Fighting fever is simple - everyone since childhood knows that if there is more than 37.5 on the thermometer, then this is most likely an ARVI. But what if the body temperature is low? If the normative boundaries of indicators on a thermometer are more or less known, few are aware of the processes that provoke a decrease, and the possible consequences of this condition. In fact, body temperature below normal is the same dangerous condition as elevated.
Average human body temperature
It is widely believed that the optimum temperature is 36.6 degrees Celsius. But each organism is purely individual, and small deviations, both in the direction of increasing and decreasing from this indicator, are quite normal. The average body temperature in the overwhelming majority of people ranges from 36.5 to 37.2 degrees Celsius without exposure to external factors. If the usual temperature is slightly more or less than these values, but at the same time the person feels good, there are no deviations, then this is the norm for a particular organism.
Everything that goes beyond these boundaries and is accompanied by health problems (but this is not in all cases) requires a search for the causes of this condition. Low body temperature (as well as high) indicates some kind of disease, poor functioning of life support systems, adverse effects of external factors.
In addition, the normal temperature at any given moment depends on several other factors. The individual characteristics of a particular organism can influence, the time of day (usually at 6 a.m. the indicator is at the minimum level, and at 16 - at the maximum), age (for three-year-olds and children under the normal temperature is often 37.3-37.4 degrees, and in older people it can drop to 36.2-36.3), as well as some factors that are not yet fully understood by modern medicine.
Features of temperature measurement
In Russia and in the former Soviet Union, the temperature of a person’s body is measured, as a rule, with a mercury thermometer under the arm. This method has many disadvantages. Firstly, a glass thermometer can break, and mercury can leak, which poses a serious health hazard, as it is a toxin. Secondly, the accuracy of such measurements is doubtful. The difference between the result and the real one can differ by about a whole degree. In Western countries, electronic thermometers are widely used to measure the temperature in the mouth (in adults) or the rectum (in children). In domestic conditions, such thermometers did not take root. It is believed that they are less accurate than mercury, although in reality everything is completely wrong.
Normal, elevated and low body temperature are individual concepts, but also indicators depend on the measurement method. For an electronic thermometer, and modern doctors recommend that patients use it, when measuring normal limits in the mouth - from 35.5 to 37.1 degrees Celsius. The maximum measurement time in this case is 1-3 minutes, and the minimum is 10 seconds. In rectal measurements, temperature fluctuations in the norm can be from 36.2 and up to 37.7 degrees Celsius. The maximum measurement duration is from thirty seconds to a minute, the minimum is ten seconds.
Rectal measurements with an electronic thermometer are considered the most accurate. If you measure the temperature in your mouth, you need to place the thermometer under the tongue, keep your mouth closed during the measurement, so that the environment is not affected by the temperature sensor. Measuring the temperature with an electronic thermometer under the armpit is not recommended - this is the most unreliable way. Performance may vary. When measuring in the armpit, the thermometer should be firmly pressed to the skin, positioned along the body, and after the signal from the electronic thermometer, you need to wait another one and a half minutes. Women can take measurements in the vagina, but the results will be 0.1-0.3 degrees lower than the actual ones.
Hypothermia classification
In modern medical practice, distinguished between low and low body temperature in a child and an adult. Average values of lowered temperature - from 35 to 36.5 degrees Celsius, low - below 34.9 degrees. This condition of a person in medical practice is called hypothermia. Hypothermia is classified in different ways. Light (32.3-35 degrees), medium (27-32.1 degrees), heavy (body temperature below 26.9 degrees) are distinguished. According to another classification, hypothermia is divided into moderate and severe, the border between these states is 32 degrees.
It is a mark of 32 degrees that is considered the boundary at which the human body has already exhausted its ability to independently regulate temperature, return indicators to normal limits without external intervention. It is this classification that is considered the most convenient and is widely used in modern medical practice.
A drop below 32 degrees Celsius threatens the dysfunction of many life support systems. The functioning of the respiratory system, heart and blood vessels is disturbed, brain activity and all metabolic processes are slowed down. A reading below 27 degrees can be fatal. This is a deadly low body temperature. At the same time, a person will fall into a coma, the pupils stop responding to light. Without urgent medical help, the patient has very few chances to survive.
History, however, knows cases that refute the last statement. After a two-year-old girl from Canada in the cold for six hours, the child's body temperature dropped to 14.2 degrees, but the baby survived. But this is an exception to the rule, since hypothermia is an extremely dangerous condition.
Common Causes of Low Temperature
Why is there a low body temperature (below 35.5)? Typically, the cause of this condition is fatigue and decreased immunity. Good sleep, good rest, vitamins and a balanced diet will help. The situation is quickly normalizing. But in some cases, the causes of low body temperature (what to do with this condition - we will consider further) can be extremely dangerous. There are a lot of factors causing a drop in temperature, so they are usually divided into three general groups:
- Physical reasons. Failures in thermoregulation, which normally should be provided by the human body constantly, lead to a significant loss of heat. As a rule, this occurs due to the expansion of blood vessels for a long time. Hypothermia can occur in people with low blood pressure, whose vessels are dilated. This group also includes endocrine diseases, or rather, increased sweating, which violates normal thermoregulation.
- Chemical factors. This includes general intoxication of the body, weak immune defense, decreased hemoglobin, excessive emotional stress, physical overwork, and the period of gestation.
- Behavioral causes. This category includes factors that affect the body due to inadequate perception of ambient temperature. Hypothermia can occur when exposed to alcohol or drugs, as well as due to an unbalanced emotional state.
Some private reasons
Each of the above groups of causes that provoke a low body temperature includes a sufficient number of special cases. It is more specific to identify the main ones:
- Alcohol and drug intoxication. Being under the influence of these drugs, a person may inadequately perceive reality, not feel the cold. People can even fall asleep in the cold, being exposed to hypothermia. In addition, it should be borne in mind that ethanol, opium substances create a deceptive sensation of warmth.
- Prolonged hypothermia. Staying under the influence of extremely low temperatures for a long time leads to the fact that the body ceases to cope with heat regulation on its own. In addition, in such extreme conditions, energy is additionally consumed, so that the time during which the body can resist low temperatures is significantly reduced.
- Bacterial and viral infectious diseases. As a rule, with diseases, hypothermia occurs when the pathogen has already been overcome. To a certain temperature, the body must fight the infection on its own. If you use antipyretic drugs at this time, then the symptoms disappear, but the protective mechanisms continue to work, as a result there will be a low body temperature in an adult.
- Starvation and diet. For the normal functioning of the processes of thermoregulation, the body needs calorie reserves and body fat. Inadequate nutrition (it can be either forced or planned) leads to a violation of the mechanisms of thermoregulation and a decrease in temperature.
- Sepsis in the elderly and immunocompromised patients (immune diseases). Sepsis, as a rule, is the reason for the elevation in the thermometer, but this disease can affect the central nervous system, including the segments that are responsible for the processes of thermoregulation. The temperature can drop to 34 degrees Celsius.
- Taking certain medications. Improper handling of patients undergoing surgery and excessive use of antipyretic and vasoconstrictor drugs can cause a critical decrease in body temperature.
- Features of the menstrual cycle. The menstrual cycle in women can be accompanied by slight fluctuations in body temperature. As a rule, during menstruation, the temperature drops slightly, and with ovulation it rises. The mark of 35.5-30.6 degrees on the thermometer during menstruation is not considered a pathology.
- Wilson's temperature syndrome. This disease is caused by thyroid dysfunction, resulting in a decrease in body temperature.
Low temperature during pregnancy
What does low body temperature mean during pregnancy? This phenomenon is facilitated by the processes that occur in the body of a woman carrying a child. In addition, due to toxicosis, many expectant mothers are forced to be malnourished, and this affects metabolic processes, so that the temperature can drop to 36 degrees or lower. Often in pregnant women, a decrease in immune defense is observed, against which the temperature may decrease. This does not bring serious problems, but requires an adequate response. It is necessary to normalize the diet and work on improving the immune system.
Fluctuations throughout the day
In the morning, low body temperature is normal. In the morning hours, the thermometer can show 35.5 degrees, and during the day the indicators will increase to 37. These are normal fluctuations. It is only important to adequately assess your condition and consult a doctor if the mark on the thermometer does not change throughout the day or if the body temperature is constantly low. In the vast majority of cases, a change in nutrition helps.
Symptoms of Low Temperature
Low body temperature in an adult or a child can be either an independent symptom or be accompanied by other signs of pathology. In addition, general weakness, trembling, problems with coordination of movement, drowsiness, low heart rate, vomiting, irregular heartbeat, and in especially severe cases, hallucinations, blurred eyes, blurred speech, confusion and loss of consciousness can be observed. With such symptoms and low body temperature in a child or adult, it is urgent to consult a physician.
Actions for lowering the temperature
It is necessary to adequately assess the physical condition of a person who has a low temperature. If you are not cowardly, there is no weakness and other signs of the disease, you need to remember whether there has been a recent cold or illness. A slight drop in temperature may be a residual symptom. To see a doctor in this case is not necessary. In addition, it is possible that low temperature is the normal state of a particular organism.
If the temperature has decreased due to hypothermia, then you need to put the victim in bed, cover him, paying special attention to the limbs, but the head and chest should be left open. Wet clothes need to be changed. When frostbite of the extremities can not be heated with water, but a warm heating pad can be applied to the chest. The victim needs a hot drink, but alcohol or coffee is contraindicated. You can use the bath (water temperature - up to 37 degrees Celsius) for warming.
Lowering the temperature caused by malnutrition requires a normal diet. The patient also needs ascorbic acid, which has a good effect on the immune system, and children are additionally recommended to give vitamin E.
If the mark on the thermometer is low due to illness or other reasons, while other symptoms of the disease are observed, then a doctor should be called. Before the arrival of the medics, the patient should be put to bed and covered with a warm blanket. It is necessary to provide a person with complete peace of mind, give warm tea to drink, put a heating pad under his feet. This will allow the body to establish the process of thermoregulation, in most cases the temperature will begin to rise to normal.
Some folk remedies
There are alternative medicine that will help increase a person’s low body temperature. For example, it is recommended to rub the armpits with salt, steam your feet in warm water with mustard, go to the bath (but only if there are no contraindications), drop four to five drops of iodine on sugar and eat it. All this can be done only if the temperature is not accompanied by a deterioration in well-being.
When you need to urgently call a doctor
It is imperative to call an ambulance if the temperature drops below 34 degrees Celsius, a person faints, there is a weak pulse and disturbances in the heart. This is a life-threatening situation, so the help of doctors will be required without fail and as soon as possible.