Fever is one of the most common symptoms that occur prior to illness. Knowing how to detect it is easy, even if you do not have a thermometer in our hand.
As children we did not need to tell our mom that we were wrong: she just looked at us and could detect our fever, even at a distance. It is not a magical far: the experience that allowed her to accomplish this feat.
Today, many new mothers rely on the mercury thermometer, digital thermometer and thermoactive strips to detect the presence of fever. And this is fine, provided we have elements that are in good working condition. Therefore, we must be provided where this element fails, breaks, or impossible to find, as happens in many cases of urgency.
How to detect and reduce fever
- Firstly, we must trust in the wisdom of our body. We will use the hands and lips (which are very sensitive to temperature), to detect an increase in the heat of the person in question. This rise in temperature must be present when there is an event or circumstance that justifies it. If the person has been exposed to the sun, if the person have been doing any physical activity, or if he drink large amounts of alcohol, it is likely that the temperature has risen, indicating without fever.
- Based on that, must trust our wisdom as parents, or people: if the patient in question is somewhat pale skin, tired eyes, glazed, if it looks listless and dry lips, then we suspect there is something wrong with his health.
- If we detect fever (or a strong suspicion of fever, without corroboration), we strip it of synthetic clothes and dress him in light cotton clothing, so it is warm but not excessively. We must make sure for a warm and ventilated space, and plenty of fluids to drink.
- If the person feels in condition, we encourage to take a bath with warm water or warm, but not cold, unless the fever is significant enough. To ease the rise in temperature, we can put cold cloths on the forehead and underarms, and also in the groin. After awhile we’ll take temperature, repeating the actions to lower.
- Even with all these procedures, if fever persists we call a doctor.