following:
-SPF 30+
-Broad-spectrum protection
-Water-resistance
Make sure to periodically reapply your sunscreen every 2 hours, at least. Doing these things will reduce your risk of getting premature age spots, wrinkles, sunburns, and skin cancer.
Time Your Gardening
There are certain times during the day when the sun is at its strongest. You should avoid gardening during these times and pick a different time when it’s cooler. Between the times of 10am and 2 pm is when the sun’s rays are at their strongest. Earlier morning or late afternoon gardening would be the best times to avoid being in the sun. If avoiding these strong timeframes is not possible, look for shade. If you are out between 10am and 2pm, you are running the risk of things like heat rash, heat stroke, and skin cancer.
Avoid Bug Bites
Try to take precautions in order to prevent bug bites, doing so can prevent illnesses and other injuries related to them. Try the following to ward off bugs:
-If a bug lands on you, instead of trying to squish it, flick it off. This will prevent any biting or stinging if you miss squishing it.
-Use bug repellent on your clothes that contains DEET
-When you are done gardening for the day, make sure to examine yourself from head to toe for ticks. Checking your hairline, between your toes, and underarms is especially important.
-Try to not garden at dusk or dawn, as this is when you will find bugs to be very active.
Always Read the Labels
Before buying or using anything, make sure you are reading the contents labels of things like plant foods, pest controls, fertilizers, insecticides, and weed killer. A lot of these kinds of products are known to cause injury. These can range from severe burns to mild rashes. In extreme and rare cases, they have been known to cause life-threatening injuries. Always follow any warning labels and precautions found on the label or packaging. Doing so will help to prevent any injuries. For instance:
-If a label is calling for a respirator, only use one or none at all.
-When you use fertilizer, make sure to wear gloves. When you are done, immediately wash your hands very thoroughly.
Don’t Touch Your Face
When you are dealing with all these chemicals in your fertilizers, weed killers, etc., you do not want to be transferring any of it to your face. The skin on your face is thinner than the rest of your body and will be very sensitive to these harsh chemicals. Some plants also secrete sap that can irritate your skin. If you ever need to touch your face, always have a clean cloth handy so you can use it instead of your hand or glove.
Immediately Treat Any Wounds
A lot of people think that they can ignore minor injuries, such as a puncture wound from a thorn. However, you should never ignore even the more minor of injuries because these can turn into infections. Making a small problem into a much bigger one. If you do get a wound while gardening, immediately treat it in the following order:
-Thoroughly wash it with soap and water
-Use an antibiotic ointment (such as Polysporin)
-Bandage up the wound
-If you need to go back outside to work in the garden more, get clean gloves and clothes to change into
-Clean and change the bandage daily until it is healed
Avoid Citrus On Your Skin
Citrus foods are things like oranges, limes, lemons, and grapefruit. If any of these get on your skin and you are out in the sun, there is a chemical reaction that happens causing painful swelling or a blistering rash. To avoid this, do the following:
-Either don’t eat citrus foods when outside
-Or wash your hands immediately after touching it with water, then reapply your sunscreen.
Shower Time
After you are done gardening for the day, it is important to remove your gardening clothes, shower, and change into fresh new ones. Things like pollen, sap, and other things get stuck to you and your clothes. It is also important to not reuse your gardening clothes before you wash them again.
How We Can Help
A lot of skin problems caused by gardening are completely preventable. The trick is knowing what to do to prevent these things. Now that you have this skin protective gardening knowledge, you can prevent these things from happening to you the next time you are manicuring your beautiful yard. If you liked this blog and are looking for more Beauty Tips, head over to our website and check them all out! We here at Beauty ‘N Fashion also have a bunch of lifestyle and fashion tips as well.
* Disclaimer: Beauty 'N Fashion provides general information only. Our aim is to provide the most accurate information possible, but we do not take responsibility for any errors or results.
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