MojDoc - How to wipe baby with vinegar at high temperature

1. What is vinegar
2. Why many people use vinegar to wipe at a temperature
3. Vinegar poisoning when rubbing
4. How to dilute vinegar to wipe at a temperature - proportions
5. Opinions of doctors about rubbing vinegar in children

Despite the rapid development of medicine and the multitude of drugs available, there are old-fashioned methods that continue to be widely used with us. Today we will talk about one of them - rubbing vinegar at high temperature. Whether it is good or not, you will learn from this article what advantages and disadvantages of rubbing with vinegar.

At the reception in the hospital, as well as on our website, questions are often asked about wiping the baby with vinegar at high temperature — in what proportions vinegar should be diluted and from what age this method can be used. These questions are relevant, as the opinions of many grandmothers, mothers, doctors, about rubbing vinegar at a temperature in children are radically different. Some say that this is a good way to bring the heat down, others are skeptical, citing complications and possible side effects.

From this article you will learn:

1. What is vinegar.
2. What is common between vinegar and aspirin? .
3. Opinions of doctors and WHO regarding the wiping of children with vinegar at a temperature.
4. How to dilute vinegar for wiping and when it is used.

What is vinegar

The first mentions of vinegar are dated 5000 BC. Approximately since then it has been used for medical purposes, including for wiping at a temperature. Acetic acid, which is part of table vinegar 9%, is formed as a result of fermentation of any alcohol-containing product. If the alcohol is concentrated, then fermentation does not occur, acetic acid bacteria die and fermentation does not occur, but if the concentration is low, it turns out vinegar. If someone made homemade wine, he knows that it can turn sour if it stays longer than it should be.

And now the question arises: if the method has been used for more than 5000 years, does it work? This is true, and now I will tell you why.

Why many people use vinegar to wipe at a temperature

1. What is common between vinegar and aspirin? Many of you have used aspirin or acetylsalicylic acid (acetylcum), but few know that if you open a jar of aspirin (indomethacin) and smell the pills, they have a sour smell, like vinegar. Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid, and acetylsalicylic acid is salicylic ester of acetic acid. Acetic acid, contained in various forms in aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) and table vinegar, has a antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic effect. So it turns out that vinegar has the same properties as aspirin, but to a lesser extent.

2. Vinegar has a high capacity for evaporation - volatility. As you know, during evaporation, heat is released. If a vinegar solution is applied to a moist (very important!) Skin, it will contribute to a more pronounced evaporation, thereby causing a decrease in temperature.

As you can see, it turns out a good way of traditional medicine. However, let's now talk about the reverse side of the medal, about the negative effects of vinegar and acetic acid when rubbing the child.

Vinegar poisoning when rubbing

Unfortunately, often the use of this method in young children is fraught with the emergence of such negative consequences as poisoning with acetic acid vapors. This occurs through the inhalation of the vapor of vinegar, which, as mentioned above, has good volatility (ability to evaporate). If the rubbing is not done correctly, apply a solution of vinegar to dry skin or in the wrong proportion, then there is an intense absorption of vinegar through the dry skin into the blood, increasing the risk of poisoning and intoxication. Therefore, the smaller the child, the more likely the poisoning.

How to dilute vinegar to wipe at a temperature - proportions

If you still decide to use this method, then it will need 9% vinegar and water. The proportions are as follows: one tablespoon of vinegar 9% per 500 ml of boiled water. It is important that the water be close to the body temperature of 34-37 ° C. If the water is cold, when applied to the body, it will cause a spasm of blood vessels, which will reduce the heat release - as a result we will get an even higher temperature. You can perform this manipulation if your child has a pink fever - arms and legs are hot to the touch. For information on what is "pink" and "white" fever, and methods for reducing the temperature, see our separate article. What to do when the child has a high temperature

Apply vinegar should be light movements only on wet skin, a soft cloth or gauze. Rub the solution into the skin can not !!! In very young children, rubbing is unacceptable due to the high risk of poisoning. The older the child, the lower the risk of complications and side effects. Wiping can be used only in children over three years old.

Summarizing the above, I recommend using the following algorithm to reduce the high temperature in a child:

• proper clothes;
• room temperature 18 - 20 ° C;
• sufficient drinking regime;
• rubbing BUT NOT VINEGAR. Simple rubbing clean water 34-36 ° C.

A whole article is devoted to all of this. What to do when the child has high temperature

If you have done all the actions correctly, but have not achieved success, it is necessary to take antipyretic drugs in the age dosage, call an ambulance or a doctor at home. You can learn more about this from our article. Temperature in children: paracetamol or nurofen, which is better.

Opinions of doctors about rubbing vinegar in children

The method works effectively, but we live in the 21st century, when there is a mass of drugs that have a pronounced antipyretic effect with proven safety. Therefore, the entire civilized world does not use, and the WHO (World Health Organization) does not recommend using vinegar rubbing on children to bring down the temperature. Does not prohibit, but strongly recommends.

I want you to understand that in the days of our grandparents, moms and dads, there was no such variety of forms of medicine for children that reduce the temperature. They had to get out of what was. It was safer and easier to use rubdowns in their case than injections or bitter tablets and powders that are very difficult to get to drink to the baby.

Now the pharmacy will offer you candles, suspensions, syrups, tablets, capsules. They are all in different dosages, focused on different weight and age of the child. For children, the safest antipyretic drugs - ibuprofen and paracetamol .

The use of vinegar as a rubbing or antipyretic drug for a child should be started only after you have done elementary rules to reduce the temperature.

I adhere to the opinion of WHO and I do not recommend using vinegar rubbing (although when properly performed, this method has a pronounced antipyretic effect) to use it only in extreme cases when there is nothing on hand except vinegar and your child is on fire.

Respectfully Skalitsky Alexander Igorevich

You can ask your question for free - and get a qualified doctor's answer.

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