Description

Sewage and other toxic materials that sneak into the water from our beaches can lead to sickness, but no one thinks about the bacteria that actually lives in the sand. Dr. Schultz will explain how to protect you and your skin from beach sand sickness.

Transcript

Dr. Neal Schultz: Hello I'm Dr. Neal Schultz and welcome to DermTV. Dr. Neal Schultz: On the rare occasions when I go to the beach I am usually concerned about the sun, but there are many beachgoers who are concerned about getting sick from beach water and we certainly have heard in the news about beaches being closed because garbage and waste washes up on the shore. But what about the sand, does the sand pose any peril to your health, you bet it does. It turns out that the sand is a very large reservoir for all sorts of bacteria from bird droppings, to other animals, and even from sewage that washes up from the water. The way in which that bacteria makes us sick is usually because it gets on our hands and from our hands we transfer it to our mouth. Recently a collaborate study was done be a private organization and the environmental protection agency, they questioned 25,000 beachgoers about any illnesses they developed within a few days of having going to the beach. And it turns out that less than 10% of them reported any illnesses in those few days. But of the people who played in the sand and particularly the people who dug in the sand there were 13% more apt to have a stomach illness, 20% more apt to have diarrhea and with children under the age of 11 the numbers were even higher. And be careful before you decide to bury yourself in the sand because of the people who did that, of the adults 27% were more apt to have diarrhea, 44% of the children were more apt to have diarrhea. So just the way I don't tell you not to go in the sun, but rather I tell you how to protect yourself in the sun. I am not telling anybody not to go to the beach and not to dig in the sand. I am just telling you how to do it more safely. So at the end of the day and when you finish digging in the sand, make sure you have hand sanitizer with you to clean your hands and shower off as soon as you can, and of course wear sunscreen. Please join me again at dermtv.com. If you have a question please send it to me by visiting dermtv.com/question. I'm Dr. Neal Schultz and thank you for watching today.