Ice cold water or tap water to bring fever down?

hi asweetie, You are wrong on all counts. Ice cold water would not bring down the temperature for the simple reason when it is cold outside and our skin gets cold then the body would want to conserve the heat it has so it would send minimal amount of blood to the skin. now if the blood flow is less and your blood capillaries constricts, it would not allow heat loss . if heat is not lost then fever wont come down. So we want to do something that would make person loose internal heat. So if we use tap water then skin wont go cold and defensive system of body wont start and it would keep sending blood to skin normally which would be then lost by skin absorbed by the water and if there is fan on then it would also cause little bit of evaporation which would make skin slightly cool but not enough that blood supply of skin is diminished and it would help bringing down internal temperature of the body.

thanks Anora_ Eldorath for the response and you are right about the tepid water but wrong about the ice cold water. Ice cold water would make skin pretty cold and would cause capillaries to constrict. Also body thinks it is very cold outside so defense system of body gets activated and blood supply to the skin is greatly reduced as body would want to keep all the heat it has in it. So the person would feel cold to touch but if you take the temperature to that sick person, it wont show much fall in mercury.

Agrim- No. You risk sending them into shock. My husband can tell you this for a fact as he used to be a Medic. If you rapidly cool or rapidly heat a person they can be sent into shock. It's stressed, especially with heat and cold injuries, because with cold weather related injuries you want to warm the person but you can't do it too quickly because you'll do more harm. The same hold trues for hot weather injuries. You want to be able to cool them down, but if you do it too quickly they can be sent into shock. That is why doctors suggest tepid bath water to bring down the fever of a child, or they tell you to bring a child into the ER if they have a temperature of a 105 because they are equipped to bring the temperature down slowly without shock to the child. If the child is an infant, if their body temperature hits 100 degrees you should be calling their doctor. Typically a mix of tylenol and motrin will help bring body temperature down, but an infant should never be submerged in an ice bath. Namaste-Anora

Thank you for the BR. I've been really enjoying your comments on my threads, as well as all of your discussions you've created. They have been very thought provoking. I wish you well on Mylot, and look forward to more of your threads. Namaste-Anora

hi mysdianait, Thank for the response and no ice cold water wont shock system much but what it would do is that it would make skin very cold and when skin is cold as a body defense mechanisms get activated and blood supply to skin is highly reduced so body dont loose heat. So sponging with very cold water would not let the body loose heat. And your doctor is right that if possible remove as much clothes as possible and if it is summer on the fan too and sponge with normal water.

Ah! Great an very logical explanation! Thank you Agrim!

hi mjmlagat, Thanks for the response and well ice cold water wont help at all and you should always use room temperature water to bring the temperature down along with paracetamol tabs.

hi radzlee, well ice would never bring down the temperature as it would fool body in thinking it is very cold outside and body would retain every bit of heat it has to last as long as possible in freezing cold. Sponging with room temperature water would bring down the temperature more than anything else along with paracetamol tablets.

Hi chookie, Thx for the response and yes you are right in cold body try to retain as much heat as possible and doesnt allow it to cool, this is true of all hot blooded mammals and hence chilled water would never bring the temperature down.

Thanks scarlet woman for the response and well colder the water, less is heat loss as body in colder times make sure it looses as less heat as possible and if you put very cold water body would try not to loose any heat it has.

hi Amberina, Thanks for the response and blankets to break a fever is not good thing and it would make body more hot. We should always sponge the body with room temperature water and can have a fan at low speed if the patient is not having chills.

hi opal 26, Thanks for the response to my discussion and cooler the water less loss is the heat. It is body defense which wont make body loose heat thinking it is very cold outside and it should preserve heat as much as possible. so the best option is to use tap water. If possible make him wear as less clothes as possible and if you have fan then switch it on at low speed. when body temperature is down then you can give him some light loose fitting clothes to wear.

Thanks savypat for the response and you are right about ice cold water though the person wont go in shock but icecold water would kick defense system of body to start up and it sends very less blood to skin and wont let heat loose.

Hi lynnemg, Thanks for the reply and ice cold water is never used to bring down temperature as it wont help in bringing down temperature. Cooler the water less is heat loss as when skin gets very cold body limits blood supply to skin thinking it is very cold outside and it should conserve all the heat it has.

Hi Jlamela, thanks for the response but what i came to conclusion with discussion with medical students is that they say never use very cold water to bring the temperature down as it wont bring it down. If your skin gets cold body is fooled in to thinking hey it is very cold outside and it would try to conserve every bit of heat it has so it would send less blood to skin and since blood flow would take heat to skin to be absorbed by water and if blood flow is less , temp loss would be minimal. so the patient would be very cold to touch but it you take thermometer and see his temperature, mercury wont fall much.

hi xingxingsky, Thanks for the response and you are right tap water sponging is best for the body . Colder the water lesser is heat loss from the body.

Hi mgraham, thanks for the response and yes you are right we should use tap or room temperature water.

Hi sudipta, Thanks for the response and yes it is counter productive as skin gets cold, body thinks it is cold outside so save heat and it reduces blood flow to the skin and hardly any heat loss occurs.

Hi Antiquelady, Thanks for responding to my discussion and no one should use very cold water to bring down temperature as it wont bring it down. It would fool body to think it is very cold outside and defense mechanism of the body kicks in and it doesnt send much blood to skin and wont let heat loose. So the person may be cold to touch but if you take his temperature then it would be nearly the same.

Hi paula, Thanks for the response and i see you have changed your profile pic. It is very good one. You are right on one account that is not to use very cold water as it wont bring temperature down because body wont loose heat . As the skin gets cold the blood supply to skin is reduced and thus chances of heat lose from skin are diminished as more the blood supply more is heat lose from skin. So a person may feel cold to touch but infact heat loss is minimal and if you take his temperature it wont show much fall.

Hi galileo, well it is not cold water which would help you bring the temprature down but if sponge the sick with room temperature water then it would come down faster . Yes it is a myth that since water is more cold then it would make body cool but actually this ice cold water wouldn't let body loose heat.

Thanks myfb for the response and your mother is cent percent right in using normal tap water , as very cold water fools body in thinking hey it is very cold outside so save heat and reduce blood flow to skin. So if you use very cold water , skin would be very cold but if you use thermometer it would show same temperature nearly as it was before sponging.