WHAT ARE HEAT CRAMPS AND WHAT TO DO IF MY CHILD HAS THEM?

Heat cramps are a frequent problem due to the high temperatures that can especially affect children. This is the first step in gravity when it comes to heat emergencies. In this area, three categories of increasing severity are established: heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke or heat stroke.

Heat cramps are caused by loss of salt due to excessive perspiration. Children are more susceptible to suffering because they adjust more slowly than adults to changes in the surrounding heat, while producing more heat with activity than adults and transpiring less.

If a child does not sweat enough (sweat is one of the normal cooling mechanisms of the body), he does not think about resting when he does physical activity, when he is playing and having fun, or does not drink enough fluid, dehydration and heat cramps may occur.

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The cramps consist of painful muscle spasms that occur during or after intense exercise and sweating in a very hot environment. Precisely avoiding physical activity in the hottest moments is one of the tips to avoid risks in summer, as we will see below.

We have all suffered cramps at some time: they are very annoying and happen when a muscle (or several) is stressed, that is, it contracts, without one trying to do so. The muscle is stressed and does not relax.

Heat cramps tend to be more frequently on the legs and are accompanied by reddened and moist skin, increased body temperature (but not excessive, without reaching 39 ° C, temperature that would probably lead to sunstroke).

Prevent and detect heat cramps

For prevent both muscle cramps and exhaustion or heat stroke Remember that there are some tips: these help us keep children (and the whole family) safe from the ravages of the heat wave.

Drink plenty of fluids (water or isotonic drinks) during energetic or outdoor activities, especially on hot days. As we have said, avoid this physical activity on the hottest days or in the central hours of the day.

You have to dress the child with light clothes that do not absorb so much heat from the sun, light, baggy, cotton to perspire ... Use protection such as umbrellas, caps, awnings ... Keep cool at home if it is very hot in the street.

In addition, if the child has a clinical disorder or is taking medication, there may be some additional risk, so consult your doctor for more advice to prevent cramps and other heat-related risks.

We have to be attentive to the cramps that the child presents in intense heat situations, because if the problem of heat cramps is not addressed, it could cause heat exhaustion (due to dehydration), which can progress to heat stroke or heat stroke (the most serious problem of the three, which can cause shock, brain damage, organ failure and even death).

Thus we must act as soon as we detect the preliminary symptoms of heat illness: profuse sweating, fatigue, thirst and muscle cramps.

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What to do if the child has heat cramps?

If we have not followed the preventive measures, the child may experience heat cramps. What to do in this case? Fundamentally, control the symptoms so that it does not evolve to exhaustion or heat stroke.

Stop the child's physical activity, stopping to rest.
You have to move to a cold place to rest.
Remove excess clothing.
Place fresh cloths on the child's skin.
Ventilate the skin (fan it, place it in front of a fan) to cool it.
Offer the child fresh isotonic drinks containing salt and sugar, or failing that, water.
Elongate the cracked muscles slowly and gently, but firmly, until they soften. Muscle cramps can be stopped by stretching the affected muscle (we will detect it because, apart from the fact that the child usually points it out precisely, it feels hard or bulky).

We hope that these tips will help you not to suffer from heat cramps or any of the risks of high temperatures in children. The cramps are not serious, but if we do not pay attention they can lead to other more worrying situations, and we do not want to take any fright on the holidays