Have you ever experienced suddenly feeling cold and shaking? You aren’t exposed to a cold environment, and yet you are shaking. This condition is called chills, and they are pretty common when you are having fever.
Chills can be a sign that there is something wrong with your body and knowing the basic facts about it can be really helpful.
Understanding Chills
Chills are basically the condition when you are shaking or feeling cold without any cause or reason. It happens because your muscles contract and expand repeatedly to adjust itself to your feverish high temperature. Chills can happen periodically, only lasting for several minutes. However, it is also possible that chills happen constantly, lasting up to an hour.
The reasons for the chills are:
- Cold environment exposure. When you are exposed to cold, your body will increase its body temperature to cope. Your muscles will also try to cope, resulting in the fast expansion and contraction that leads to chill.
- Viral or bacterial infection response. When your body spots on that there is a viral or bacterial attack, it will try to increase the temperature so they won’t be able to grow or develop. It’s the same thing as the previous one where the muscles will contract and expand to cope.
Although not exclusively or limited to these conditions, chills are usually associated with:
- Meningitis
- Flu
- Viral or bacterial gastroenteritis
- Strep throat
- Pneumonia
- Sinusitis
- UTI (Urinary Tract Infection)
The Proper Treatments
Basically, the treatments for both adults and kids are almost the same – there are only slight adjustments that you should make. In adults, you only have to take a lot of water and get enough rest if the fever is quite mild without being accompanied by any other medical symptoms. Wear comfy clothes. It is okay to use light sheet but not the thick clothes or blankets. Taking a hot shower may help but avoid the cold water because it may trigger the chills.
In the event that your fever has run for more than 72 hours without improvement, you should go to the doctor. Or, if you find any of the following symptoms (although the fever hasn’t lasted for 72 hours), go to the doctor right away:
- Wheezing or breath shortness
- Severe coughing
- Stiff neck
- Abdominal pain
- Forceful vomiting
- Abdominal pain
- Lack of or more frequent urination
- Painful urination
In kids, the treatments are more complicated. You should dress them in light clothes or cover them with light blankets. If your less than 3 months baby is having a fever, go to the doctor right away – it needs medical treatment right away. If the fever is quite high and it has lasted for more than 2 days, go to the doctor right away. Make sure to give them fluids so they won’t be dehydrated. If the kids are having seizure or the fever is extra high, don’t wait too long. Go to the doctor right away.
It’s pretty normal to have chills but you should look into your own condition and the severity of the issue. If you suddenly feeling cold and shaking, you now know the reason why.
