For many parents, their children’s temperature when they are sick has long been the windward needle that affects their mood: if the child’s temperature does not drop, mom and dad are always on edge; once the child’s fever subsides, parents often feel that everything is fine.
The above mindset reflects the misconceptions that many parents have about their children’s fever. Fever is a response of the child’s body to resist the disease, and it is unlikely that the fever will subside in a short period of time before the child is cured. If a child’s fever is caused by inflammation, the fever will only subside if the inflammation is completely resolved.
Also, even if a child’s fever has subsided, it does not mean that he or she has fully recovered. If parents do not pay attention to control the child’s diet at this time, it may also lead to the recurrence of the child’s condition, which is referred to as “food redundancy” in Chinese medicine.
Too anxious to take the child to the doctor frequently, but not conducive to the recovery of children with fever
In the pediatric clinics of hospitals, children with fever often account for the majority of cases. Recently, more than a third of the children who visited the pediatric department of the hospital had feverish symptoms. The summer heat is heavy, summer heat is forced down, and the earth’s dampness is steamed up, so summer heat is often mixed with dampness, and fever in children often presents two main characteristics: first, the body temperature can rise suddenly after the disease; second, although treated, but still easy to repeatedly fever, the disease is often longer.
”Fever is the most common clinical symptom in pediatric patients and is also a concomitant symptom of many diseases.” There are many causes of pediatric fever, which can be broadly divided into infectious and non-infectious, with infectious diseases, such as colds, upper respiratory tract infections, and gastrointestinal infections, being the most common. Children’s thermoregulatory center is not yet developed, while the metabolism is more vigorous than adults, “frequent access to air-conditioned rooms in the summer, or after swimming did not dry the body in time are easy to make children sick.”
”As a response to the body’s resistance to disease, the fever is unlikely to subside in the short term before the disease is healed. In the clinic found that some parents do not understand the characteristics of pediatric hyperthermia, see the child’s temperature does not come down for a while will be very anxious, and even several times a day to take the child to and from multiple hospitals to see the doctor, “this approach is actually very detrimental to the child’s condition.”
The child needs rest, parents frequently take the child in and out of the hospital, not only affect the child’s rest, easy to get cold again, making the condition worse, but also easy to make the treatment chaotic and disorderly, not conducive to the treatment and rehabilitation of children.
Treatment: antipyretic drugs “treat the symptoms but not the root cause”
Many parents find that their children have a fever, it is easy to think of giving children to eat antipyretic drugs. The fever reducer is generally used only when the child’s body temperature exceeds 39 ℃ (except for children with a history of febrile convulsions), and the use of antipyretic drugs is only a method of treating the symptoms but not the root cause, the purpose of which is to control the child’s excessive body temperature in the short term to avoid the resulting febrile convulsions. “The treatment of fever cannot be done simply by using antipyretics, but the fundamental method of treating fever must be to find the causative cause, remove the cause and treat the original disease.”
In the case of fever caused by tonsillitis, for example, the fundamental treatment is anti-infection treatment, and the inflammation needs a process to subside, even after more formal and systematic treatment, it often takes 3 to 4 days to make the inflammation completely subside, and the fever will only then subside.”
Reminder: take antipyretic drugs should not exceed 3 times a day
Parents should not usually take antipyretics more than three times a day when giving them to their children, “Children with a history of febrile convulsions should also be sedated under the guidance of a doctor while using antipyretics to prevent the appearance of febrile convulsions.”
In addition, because the general antipyretic medicine can only maintain the effect of fever reduction for about 4 hours, after this time period, the child may still reappear fever. In addition to taking medication as prescribed by the doctor, parents can cooperate with the doctor’s treatment at home through physical cooling and other care methods.
Tips: How to care for a child with fever?
Five key words for care
1, reduce clothing and quilts: children with high fever should be appropriately reduced clothing and quilts, too much wrapping clothing and quilts is not conducive to heat dissipation, can make the high fever persist.
2, physical or topical Chinese medicine cooling: at home for the child to reduce fever can also be used cold towels or ice packs applied externally to the forehead, armpits, groin, etc., through this type of physical cooling to maintain the body temperature does not exceed 38 ℃. In addition, the Chinese herbal medicine Artemisia and Elsholtzia decoction can also be used for bathing.
The actual fact is that you can find a lot of people who are not able to get the best out of your own home. When the sweat and heat recede, pay attention to timely wipe sweat and replace sweaty clothes to avoid getting cold again.
4, more rest: keep the room air circulation and quiet, so that the fever children get sufficient rest.
5, eat more liquid food: high fever will increase the metabolism of various nutrients in the body, while increasing oxygen consumption, affecting the digestive function, resulting in loss of appetite or diarrhea, so children with fever should eat liquid, easily digestible food, such as white porridge, which can clear heat and nourish the stomach and produce fluid; in the hot summer, you can also use watermelon rind porridge or winter melon barley boiled water, which has the effect of relieving heat and producing moisture. In addition, you can also give your child more fresh fruits and vegetables rich in vitamins, such as apples, pears, fresh oranges, etc.
After the child’s fever has subsided: the remaining heat is not yet cleared to prevent “food again”
”After a child’s fever has subsided, there is often a strong sense of hunger, parents must pay attention to gradually increase the amount and variety of food, do not let the child eat too much at once.” Over-eating before the residual fever is cleared can lead to a recurrence of the disease and what Chinese medicine calls “food redundancy”.
Even if the child’s temperature has returned to normal, it does not necessarily mean that the child is completely cured. “Pediatric fever is a febrile disease in which evil and good compete with each other, and heat can injure the yin fluid.” Some children with fever can have a series of symptoms of yin deficiency and fire, such as dry mouth, irritability, poor appetite, lack of sleep and dry stools, which should also attract the attention of parents.