Once a heat casualty....
Once a heat casualty always a heat casualty. I fall into this catagory unfortunantly for the past 4 years now. I maintain my hydration throughout the day everday but still find that I can not complete even a 2 mile run without my camelback to keep my body temp down. I am preping for a possible retrain so I've really stepped up my pt with the DCs here. I was hoping someone out there might have some helpful tip or tricks they use.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Steven Lavoie on -
Well, there's only so many natural things you can do. Some people's bodies are better at heat regulation than others. However, there are a few things I think would help:
1. Breathe through your mouth often. We expel a lot of heat just breathing through our mouths because of all the water vapor. Be sure to hydrate a bit more though.
2. Skip on the headphones or wear them around your neck. Humans also lose a lot of body heat through their ears.
3. Wear underarmor or any tight, "moisture-wicking" fabric. It has to be tight though, so the heat from your body is transferred to the sweat/water on the clothing quickly.
4. While you don't want to waste precious water, dump some over your head and onto your clothing to aid in heat-dissipation. If it comes to it, definitely choose drinking the water over dumping it on yourself since it will evaporate quickly and just be a waste, but it will certainly help make a difference if you can just rinse in a pool, pond, or fountain.
5. While not natural in any manner, a fever-reducer like acetaminophen may help quite a bit. Acetaminophen works by telling your body to lower it's core temperature (controlled by the brain's hypothalamus gland). I'm in no way an MD though, so this one's something you should discuss with a physician, just in case, though it's helped me on warm days as well.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Hussle on -
Steven's got some really good tips.
Another one is cooling down fast after an event- cold water on the back of your neck. Not too cold, which some argue actually causes a heat surge in your body, but tepidly cold water pouring on the back of your neck, whether that be in a shower or from a water bottle, whatever, helps reduce your body temp quickly.
Also, a tip I learned from a guy who actually went through Delta's Selections is, if you're doing ruck marches or something where you're wearing full bdu/abu/acu's, unzip your fly- it helps excess heat escape.
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