How to Cool Down in Summer Without Harming Your Health
When summer arrives, the first thing people think about is how to escape the heat and cool down. Some believe pointing a fan at their head is refreshing, others prefer hiding in an air-conditioned room with a low temperature, while some opt for natural breezes. However, experts remind us that each method of cooling down has its own considerations. A moment of carelessness could cause your body to suffer! Let's take a look at how to cool down correctly in summer.
Some people catch a cold from the air conditioner, while others wake up with a sore lower back and shoulders. The problem lies in how they are cooling down.
During the height of summer, the human body can secrete up to 3,000 to 5,000 milliliters of sweat, truly a state of "scorching sun as if on fire, with internal fluids half-dried up." It's only natural to want to "go wherever it's coolest." Cooling down in summer generally comes down to three methods: air conditioning, fans, and natural breezes. However, some people catch a cold from the air conditioner, while others wake up with a sore lower back and shoulders. To suffer less, cooling down in summer truly requires "meticulous operation." Let's see what the experts suggest.
1. Using Natural Breezes
Don't Let Cross-Breezes Blow on You When You're Fatigued
A house with north-south airflow and a cross-breeze is naturally the most comfortable way to cool down. However, experts remind us that in summer, the external heat causes the body to sweat profusely, opening the pores. Especially when a person is fatigued or asleep, their body temperature drops, and their vital energy (qi and blood) becomes weak. If you don't pay attention to proper insulation and let a cross-breeze blow on you for a long time, pathogenic factors can take advantage of this weakness, leading to wind-heat colds, periarthritis of the shoulder, and other ailments.
Expert Advice: During a noon break or at night, avoid sleeping in the nude. Even if you are very tired, don't just seek momentary pleasure by sleeping alone in an open-air balcony, a building corridor, under a large tree, or by a river or the sea, as there is a risk of shoulder pain.
2. Using a Fan
Be Wary of Stroke When a Fan Blows Directly on Your Head
Experts warn that if a fan blows directly on your head and neck, the temperature of your scalp drops, which reflexively causes the cerebral blood vessels to constrict, reducing blood flow to the brain. For the elderly with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, this can in severe cases trigger a stroke.
Be Wary of Facial Paralysis When a Fan Blows on One Side of Your Face
Furthermore, if a fan blows on one side of your face, there is a risk of triggering facial paralysis. Although the cause of facial paralysis is not fully understood, local exposure to cold is currently recognized as one of the triggers. This is because exposure to cold causes the blood vessels that nourish the nerves to spasm and constrict, leading to ischemia, hypoxia, edema, swelling, and compression of the nerves.
Expert Advice: It's best to use a fan that can oscillate. When sleeping, it's ideal to have the fan blow from the feet upwards, which will cool the entire body more quickly.
3. Using an Air Conditioner
Keep Your Feet "Warm" in Summer Too
On a scorching summer day, many people like to hide in an air-conditioned room. These rooms are usually cold, and for women who often wear shorts or skirts, it's easy for their feet to get cold. The feet have many meridian points and acupoints, including the famous Yongquan point on the sole, which belongs to the Kidney Meridian of Foot Shaoyin. Yongquan has the functions of opening the senses and awakening the spirit, and harmonizing the heart and kidneys. From a modern medical perspective: the soles of the feet are far from the heart, belong to the peripheral ends of the limbs, have relatively less blood supply, and a lower temperature. They prefer warmth and dislike cold, and exposure to cold here can also be a cause of illness.
Expert Advice: Experts especially remind that when using an air conditioner at night, it's best to wear silk stockings to prevent the soles of your feet from getting cold, a detail that many people overlook. Additionally, when using an air conditioner at noon or night, especially for the elderly or young children, it is advisable to wear long-sleepwear pants and a thin air-conditioning blanket to prevent the lungs from getting cold.