CHENNAI: The best way to keep your cool this month is to ensure that the heat doesn't get to you. To beat the heat, stay in well-ventilated places and ensure a cool atmosphere.

Replenish lost minerals

Tender coconut and watermelons help to replenish minerals lost by the body through dehydration. Drinking lots of water is advised: it cools the system and rehydrates it.

A few other tips to keep the heat away.

Bathing twice a day in lukewarm water helps to open up sweat pores. Water should be neither too cold nor too hot.

Occlusion of sweat pores brings up a rash of prickly heat. Excess prickly heat produces furuncles that appear as multiple boils on the skin. When this happens, doctors advise staying in an air-conditioned room for at least seven hours a day.

Alternatives include staying in an airy area or under the fan and splashing the floor and walls with cold water so that the house cools down. Curtains of cuscus grass (`vettiver', botanical name: Andropogon muricatus) on doors and windows act as a coolants.

Excessive heat produces excessive sweating and leaves a person exhausted and dehydrated. Since elderly people, particularly those above 70 years, are prone to exhaustion and sunstroke, they must be urged to drink lots of water, says dermatologist V.R. Janaki.

Cool cottons

and sun lotions

Go for light coloured cottons during summer. Thin clothes for children will ensure that their skins breathe well.

Sunburns are of two types, acute and chronic.

A wide brimmed hat, sunglasses for the eyes, and an umbrella will provide physical protection from the sun.

The natural pigment in Indian skin types is a protection in itself. But, using a sunscreen lotion with a sun protective factor of not more than 30 will prevent excessive damage to the skin.

If, despite these measures tans or sunburns occur, visit a dermatologist.

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