The heat squeezes. You don't have to look at the thermometer To know: we feel it on the skin, in the thick air And in that silent alarm that sometimes comes on when we see that A child is more turned off than normal. Is something tired or happens to you? Is it just the embarrass or are we facing a heatstroke?
In babies, children and even adults, symptoms They can easily be confused with other minor discomforts … until they stop being. And there is the problem.
The pediatrician and disseminator Lucia Galán (@luciamipediatra) Explain in a viral video of Instagram How to detect the first heat stroke symptoms In babies, children and adultsand what to do before an emergency. Because yes, there are signs that the body launches as a call for help. You just have to know how to listen to them.
In the little ones, everything is more subtle … and more urgent
Babies can't tell us “I am wrong.” But his body does. If you suddenly have very hot and reddened skin, fever without an apparent infection (we talk about 38, 39, even 40 degrees), it cries without comfort or, on the contrary, it is sleepy, apathetic, without wanting to eat, it is time to act.
It may vomit, your heart can be very fast (yes, you can notice when you put your hand on your chest) or just look like another. Many parents express it that way, with that phrase that gives chills: “This is not my son.”
And if you feel it like this, pay attention to your intuition. Take it to a cool place, take off clothes, put a damp cloth. If you are aware, chest or your bottle. But above all, seek medical help. Do not leave it for later.
Heat blow symptoms
According to Galán, small babies can show signals such as:
- Red and very hot skin.
- High fever without apparent infectious cause: 38, 39 or even 40 ºC.
- Extreme irritability or, on the contrary, excessive drowsiness.
- Loss of appetite, vomiting.
- Tachycardia (the heart beats very quickly).
- Decay and little reactivity.
Children, adolescents and adults: the body also warns
As we grow, the symptoms do not change so much, but they can go unnoticed. Maybe he is a child who complains about headache. Or a teenager who says he has a fever, but without being cold. There may be dizziness, confusion, nausea, weakness, accelerated heart rate or even breathing difficulty.
In more serious cases, you can lose consciousness, have seizures or suffer a collapse. And no, we are not exaggerating. Every summer there are cases. Some very serious. Some that end badly.
That is why it is so important to be attentive. If someone begins to find themselves during a heat wave, You have to act quickly: Make it away from the sun, find shade, remove clothes, wet the skin with fresh water and give it water to drink if you are aware. Then go to the health center. Don't play it.
Symptoms in children, adolescents and adults
In the rest of the ages, the symptoms can also be alarming:
- Fever without infection.
- Headache, dizziness, confusion.
- Nausea, vomiting, muscle weakness.
- Tachycardia and difficulty breathing.
- Neurological symptoms and even seizures in extreme cases.
The heat blow does not warn, but it can be prevented
The most difficult thing about heatstroke It arrives without making noise. It can appear after playing outdoors, a walk under the sun or even at home, if the temperature is very high and scarce ventilation.
It is easy to think that it is only fatigue. But if something does not fit, if you notice that the body does not respond as it should, Better to go caught than to fall short. No one regrets having acted on time.
Every summer the same errors are repeated: to think that “it will not be so much”, that “with a little water it happens.” Sometimes yes. But other times, no.
Therefore, in these weeks where heat does not give trucethese signals should be had in mind. And it's not alarm. It's about caring. To be present. Not to let what begins as a simple suffocation becomes an urgency.
Because in the end, the best medicine remains that: prevention.
