Why should you apply a warm towel when your child has a fever?

This is an automatically translated article.

The article is professionally consulted by Master, Doctor Phan Ngoc Hai - Pediatrician - Neonatologist - Department of Pediatrics - Neonatology - Vinmec Danang International General Hospital.
Although most of the causes of fever in children are viral infections, the child will clear up on his own in a few days, but parents should also prepare themselves with basic knowledge to be able to properly care for their child at home to help them quickly. antipyretic.

1. Causes of children's fever

Most fever is caused by infection, some common diseases cause fever such as sore throat, ear infection, typhus, urinary tract infection... Besides, fever can also be one of the signs of other diseases. dangerous diseases such as: pneumonia, malaria, dengue fever, meningitis, encephalitis, sepsis...
Newborns and young children sometimes have mild fever after vaccination.
Young children, especially infants, are very susceptible to fever if their parents are incubated too tightly or in a hot environment. The reason is that babies cannot regulate their own body temperature.
Teething phenomenon can also raise body temperature in children, but only mildly. If the child's temperature is higher than 37.8 degrees Celsius, it is not due to teething.

2. Proper care when a child has a fever

Although most causes of fever in children are due to viral infections, children will clear up on their own in a few days, but parents should also prepare themselves with basic knowledge to be able to properly care for children at home to help children. fever quickly.
When determining that a child has a fever, parents should remove blankets and clothes, and only let the child wear loose clothes so that the body can dissipate heat to help reduce the fever. Parents should give children plenty of fluids because fever often dehydrates children, lie down in a well-ventilated place, monitor the child's temperature with a thermometer every 4 hours.

Give children antipyretic drugs when the child has a fever above 38.5 degrees Celsius, the drug of choice is paracetamol in package form, syrup or suppository. Because it is an easy-to-use antipyretic drug, the effect of reducing fever is fast, usually it will have a fever-reducing effect 30 minutes after use and lasts 4-6 hours, with few side effects. Parents need to give the child the correct dose as prescribed, 10-15mg/kg/time, repeat after 4-6 hours if the child still has a fever, usually 3-4 times/day, the maximum total dose should not exceed 60mg/ kg/day. Parents should note that children in the age group from 6 months to 5 years old when the fever is too high may have convulsions, parents need to actively reduce the child's fever. Wipe the child cool with warm water, especially if the child has a history of convulsions due to high fever, follow these steps: Parents take off all children's clothes, use 5 small towels dipped in warm water, place 2 armpits and 2 groins child, the other towel dipped in warm water wipe all over the child's body. Continue doing this until the baby's temperature drops to normal (37 degrees Celsius). Usually the temperature will drop in about 30-45 minutes. If the child cries and opposes the use of a towel, parents can have the child sit in a bowl of warm water to make the child feel comfortable, and then use a towel to wipe the baby's groin, armpits and all over.

3. Why should a warm towel be applied when the child has a fever?

Applying a warm towel when a child has a fever is one of the methods to reduce fever based on the principle of external influence to gradually reduce body temperature.
One of the reasons why a child's body has a fever is because the pores are blocked due to the sudden cold, the blood vessels constrict, causing blood flow to be reduced. Therefore, hot compresses have the effect of dilating the body's pores, dilating peripheral blood vessels, increasing blood circulation, increasing heat dissipation to help cool down faster.
Note that the towel should not be too wet and regularly change the towel every 3-5 minutes, then dip it in water, squeeze it gently and repeat the above operation.
The warm water in the towel helps to dilate the blood vessels, making the child's body cool from the inside, cooling down quickly. If you see that the water in the basin is no longer warm, you should immediately change the basin of water, wipe the child for 10-15 minutes.
Dry the body and let the child wear thin, cool clothes, lie down and rest.
After applying a warm compress to the child for about 30 minutes, the child can reduce the fever, parents should check the child's temperature. When wiping with warm water, parents should not let the room temperature be too cold or point the fan directly at the child because it may cause a cold.
If after applying a warm compress to the child for about 30 minutes, but the child's body temperature has not yet decreased, parents should give the child fever-reducing medicine or take the child to see a doctor immediately.
Above are sharing about how to properly care for children when they have a fever as well as why they should apply warm towels to children. Hope this information helps you, helps you to be less worried and can calmly take care of your baby to help him get well soon.

The Pediatrics Department at Vinmec International General Hospital is the address for receiving and examining diseases that infants and young children are susceptible to: viral fever, bacterial fever, otitis media, bronchitis, pneumonia in children,....With modern equipment, sterile space, minimizing the impact as well as the risk of disease spread. Along with that is the dedication from the doctors with professional experience with pediatric patients, making the examination no longer a concern of the parents.
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