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Sometimes when I’m commuting to work in summer, I show up at the office all hot and sweaty, but have a morning meeting right away that I need to get cleaned up for. I don’t want to be perspiring or have a sweat stache while sitting close to my co-workers, so I need a way to take my body temp down–fast.
If you’re like me and need to immediately cool your body down, try these two proven tricks. They work for me every time (because of science, you see!):
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Put something cold on the back of your neck. The sensor for your body temperature is in your neck, so if you cool this spot you can trick the rest of your body in to thinking it’s cooler than it is. If I’m at home, I use a face cloth or an ice cube or a bag of frozen peas. If I’m at work, I use a paper towel from the bathroom. If you really want to be hardcore, you could roll an ice cube in the back of a handkerchief or scarf and tie it around your neck and where it like that. This could prevent you from sweating so much in the first place.
Run cold water over your wrists. Heat radiates from the body in a couple key places–from the hands, feet, face and ears. Target these specific areas if you need to cool down quickly. At work, I run cold water over my wrists for at least 10 seconds. This can actually reduce your body temperature for about an hour (just enough time to get through that first meeting!).
At home, I’ll fill the tub with cold water and sit on the ledge with just my feet in the water or stand in my daughter’s kiddie pool. Kiddie pools are a great at-home option for adults (seriously) because of how effectively cooling just your feet can cool your body. If you don’t have a real pool, just buy a cheap plastic one on Amazon. It’s a poor man’s paradise!
[Photo: Ania B]
