1 / Why do we shiver when it’s cold?
Our personal boiler is not a vulgar heater, but an ultra sophisticated central to keep our temperature between 36.5 and 37.5. Heat regulation depends on an area located in the middle of our brain. If our temperature drops, this area sends nerve signals to our muscles to first perform piloerection, this is the scientific term for goose bumps, then a contraction, this is called shivering with cold. .
2 / What is the purpose of these shivers?
The goal is to produce heat through our muscles. To heat up in case of cold, to evacuate it in case of overflow in fever. Conversely, if the temperature rises, the nerve signals will give the order to dilate the blood vessels to lose heat, which has the consequence of blushing and triggering sweating. So it’s as stupid when you go out in winter to cover yourself excessively with layers of clothes as it is to show off in a T-shirt.
3 / What is the right dressing when it’s cold?
The right dressing is the one where we do not shiver – because if we continue to shiver, it is because the body is suffering – and the one that does not cause sweat, dangerous as soon as the movement starts. will stop.
A special case, the skull of the little ones. When it is cold, taking out a child bareheaded is like an adult, going bare-chested. The surface area of the head in the very young is indeed proportionally much larger than that of the adult. And yet, we always meet these children certainly well swaddled at the bottom of a stroller but… without a hat! Which is like taking the shirtless grandpa out … which no one would let. However, the cold is dangerous, and children and the elderly are more vulnerable than adults also due to thinner skin.
4 / Once properly equipped when you have to go out, do you need to protect the skin of exposed areas?
It is only the face because gloves must be worn. Some reactions are normal and no one escapes them: itching, dry skin, cracked lips. Frostbite and all pain due to cold, on the other hand, are abnormal and should be treated as burns.
5 / How do you know if it is frostbite?
If baby during a particularly cold walk complains of pain in the hands, feet, nose, cheeks and ears, you must have the “frostbite” reflex and go back as quickly as possible to warm the parts of the body that are affected with a warm cloth or bath, which is the best solution. Above all, do not expose it to a strong heat source because it could aggravate the frostbite. If it’s just a pre-frostbite, the pain will subside quickly. If it is a frostbite, the pain will return, quite sharp, like a burn which is, in fact, quite close in its consequences.
6 / Does this only concern the little ones?
Adults are not immune to the harms of the cold, especially older people who also have very thin skin. If so, it will first turn red, then white or grayish. It is important not to rub. The only thing to do is to use lukewarm heat here too. That of his body first if it is the hands, then as soon as he returns home, the bath. If the pain does not go away or if blisters appear, the advice of a doctor is essential.
7 / Can breathing very cold air be dangerous?
Here again, our organization did it right. You have to breathe through your nose, because it is the organ of respiration. The air which enters the nasal cavities is humidified, purified by our hairs, but above all warmed by an impressive quantity of small vessels. Moreover, a good blow on the nose makes it possible to verify its richness in blood.
8 / So, as always in good health, is protection from the cold above all a matter of common sense?
Yes… Sufficient clothes, gloves, a scarf in front of the mouth, a wide open nose and nature takes care of the rest. And, whatever the age – especially at the ends of life – when it freezes, there are a few rules to follow: avoid clothes that are too tight so that our blood circulation is not blocked and can play its role of internal radiator. , which is much more powerful than you think. It is also necessary to fight against humidity, which plays an important role, and to wear loose and waterproof clothing. And if the temperature is below – 20, do not go out. These are temperatures where very young and old have – medically speaking – nothing to do outside.
9 / What about fuels like alcohol?
The legend of the Saint Bernard and their barrels of alcohol … If this legend were true, the brave “doggies” would have irremediably killed the castaways of the mountain. With alcohol it is hot outside, cold inside, since alcohol dilates the vessels of the skin. So it’s a silly legend …
10 / And the falls?
If some people really fear the cold – the elderly in particular – you should know that in winter, it is not frostbite that is most to be feared, but rather slipping.
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