Health has been the tireless pursuit of human beings for thousands of years, and everyone has suffered from diseases in his life. Fever is one of the experiences most adults have had, and people are familiar with it.
However, the usual situation is that the more people are familiar with a symptom, the more popular treatment methods will be. Some of them gather the wisdom of the common people, but there are also some harmful and unprofitable customs.
Today, let’s get to know fever again.
Why does the human body have a fever?
Fever, which is often called [fever] in the medical field, refers to the rise of body temperature, exceeding the normal body temperature by 0.5 ℃. Each person’s body temperature is slightly different, and the body temperature of the same person in different periods is also different, so the judgment of whether fever should be compared with his usual body temperature under the same conditions.
In clinical work, we often regard armpit temperature greater than 37.2 ℃ as fever.
Some people think that fever is caused by colds. In fact, it is not. Fever is often caused by infection and/or some other non-infectious factors that can cause fever.
As the most common cause of fever, infection includes lower respiratory tract infection, gastrointestinal tract infection, urinary system infection and other systemic infections in addition to the well-known upper respiratory tract infection (cold).
In addition, there are many factors that may lead to fever, such as immune diseases, allergies, trauma, tumors, metabolic diseases and fever of unknown causes.
When our bodies have a fever, what?
Many of the discomfort our bodies feel is caused by temporary changes in the internal environment caused by our bodies in the process of fighting against diseases.
Take fever caused by infection as an example. Most of the time, pathogens in the body are eliminated by the immune system unconsciously. Once the body’s immune function drops or the pathogen is too strong, the body has to mobilize more powerful forces to fight against the pathogen through the mobilization of the internal environment, and to summon this powerful force, higher body temperature is required.
Fever mainly has the following three stages:
1. Chill Period
First of all, our temperature setting point has been raised. The setting point is equivalent to the set temperature of the air conditioner in the [room] of the body. At first, the room temperature was lower than the set temperature, which we called “shiver period”.
In order to quickly reach the set temperature, the blood vessels of the epidermis contract, sweat glands inhibit to reduce heat dissipation, muscles tremble to increase heat production, and at the same time send a signal to the thermoregulatory center, growling: “It’s too cold, find a way to raise the body temperature quickly!” ]
Many people will feel cold and chill at this stage.
2. High fever period
After the body temperature rises to the set temperature, we enter the [high fever period]. At this time, we really feel the intermittent dry heat. In order to maintain high body temperature and improve the combat effectiveness of the immune system, the air conditioner in the [room] is fully powered and does not relax.
At this stage, I only feel a mass of heat in my body and have no place to vent, which is probably the most uncomfortable time in the whole fever process.
3. Antipyretic phase
After hours to days or even longer of fighting, the immune system has won a preliminary victory and entered the [antipyretic period]. Maintaining high body temperature requires a lot of energy, and the tired body begins to cool down rapidly.
The temperature adjustment point returns to normal. During this period, the body’s heat production decreases and the heat dissipation increases greatly, which is manifested by flushing complexion and sweating all over the body. At this time, we will feel the unspeakable comfort of the whole body.
In this way, fever is not a bad thing.
However, in particularly difficult situations, the immune system that kills the red eye will require the body temperature to rise and rise again. The body temperature above 41.5 ℃ may cause damage to the fragile nervous system, and we need to intervene before that.
Is it useful to cover your sweat?
[Covering sweat] is a tradition of fighting fever in our country for 2,000 years. Up to now, it is still the cheapest and most effective way to fight fever in the eyes of many people. Many children are covered out of [Covering Heat Syndrome] because their parents abide by the tradition, making pediatricians lament.
So can’t adults cover their sweat?
Strictly speaking, it is not advisable to cover your sweat. Many people argue that their fever subsided after covering their whole body with sweat. In fact, it is not. Sweating is the result of fever reduction, not the cause of fever reduction.
Before the body temperature rises to the set point, no matter how you cover it, you can’t sweat. The sweat is the result of the body’s spontaneous heat dissipation during the fever reduction stage, not the result of covering it out.
If we have to find some face for the tradition of covering sweat, it is that covering in the quilt can help raise body temperature and reduce discomfort caused by cold when our hands and feet are cold and trembling during chills.
Once you enter the high fever period and your body no longer feels cold, you must never cover up the heat again. Although we should create a better fighting environment for the immune system, we should not pick up sesame seeds and lose watermelons, cover ourselves up and burn our heads accidentally.
What is the right thing to do when you have a fever?
Fever is a body’s response to various pathogenic factors and plays a positive role in the process of resisting diseases. We should not and cannot blindly kill it.
However, there is a bottom line for our human body to tolerate fever. Once we exceed this bottom line, we may cause serious consequences. This bottom line varies from person to person and from illness to illness.
For most people, the bottom line is your tolerance.
If the fever is within the limit that the body can tolerate, for example, the body temperature is not too high, the body temperature is below 39 C, and the fever time is not too long, then the fever may be reduced after general treatment. If fever seriously interferes with your life and work, or lasts too long, then positive measures must be taken.
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Drink more water: It is really not perfunctory for others to let you drink more water when you have a fever. In times of fever, the speed of thanks increases rapidly and the water consumption in your body is fast, which needs to be supplemented in time.
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Antipyretic: The above two are auxiliary measures, this one is symptomatic treatment. At present, the first choice for adults to reduce fever is acetaminophen drugs, and many cold medicines on the market contain this ingredient. There is no need to eat regularly every day, nor can you eat too much, just take it for a short time when you are uncomfortable.
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Timely medical treatment: Because the causes that can cause fever are complicated and numerous. The above is the routine treatment principle for common fever patients. However, for those patients with fever who still persist for a long time after routine treatment, or with high fever (body temperature 39.5 C ~ 41 C), accompanied by convulsions, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms, they should be sent to a doctor in time. Find out the cause of the disease and give timely symptomatic and cause-based treatment.
Statement: The above fever treatment measures are limited to adults. If you need to know about children’s fever, please move to < < How to correctly deal with children’s fever? > >.