What are the physical methods to reduce fever in children?

In daily life, children's bodies are in the period of growth and development, and their resistance is relatively weak. They are prone to fever or colds. When a child has a fever, he needs to be treated in time. You can choose to use physical cooling methods to reduce the fever. You can wash the child's skin with warm water to achieve the cooling effect, or you can wipe alcohol on the child's body.

1. Cold wet compress on the head: Soak a soft towel in 20℃ - 30℃ cold water, squeeze it slightly to prevent dripping, fold it and place it on the forehead, change it every 3-5 minutes.

2. Wipe with warm water or take a warm bath: Wipe the child's head, armpits, limbs with a warm, wet towel or take a warm bath, scrub the skin more to promote heat dissipation.

3. Ice compress: You can use a small amount of ice compress appropriately, and apply ice or cold compress to the baby's forehead, both sides of the neck, armpits, groin and other large blood vessels. But be sure to wrap a layer of cloth around the ice bag to prevent local frostbite on the baby's skin, and babies under 6 months old should not be given ice compresses. There is still much controversy about the pros and cons of this approach. It is generally believed that ice compresses do more harm than good, because they may cause the capillaries in the baby's skin to contract, hindering heat dissipation and causing the body temperature to be higher. Especially if accompanied by chills or shivering, ice compresses should not be used.

Babies' skin is very thin and alcohol is highly permeable, so it may be absorbed into the blood through the skin. Moreover, alcohol baths can also irritate the skin, causing capillaries to contract, hindering heat dissipation, and causing the body temperature to be higher.

5. Drink plenty of water and don’t take any medicine casually. When the fever is high, breathing speeds up and sweating causes the body to lose a lot of water. Therefore, parents should give their children plenty of water when they have a fever, increase urine volume, and promote the excretion of toxins in the body.

If the child only has a high fever and no complications, even if the fever subsides slowly or recurs from time to time, there is no need to worry. You should patiently treat and care for the child at home. You can take the following measures:

1. Keep the environment quiet, comfortable and humid, ventilate the room regularly, and adults should not smoke.

2. Fever is the body's protective response against microbial invasion, which is beneficial to enhancing the body's resistance. Therefore, there is no need to take antipyretics if the body temperature is below 38.5℃. Antipyretic measures are only needed when the body temperature exceeds 38.5℃.

3. The sick child should not wear too many clothes, the quilt should not be too thick, and the child should not sweat, so as not to affect the heat dissipation and make the body temperature rise higher.

4. Encourage children to drink more water and eat more fruits. After having a fever, the child's appetite decreases. You can prepare some delicious and easy-to-digest meals and choose the time when the child's temperature is not high or when he or she has taken medicine to reduce the fever to eat, but do not let the child eat too much.

5. Keep bowel movements smooth.