We all know that the sun is out to get us these days and there is no respite from it. Not all of us have the privilege of air conditioning and then there are power cuts, too, so it is smart to know some clever ways of being chilled, literally.

To deal with the heat and mugginess, here are a few tips that might seem quirky but are quite efficient in helping you cool off and not suffering the heat so much.

• It is a good idea to know where the body instantly cools or where are the points on our bodies that will cool off faster than the rest of our bodies. When coming into contact with something cooler than ourselves, that personal temperature reduction is important and happens a lot faster if you know where the efficient cooling system points are. These are your neck and wrists, the top of your feet and insides of your ankles. You could take an ice pack, or use a water spray to cool yourself and you’ll beat the heat in no time.

• Put your sheets in the fridge or in the freezer (for a shorter time). The coolness may not last all night but it gets you off on a good start to sleeping well.

Beat the summer sizzle with these simple, easy-to-do tips

• Any car parked in the sun is like an oven when you get into it and the hot seat can actually give you goose bumps while it burns to touch the steering wheel. While cooling off a hot car takes a little time, a little trick can do it faster. Open two parallel doors of your car, then open and close one of them repeatedly about five times. This pushes the warm air out and the cool air in. It only takes a minute. Just make sure your fingers are away from the door so there are no accidents.

• Don’t throw away empty juice or milk cartons because you can fill these with tap water and freeze them. These boxes are ideal to keep in front of the fan so as to cool the air in the room, or for keeping food cool on picnics. For preventing dehydration, eat food with high water content and remember that you also don’t need to drink eight glasses of water every single day, just drink whenever you’re thirsty and you should be fine.

• Avoid the sun around midday, which is prime time for exposure to skin-damaging UVA radiation from the sun, even on overcast days. Remember, the best sunscreen is one that you’ll use generously. Last year’s bottle of sunscreen won’t work because sunscreens degenerate and lose their effectiveness after six months of opening.

• Understand the SPF on your sunscreen. The burning rays are UVB rays that cause your skin to burn by first becoming red and then tanned or darker. The ones that penetrate deeper and damage skin are UVA rays, also linked to cancer. Higher SPFs don’t give better protection; they just allow you to be out in the sun longer without burning. Commonly available in most brands is SPF 15 which works for approximately two hours, so it’s generally fine for daily use with reapplications every two hours. If you going to be mostly outdoor, it is better to go for a higher number like SPF 30 or above to cut down on reapplications

• Make sure your sunscreen includes a four-star rating system for sunscreen protection against UVA light — one star represents low UVA protection, while four stars represent the highest protection available in an over-the-counter product.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine June 14th, 2015

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