How To Stay Cool In A Heat Wave

As temperatures soar over the summer months, it’s important to know how to handle the heat. It can often be hard to handle the heat, especially if it lasts for more than 48 hours. With these easy lifestyle and decor tips, discover the various ways to keep cool this summer in this article.

When the weather gets warmer, we sweat more, and when we sweat, we lose essential hydration which is not good for our health and fitness! In the summer months, it’s especially important to drink lots of water. Not just because it keeps us hydrated, but because water is necessary to regulate body temperature and stop us from overheating. Invest in a reusable water bottle that you can refill throughout the day. It can also be useful to fill your water bottle and leave it to freeze overnight, leaving you with ice-cold water as it melts throughout the next day.

Try to avoid going out during the hottest time of the day. Between 11am and 2pm are when the sun is at its strongest and when temperatures are often highest. It’s during these times when you’re most likely to get sunburned, which raises the core temperature of the body. If you do need to be outside during those hours, try to stick to shadier parts of the street and dress appropriately so you don’t get burned.

Wearing the wrong kind of clothing in hot weather can cause a multitude of problems, including heatstroke, overheating and sunburn. Looser fabrics that absorb sweat and heat, like cotton and linen, are great for warmer weather and will help keep you cool – as well as looking stylish. Hats and sunglasses are also a must-have. Whether you prefer a baseball cap or a floppy beach hat, they’ll protect your scalp from the sun and give you a little extra shade.

Sunscreen is the most important way of keeping safe in the sun. The sun emits UVA and UVB rays, which can cause serious skin damage, premature aging and some forms of cancer. Luckily, regularly applying sunscreen to parts of the body visible to the sun protects you from these damaging rays and keeps your skin healthy. Look for SPF30 and up – you can buy them as a spray, mist or lotion from most pharmacies, supermarkets and shops.

To keep your house cool, it’s important to help the air circulate, thereby cooling it down. You can keep doors and windows open but sometimes, even the air needs a little help. Include fans in your home decor in particular rooms – especially ones that absorb a lot of sunlight – which will help keep the air moving and keep you cool. A great trick is to put a bowl of ice water in front of a fan for a refreshing blast of cold air. Many great online homeware shops like Keplin Group offer a range of fans for the home which are the perfect way to keep rooms in your home cool during the summer months.

Certain pressure points have a real impact on how we regulate our body temperature, so keeping them cool is a must. Applying an ice pack or running these parts of your body under cold water will instantly cool you down and are great for a quick refresher during the summer months. Aim for the soles of your feet, wrists, ankles, behind the knees and around your elbows.

Particularly important if your room is south facing, closing your curtains and blinds during the day will keep your room cool. If you keep the blinds up as part of your interior design, the sun will pass easily through the windows, creating a greenhouse effect. During the hotter times of the day, where the house is cooler than outside, try to keep your windows closed. Then, in the evenings, open the blinds and windows to let in refreshing, colder air.

This article was written by Annabel Cooper and was originally published on Your Coffee Break.