Hypothermia and hot shower.

[fisherdvm]

I have been feeling under the weather for the last few days, probably a low grade virus. I went swimming for about 30 minutes in a cool pool. I was cold, but not shivering. Went in the hot shower and nearly fainted... It took me a good 15 minutes to recover. Several times, I thought about asking for help, but was too embarrassed, as I was in a public shower.

Has this ever happened to you before. I think that the hot water vasodilated my skin and caused my blood pressure to drop. I would think, if I weren't sick, the hot shower would not have done this....

Perhaps the best way to warm up a hypothermic diver is on his back with warm blankets, or in a tub with close observation. The recumbant position would eliminate the fainting syndrome from postural hypotension.

 

[MBH]

If memory serves me correctly, when warming a hypothermic individual the core should always be warmed first.

 

[LIVES4SHARKS]

Don't apply direct heat. Don't use hot water, a heating pad or a heating lamp to warm the victim. Instead, apply warm compresses to the neck, chest wall and groin. Don't attempt to warm the arms and legs. Heat applied to the arms and legs forces cold blood back toward the heart, lungs and brain, causing the core body temperature to drop. This can be fatal.

This is from the Mayo Clinic treatment of hypothermia but a much more severe case than yours. But it basically explains what you should not do and why. More than likely this is why you felt so poorly. Also, it was a shock to your system, a "hot shower can be 30+ degrees higher than your core temp. Glad you didn't pass out and hurt yourself or worse. I do hope you are feeling better.

Take Care!
Carolyn :sharks:

 

[Drewski]

Wait a minute, aren't you a Doc?

I've experienced what you have also. I'm up to just over a 1 mile swim each morning and what you described has happened on "push days" when I've increased distance. I think two things occur. First, your cardiovascular system eventually "compensates" for your "new" level of exercise and reaches "equilibrium" while you are swimming. Things work well. You stop exercising, so the "demand" changes and adrenaline levels drop suddenly. Muscles relax, vascular resistance decreases. You hit the showers and POW, vasodilatation in surface tissues increases rapidly. You JUST exercised so the body doesn’t "read" the need for more vasoconstriction and OOPS, BP drops.

I've found I can avoid this by "cooling" down after the swim. I do 100 meters of "slow" breaststroke at the end of the swim followed by sitting in the water for 5 minutes. Then I head for the showers. Since I started this, no problems...

 

[ehuber]

You can't possibly be a real physician... I am shocked to hear that you wouldn't know better than to plunge a person with a sub-normal temperature into hot water and would come to scuba board to verify your medical facts. You're a physician, for crying out loud, so ask one of your nurses... since they generally understand medicine on a practical level.

Maybe you should pick up some of your old textbooks and refresh before someone ends up permanently incommunicado?

 

[rawls]

You can't possibly be a real physician... I am shocked to hear that you wouldn't know better than to plunge a person with a sub-normal temperature into hot water and would come to scuba board to verify your medical facts. You're a physician, for crying out loud, so ask one of your nurses... since they generally understand medicine on a practical level.

Maybe you should pick up some of your old textbooks and refresh before someone ends up permanently incommunicado?

I agree ehuber that putting someone in a tub of hot water isn't the thing to do, but IMHO I feel you could have been a bit more tactful in your respose. And she did not say "hot" water. If no blankets were available I would think that luke warm water would be an alternative especially if it is a mild case of hypothermia.

 

[Cacia]

Yes, Vasoldilation from the heat causes your BP to drop. If you were laying in the tub vs the shower, you might not have gotten dizzy.

hey..you just said that.

 

[Guba]

I can only offer an answer equal to my level of training...

In a rescue situation in which we determine a person might be hypothermic, we wrap the person in blankets and let his/her own body rewarm to temperature. In a more severe situation, we wrap the victim with another person to slowly bring the victim's temp up. In an extreme situation, those with adequate training can introduce carefully warmed fluids intraveneously. We NEVER immerse in warm water. (Some hospitals can do it, but most choose not to use that procedure.)
As a scientist and biologist, I agree with what several others have said...your system went into a mild form of shock after rapid vasodilation occurred. (And I say mild simply because you did not lose consciousness. Sounds like it was close, though.)

 

[Web Monkey]

I have been feeling under the weather for the last few days, probably a low grade virus. I went swimming for about 30 minutes in a cool pool. I was cold, but not shivering. Went in the hot shower and nearly fainted... It took me a good 15 minutes to recover. Several times, I thought about asking for help, but was too embarrassed, as I was in a public shower.

Has this ever happened to you before. I think that the hot water vasodilated my skin and caused my blood pressure to drop. I would think, if I weren't sick, the hot shower would not have done this....

Depending on how hypothermic the person is, improper rewarming can actually kill them.

There are a whole set of inter-related circulatory processes that need to all work correctly, that don't when you rewarm from the outside.

There a ton of info on the net about this, and it's actually really facinating.

That said, my medical advice, based on absolutely no training or certification, is that if you feel like ****, stay home and relax. http://www.scubaboard.com/images/smilies/Standard%20Smiles/04.gif

Terry

 

[Wildcard]

You know exactly what happened, and your right.
The rule of thumb for lay people rewarming hyops is warming them fast can kill some warming slow will kill none.
For high end rewarming you know the drill too Im sure. Heated hymidified O2, warm IVs, Hot water gastric lavage, hot water enemas, ect...
I do find your question ummm, not what I would expect from you?