COLD WATER on your wrists: how effective in 'cooling off'?!

COLD WATER on your wrists: how effective in 'cooling off'?

My grandma used to say that when you feel too hot, if you hold the inside of your wrists under cold running water, it will eventually cool your body down a bit. It certainly feels GREAT while I'm doing it, but I can't tell if it actually helps, after I walk away from the sink.

Even if the blood in the blood vessels in the wrist (where the skin is thin) DID cool down from the water, wouldn't it just heat up again on its way through the warm body and back to the heart? What I'd really like to do during heat waves like the present one is lower my core body temperature at night, because if I and/or my room are warm, I have an AWFUL time getting to sleep, and maintaining sleep. Maybe a pre-bedtime cold shower is in order? *chuckle*

Actually, that is an old wives tale. In reality, the best way to cool yourself down if you are too hot is to place a cool or cold rag on the back of your neck. Most of your nerve receptors are there and it will cool you down in a matter of moments. A cool shower or bath would help tremendously. You can also place a block of ice in a pan that is big enough to hold the water that is left behind when the ice melts and place it in front of a fan. It acts like an air conditioner!

I had a heat stroke at Magic Mountain years ago and one of the employees there placed a rag filled with ice on my neck. It took less than ten minutes for the nausea and dizziness to go away that I was feeling from the 105 heat. Perhaps a cold damp rag would help.

Hope this helps! Best of luck, my friend.