The more time you spend in the sun, the harder your body has to work to prevent overheating. The widening of blood vessels in your skin, called vasodilation, allows more blood to flow to the surface of your body, causing you to blush.
While this helps your body dissipate heat and maintain its normal temperature, it means there is less blood to flow to other parts of your body. Combined with sweating, which is the body’s way of cooling you down, you become dehydrated more quickly, which leads to increased fatigue and weakness.
How to overcome heat exhaustion?
- There are a number of measures you can take to avoid this fatigue. Most importantly, never forget to drink plenty of water, which will help your body cope with the extra fluids it loses through sweating and recover from sun exposure.
- Avoiding carbohydrate-laden foods that take a long time to break down helps your body focus less on digestion and more on cooling you down.
- In hot weather, it is extremely important to choose foods rich in protein and vitamins to help your body work at full capacity. Salmon, salad, nuts, fruit and vegetables are all good options.
- You should also avoid drinking excessive amounts of alcohol in hot weather, as it is diuretic, no matter how tempting it may be. This leaves you dehydrated and speeds up the fatigue process.
- Finally, get adequate rest after prolonged exposure to the sun. This is vital as it will give you the opportunity to heal.
What to do against sunstroke?
If you feel extremely tired and exhausted in the heat, you do not need immediate medical attention if you cool off within 30 minutes. However, if this exhaustion turns into heatstroke, an emergency requires immediate action.
Here’s what to do if someone around you gets sunstroke:
- Move the person to a cool place.
- Remove all unnecessary clothing such as jackets or socks.
- Have them drink a sports or rehydration drink or cold water.
- Sprinkle cold water on her skin to cool it, and put something cold on her armpits or neck.
- Finally, call an emergency response team immediately.
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