You know, a few of the "old wives' tales" concerning medical matters turn out to be close to the truth. But most miss the mark or are only accurate to some degree. For instance, eating carrots is good for your vision, right? That's partially true, since the vitamin A in carrots is essential for normal retinal function. However, you would have to eat a lot of this vegetable to affect your vision. And how about getting tetanus by stepping on a rusty nail? Only if that nail was located in a barnyard or in some damp environment contaminated by animal droppings. Or what about the advice that you can't get pregnant if you have sex while standing up? This is only true if one of the participants is a midget.

So today we're going to examine some of the common medical myths and old wives' tale that especially pertain to problems that we frequently see during the summer months.

First, let's consider the treatment of poison ivy. Most of us are allergic to this plant and quickly develop a red, draining, and intensely aggravating and itching rash. It is effectively treated with a strong topical (applied to the skin) cortisone cream (not the over-the-counter variety), and a systemic (taken within the body) steroid. The problem here is that many people demand "a shot of cortisone", wrongly thinking that the pills are not as effective and take longer to act. The facts are that prednisone by mouth acts just as quickly as an injection, costs much less, and is obviously less painful to administer. The other reality here is that poison ivy/oak needs to be treated with steroids for 7-10 days, far longer than any cortisone shot lasts.

Next, let's consider the issue of dehydration. We've talked here before about the progression of dehydration to heat exhaustion to heat stroke. And we've considered how rapidly this progression can occur. As you remember, when you slip into the category of heat stroke, the body stops sweating, thus sometimes confusing the involved individual or those around him or her. After all, if you're not sweating profusely, things can't be too bad, can they? Of course things are bad, since this is a sign that your body is shutting down, and you'd better pay attention. More commonly encountered is the dry and confused individual who responds to his diagnosis with, "Doc, I can't be dehydrated! I drank a six-pack on the boat this afternoon, and I've been peeing all day." Now the physiology of how we handle alcohol is an interesting topic, but suffice it to say that alcohol does not hydrate the human body. It does cause us to urinate more (just check out the men's room during the third quarter of a Gamecock's football game) but it is also causing us to eliminate needed water and salts at the same time. You just need to remember that alcohol will dehydrate you (that's the biggest cause of the next day's hangover), and you need to drink other fluids as well if you're going to be out in the heat.

And lastly, here's one of my all-time favorites. While it's not inherently a summer-time problem, it is related to being active and it usually occurs outdoors, both of which are more common when we have good weather. Here's a common scenario:

Betty-Lou was at the lake with her boyfriend, Francis. They had been swimming, and as Betty-Lou climbed out of the water and up the ladder, she slipped and landed awkwardly on her left foot. She had immediate pain, and when it didn't subside in a few minutes, Francis decided to bring her to our clinic.

"It's not broken, Doc, cause she can move it," he told me with great certainty. "Show him, honey."

Betty-Lou grimaced and dutifully wiggled the toes of her injured foot. It was badly swollen and already beginning to bruise. I wasn't so sure of Francis's diagnosis.

"See? She can move everything. Must not be broken, just sprained I'd guess," he told us.

"Well, let's get some x-rays, just to be sure," I said to Betty-Lou. The x-rays told the story that even Francis could appreciate. Betty-Lou had broken three of the long bones in her foot, and would ultimately need to have two of them surgically pinned.

So remember, just because an injured body part can be moved doesn't mean that it's not broken. Sounds obvious, doesn't it? Yet we hear this very frequently. There must be a lot of old wives' out there.