Showing posts with label heat stroke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label heat stroke. Show all posts
A service tech with a local heating and cooling company in Lafayette addresses the common problems he sees with air conditioning units that are not working properly.
Thursday was easily one of the hottest days of 2011 so far. It would not be the day you would want your air conditioner to stop working.
According to M&M Heating and Cooling, that was the case for many of their customers: no A/C during the most intense heat wave in 16 years.
"Very busy. A lot of service calls," said M&M service technician Sean Lewsader.
With the heat wave, our air conditioners are working more than normal.
"You get there and they say, well, just my luck... the hottest week of the year," said Lewsader about his customers' reactions.
NewsChannel 18 tagged along with Lewsader Thursday as he serviced a home in Monticello. While on the job, he told us about the most common problems customers are running into.
Some of those problems are easy fixes, like making sure the power is turned on to the unit. You will also first want to make sure your thermostat is set correctly.
Next, check your air filter. It may be time to replace it.
If you still aren't getting cool air, clear any dirt or debris around the outside unit that could be preventing air from getting in.
"If all those things check out fine, then it probably wouldn't hurt to give somebody a call and have them come out and look at it," said Lewsader.
Lewsader said a diagnostic check to find out what's wrong can cost around $55. Repairs can go up from there and he added that they do get expensive. He suggests getting on a regular maintenance plan for scheduled tune-ups to prevent a problem.
Sunburn is one of the summer's most enduring stings, leaving a sore, red, peeling patch long after the day's rays give way to cooler nights. Ointments and Aspirin can help soothe the sear. But the pain, part of the body's plea for shade and sunscreen, is inevitable.
That could change.
British researchers have discovered a molecule responsible for the persistent pain caused by sunburn, offering hope for a treatment that could one day block it.
"It wasn't known before that this protein was implicated in any kind of pain," said Stephen McMahon, professor of physiology at Guy's Medical School in London. "If you wanted a cure for sunburn pain, we may have found that."
The protein, called CXCL5, was elevated in painful sunburns. And blocking the protein's effects in a rat model of sunburn relieved the pain. The study was published today in Science Translational Medicine.
But McMahon, a long time pain researcher, thinks blocking sunburn pain is a bad idea.
"Pain plays a protective role," he said, explaining how the sensation alerts its victim to looming danger. "Stopping pain is not necessarily a good thing."
Sunburns are the body's response to ultraviolet radiation, which kills some skin cells and permanently damages the DNA of others, sometimes leading to skin cancer later on. In an attempt to save the damaged cells with oxygen and nutrients, the body pumps more blood to the skin, turning it red. And the swollen blood vessels ooze plasma, causing blisters.
"By the time you see your skin turning pink, it's almost too late," said Dr. Darrell Rigel, dermatologist at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. "The damage has already happened."
That damage, Rigel said, is impossible to undo.
"The best thing you can do is protect yourself from the sun," he said. "Wear a broad-brimmed hat, avoid being outside when the sun is at its strongest, and use sunscreen. We know those three things together lower sunburn risk and subsequently lower the risk of skin cancer."
But the sun is sneaky. And even those who protect themselves fall victim to the odd pink shoulders or red feet. Rigel shared these tips for beating the pain and protecting the tender skin after a getting burned:
Aspirin is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory that acts directly on chemicals known to play a role in sunburn pain. It will work better than acetaminophen.
The burn will release heat because of the increased blood flow. Sunburn creams that contain menthol will cool the skin.
Damaged skin loses its ability to retain water. Drink lots of water, and use a heavy moisturizer like Vaseline. Avoid using topical anesthetics or antihistamines, which can lead to reactions on the newly exposed, immature skin.
Normally it takes about 28 days for the cells at the base of the skin to work their way to the surface, where they die and are shed as individual cells. But when that process is packed into fewer days by a burn, the cells have less time to separate from their neighbors, and tend to come off in sheets. Let this happen naturally. Peeling the skin can leave a scar, and can even lead to an infection.
If you have a blistering sunburn, you should stay out of sun for a week. The skin is already damaged and more sun will make it worse. If you have to go out, wear a hat and protective clothing. The best protection comes from fabric that is wooly, dark and a tight weave -- not ideal for 90 degree heat. But new synthetic fabrics are light weight, quick to dry and offer up to 50 SPF.
The tops of the feet, shoulders, nose and ears are the body parts most often missed during sunscreen slathering.
