Summer is one of the best times of the year. It’s a time of holidays, beach days, time off and fun. However, during a heatwave or particularly hot day, it can become frustrating when you can’t cool down and the sweat just won’t quit! It’s important to protect yourself from too much sun and of course, from the negative effects of getting too hot. Heat exhaustion can come on quickly, consisting of bad dehydration that puts additional pressure on the heart. Heat stroke is even more dangerous. So, what are the things that happen to our bodies when we get too hot?
Goosebumps
You normally associate goosebumps with the cold and shivering, but when your body overheats, it often feels a chilled sensation. This is a defence mechanism and the body’s way of protecting itself by making inflammatory proteins. This process affects the body’s thermoregulation and explains why you might experience goosebumps.
Tingling
A tingling sensation in the skin can be an early warning sign of heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Sweat gets trapped under the skin, resulting in a strange itchy, tingling sensation. If you notice this, get yourself somewhere cool. Keep your home or workplace as cool as possible with the natural method of installing a brise soleil. For more information on a Brise Soleil, visit https://alusystems.uk
Headache
Hot air and humid conditions are the perfect combination for bringing on a dull headache. Headache as a result of overexertion in the sun can also be an indicator of heat stroke, where the body can no longer cool itself naturally. Cluster headaches are also common in the heat, and normally present themselves on one side of the head or face, often around the eye.
Nausea
Nausea is one of the first indications that you are too hot and is a sign of dehydration or lack of electrolytes. Your body requires potassium, sodium and electrolytes to be able to control its temperature.
Cramping muscles
We’ve all seen football players being taken off the pitch due to agonising cramping. These cramps are involuntarily muscle spasm that occur in the warm/humid conditions and are linked to dehydration. Without sufficient fluid replacement, muscles can cramp.
Excessive sweating
Sweating might be annoying but it’s the body’s clever way of maintaining a healthy temperature and cooling off. The moisture from the sweat evaporates and cools the body, also ridding it of toxins.
Not sweating
Bizarrely, when your body overheats, it might not sweat at all. However, this is a serious sign of heat stroke and indicates that a person’s sweat glands are no longer able to function. This should be considered as a medical emergency.
Confusion
When the body overheats, the most vulnerable parts are the nerve cells. As the brain consists of mostly nerve cells, it makes sense that it would be this organ that gets affected.
Dizziness
The body responds to excessive heat by sending more blood to the skin, causing vessels to dilate to increase blood flow. However, the blood is losing volume because of sweating and this results in a lower blood pressure. This causes the heart to work harder, less oxygen to the brain and often fainting.