How to Avoid Heat-Related Illnesses

How to Avoid Heat-Related Illnesses Tampa FLWhen exposed to high temperatures, your body attempts to cool itself by producing sweat and increasing blood flow to your skin, carrying heat away from your core and toward your skin’s surface. As a result, less blood reaches your muscles, brain, and other vital organs. This can potentially interfere with your physical and mental capacity, leading to the development of heat-related illnesses such as heat exhaustion and heatstroke.

Symptoms to Watch For

Heat exhaustion can occur if your body is dehydrated, overheated, and unable to regulate its internal temperature. The warning signs include:

  • Heavy sweating
  • Excessive thirst
  • Dizziness and fainting
  • Headache
  • Muscle cramps
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Clammy skin
  • A rapid, weak pulse
  • Fast, shallow breathing

If any of these symptoms occur, it is essential to rest, drink water, and cool your body down immediately. Heat exhaustion can quickly progress to heatstroke, a life-threatening condition that warrants emergency medical attention.

Beating the Heat

Here are some tips for staying cool and avoiding heat-related illnesses when the outdoor temperature soars:

  • Limit outdoor activities to the early morning and late evening hours, when the heat and humidity are usually at their lowest levels of the day.
  • Wear lightweight, light-colored, loose-fitting clothing, and protect your head and face with a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses.
  • Drink plenty of water and other fluids to prevent dehydration, but avoid caffeinated and alcoholic beverages, which can have the opposite effect.
  • Seek shade from the sun whenever possible, or take refuge in an air-conditioned building, such as an indoor shopping mall, library, museum, restaurant, or movie theater.
  • Apply an ice pack or cool, wet cloth to your skin.
  • Take a refreshing dip in a swimming pool, lake, or ocean, or take a cool bath or shower.

For more information on how to stay healthy when the temperature rises – or any time – check out our hot weather safety tips. You are also welcome to talk with a medical professional at South Tampa Immediate Care. We never require appointments at our walk-in clinic in Tampa, FL, but you can check in online before you come in, if you’d like.