The Dangers of Hypothermia: How to Safely Warm Up Your Body for Outdoor Activities

2023-10-01 06:02:00

You need to warm up your body gradually… Excessive stretching is actually bad. This is the season when sports that require a lot of sweat, such as hiking or sports competitions, increase. Emergency medicine specialists said, “The risk of hypothermia increases when your body is wet with sweat and you are exposed to the shade or cold, windy weather for a long time, especially when your clothes are wet and you are exhausted.” They added, “In severe cases, chills, dizziness, and paralysis of the limbs increase.” He cautioned, “You might lose consciousness while being accompanied and end up in an emergency situation.”

Hypothermia clinically refers to a condition in which core body temperature (core body temperature) falls below 35℃. It occurs when the body’s heat production decreases, heat loss increases, or a combination of both.

Hypothermia is largely divided into ‘accidental (environmental)’ hypothermia and ‘metabolic’ hypothermia. According to Seoul National University Hospital, environmental hypothermia is caused by exposure to a cold environment, and even healthy people can fall into hypothermia. It is especially dangerous in cold temperatures if you do not wear enough clothes, get wet from sweat or rain, and get hit by the wind. Metabolic hypothermia is caused by various endocrine diseases (hypothyroidism, hypoadrenalism, hypopituitarism), and hypothermia can also occur when hypoglycemia occurs. Central nervous system abnormalities such as brain damage, tumor, or stroke can also cause metabolic hypothermia. Metabolic hypothermia often occurs in patients with alcoholism or drug addiction. Alcohol dilates blood vessels, increases heat dissipation, and suppresses the central nervous system, making the patient insensitive to cold, resulting in hypothermia.

If your skin grows and your lips turn blue, it’s a ‘danger’ signal.

Mild hypothermia refers to a case where the core body temperature is 33 to 35 degrees Celsius. In general, shivering is noticeable and contraction of the erector pili muscle, called ‘chicken’, occurs on the skin. Skin blood vessels constrict, causing the skin to become pale and the lips to take on a bluish tint. They keep trying to sleep, their pronunciation becomes inaccurate, they lose their balance, fall down, or show unresponsiveness to external stimuli.

Moderate hypothermia refers to a case where the core body temperature is between 29 and 32 degrees Celsius. The state of consciousness worsens, the patient falls into a coma, and the heart rate and breathing slow down. Muscles stop trembling, become stiff, and pupils may dilate. When core body temperature falls below 28℃, severe hypothermia occurs, causing fatal arrhythmias such as ventricular fibrillation, leading to cardiac arrest, or blood pressure drops, loss of consciousness, and loss of normal corneal reflexes and pain reflexes.

The initial symptom of hypothermia is severe chills, which can be seen as the body’s struggle to raise its own body temperature. Then, when the body temperature falls below 32-33 degrees, anxiety, nervousness, dizziness, and vertigo can occur. Eventually, it becomes difficult to control the body, and judgment and vision rapidly decline. In particular, when hypothermia occurs, the amount of blood circulating in the body decreases, peripheral vascular resistance increases, and blood viscosity increases, causing problems in blood circulation. At this time, heart function suddenly drops, heart rate and cardiac output decrease, and a sudden arrhythmia occurs, which in severe cases can cause a heart attack. If your body continues to tremble, your pulse and breathing become slow and weak, you experience drowsiness, and your mind becomes confused or your speech is slurred, you should go to the hospital as soon as possible.

Wrap yourself in extra clothes and massage your arms and legs.

Hypothermia is fundamentally caused by the body’s core temperature being lower than the skin temperature, so wrapping only the skin does not solve the problem. The urgent priority is to prevent the body from losing any more heat and to bring in heat from outside so that the body’s thermal insulation function can recover quickly. If symptoms of hypothermia appear while hiking, you should first go to a sunny place where there is no wind. If you suddenly heat up your body, your body may not be able to adapt to the rapid temperature change, so it is important to warm your body slowly and gently. Protect your body temperature with a blanket or extra clothes, and actively try to raise your body temperature by massaging your limbs.

Proper stretching before, during and following hiking increases muscle and tendon temperature and increases tension, which is effective in preventing exercise damage as well as hypothermia. However, if you move your body around and stretch following hypothermia appears, your skin and muscles will tremble violently and your pores will expand, making it difficult to maintain body temperature.

To prevent and deal with hypothermia, it is essential to prepare clothing made of windproof or insulating material when hiking or engaging in outdoor activities. You should also wear a hat, neck protector, and gloves to reduce heat escaping through your head, neck, and hands. When sitting on the floor, place a cushion or newspaper to block out the chill. It is also important to maintain body temperature with warm drinks and high-calorie snacks.

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Reporter Park Hyo-soon ([email protected])

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