What Are the Methods to Quickly Reduce High Fever?
1. Cold compress. If the high fever is intolerable, a cold compress can be used to help reduce body temperature. Place a wet cold towel on the forehead, wrist, and calf, and cover other parts with clothing. When the cold compress reaches body temperature, it should be changed, and repeated until the fever goes away. Alternatively, wrap ice cubes in a cloth bag and place them on the forehead.
2. Hot compress. If the body temperature is not too high, a hot compress can be used to reduce the fever. Use a hot wet towel to repeatedly wipe the patient's forehead and limbs to dissipate heat from the body until the fever goes away. However, if the body temperature rises above 39℃, do not use a hot compress to reduce the fever, but should use a cold compress to prevent the body temperature from continuing to rise.
3. Wipe the body. Evaporation also has a cooling effect. Experts recommend using cold tap water to help the skin dissipate excess heat. Although you can wipe the whole body with a sponge, you should pay special attention to areas with higher body temperature, such as the armpits and groin. After squeezing excess water from the sponge, wipe one area at a time, and cover other areas with clothing. The body temperature will evaporate these waters, helping to dissipate heat.
4. Take a bath. Sometimes, taking a warm bath is the most comfortable thing to do. It can also relieve the symptoms of fever. Infants should take a warm bath or wrap a wet towel around them, changing it every 15 minutes.
5. Supplement fluids. When you have a high fever, your body will sweat to dissipate heat; but when you have a high fever, your body will close the sweat glands to prevent further water loss due to excessive water loss, which makes your body unable to dissipate heat. The solution is to supplement fluids, drink a lot of plain water and fruit and vegetable juice, which contains rich vitamins and minerals, especially beet juice and carrot juice. If you want to drink tomato juice, choose a low-sodium product. Solid food should be avoided during fever until the condition improves. If vomiting is not severe, you can also eat ice cubes to reduce fever. Pour fruit juice into an ice cube tray, freeze it into ice cubes, and you can also put grapes or strawberries in the ice cube tray, which is especially popular with children with high fever.
6. Take pain relievers appropriately. If you feel very uncomfortable, you can take pain relievers. Adults can take 2 tablets of aspirin or 2 tablets of paracetamol every 4 hours. The advantage of paracetamol is that fewer people are allergic to it. Since aspirin and paracetamol work differently, if you feel that neither of them can effectively control the high fever, you can use both of them. Take 2 tablets of aspirin and 2 tablets of paracetamol every 6 hours. These drugs need to be approved by a doctor before use.
7. Dress appropriately. If you feel very hot, take off excessive clothing to allow the heat inside the body to escape. But if you shiver because of this, it means that you are wearing too little clothing, and you should add more until you feel warm. At the same time, do not make the room temperature too high. Doctors usually recommend not exceeding 20℃. At the same time, the room should be properly ventilated to help recovery, and soft lighting should be maintained to relax the patient.