San José, Costa Rica. January, 2016.

This ailment is quite frequent and even more in the summer. Heatstroke is a symptom prior to sunstroke, so if you have felt weakness and exhaustion, you should go check yourself since this is how sunstroke begins.

According to Dr. Katherine Rodríguez, general physician of the Clínica Bíblica Hospital, “sunstroke not only appears when we are exposed to the sun, it could be the over exposure to tanning cameras, when we do too much exercise and have little hydration, as well as with the excessive use of saunas, among other causes.”

With sunstroke, one is exposed to high temperatures where the body cannot regulate the external temperature with the internal one; that is when the body thermostat fails.

Some symptoms that may appear are: nausea, fever, chills, dizziness, and decompensation. If they are not easily controlled, complications may appear such as seizures, loss of consciousness, or even death.

Anyone can suffer from this, however, children and elderly persons are more exposed. Many cases may also appear in young adults who are strongly exposed to the sun and receive little hydration.

“The first thing one has to do when a person suffers sunstroke is isolate him from the place if he is still exposed to the sun, seek the shade or air conditioning, and drink water or liquid abundantly. With children and elderly people, soak with lukewarm water cloths and if the patient is disoriented or has difficulty breathing, seek medical assistance,” said Dr. Rodríguez.

Among the main recommendations are: be careful when exposed to the sun between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., use solar protection at factor 45, drink a lot of water or liquid, avoid alcoholic beverages and even more when exercising since you could become dehydrated. In addition, stay in shady places, if we are in the sun, change places so that the exposure is not so extensive, use light colored and cool clothes.

In case of suffering breathing difficulty, confusion, disorientation, seizures (mainly in children and elderly people) or high fever, seek a doctor immediately.

In order to obtain further information or to request an appointment in any of the medical specialties with the best doctors of Costa Rica, please contact the private hospital Clínica Bíblica at telephone number 2522-1000, at email citas@clinicabiblica.com or vía chat on the website www.clinicabiblica.com