Physical cooling uses warm water or cold water

When you have a fever, you usually use physical cooling and drug cooling. Generally, it is not recommended to give patients antipyretics when the fever is below 38.5 degrees, because antipyretics have particularly large side effects and strong efficacy, which can easily lead to dependence after taking them. Drug cooling is only used when the fever is above 38.5 degrees. When cooling physically, should warm water or cold water be used?

1. When you have a fever and need to cool down physically, you must apply warm water to your forehead.

2. Reason: The cold water is too cold. Fever causes chills, and using cold water will stimulate the nerves and cause symptoms such as cramps and palpitations.

3. Physical cooling method: Apply a warm towel to the head, take a warm bath, and rub the back, which will make the patient feel more comfortable. At the same time, the patient should be given ginger soup to make him sweat.

4. Recommendation: It is best to take a hot bath to remove the coldness from the body. Let the patient sweat as soon as possible.

Physical cooling with cold water or hot water

When wiping the body to cool it down physically, neither cold water nor hot water is good. You should take a warm water bath or warm wet compress.

1. Warm water bath: The water temperature is 32~36℃, and the bath is mainly sponge bath. Through warm water sponge bath, the skin blood vessels will dilate and the blood flow will increase, achieving the purpose of heat conduction.

2. Warm and wet compress: Soak the towel in warm water at about 35°C, take it out and wring it dry, and change it every 15 minutes or so. However, please note that if the child does not adapt, shivers, has a gray face, or cold extremities, the application should be stopped immediately.

How much water is suitable for physical cooling?

If your baby has a fever and you use warm water sponge bath to reduce the fever physically, the water temperature should be around 30-40 degrees, which is about the same as the baby's body temperature. In short, don't let your skin feel cold. Warm water is non-irritating, and babies feel comfortable and easy to accept. It dilates blood vessels on the body surface, accelerates blood flow, improves blood circulation, relieves tissue hypoxia, enhances metabolism, reduces the excitability of pain nerves, relaxes tissues, and relieves pain caused by muscle spasms. It is especially suitable for cooling down newborns and infants.

Tips: Apply ice to the forehead before physical cooling

Before starting to physically cool down the body, you should first apply an ice pack to the baby's head to prevent the epidermal blood vessels from contracting and the head from becoming congested during the bath.