Debina Bonnerjee advised to take a cold shower in 102 degree fever; is it effective?

Debina Bonnerjee on fever (Source: Debina Bonnerjee/Instagram Stories)

She further informed that her doctor advised her to take a cold shower to break her fever, which she did. “Doc called…asked me to take a cold shower…which I did…and asked me to hydrate…because the cells are dehydrated,” mentioned Debina, 39.

Debina Bonnerjee took a cold shower. (Source: Debina Bonnerjee/Instagram Stories)

To tackle the fever, she also took a multivitamin drip.

Debina also shared a glimpse of taking a multivitamin drip (Source: Debina Bonnerjee/Instagram Stories)

As a breastfeeding mother, Debina also enquired from her paedatrician whether she can breastfeed during fever. “Asked my paediatrician if I can breastfeed as I am running fever and cough. The doc said, I can go ahead as there is no issue with breastfeeding. Now bottle feeding breast milk,” shared Debina.

Debina has been breastfeeding (Source: Debina Bonnerjee/Instagram Stories)

As such, we reached out to experts to understand whether it is advisable to take a cold shower in fever.

Dr Ravi Shekhar Jha, director and head, pulmonology, Fortis Hospitals, Faridabad told indianexpess.com that cold shower is “not at all” recommended when one is suffering from fever and may even prove detrimental. “When you have fever, your blood vessels dilate to dissipate heat that is generated inside the body. Cold temperature leads to vasoconstriction (narrowing of the blood vessels), and therefore does not allow the heat to be released. This can actually worsen the fever. In very high temperatire, which doesn’t respond to conventional medicines, cold water sponging is recommended, but taking a shower and making all your blood vessels narrow is dangerous,” Dr Jha said, adding that cold showers can in fact lead to seizures, dehydration, and hyperthermia.

However, Dr Sudhir Kumar, a neurologist, suggested taking a normal tap water shower instead of a cold shower, to cool down the body and naturally bring down the temperature. “This will obliviate the need for taking paracetamol, which is not totally safe and can affect the liver. While sponging is advised, a shower too will have the same effect. Also,when you take it at home, the risk of infection is reduced,” Dr Kumar said.

Agreed Dr Subhendu Mohanty, interventional cardiologist, Sharda Hospital, Noida and said that while cold showers are not recommend as a treatment, there is no harm. “Just like we advise cold sponging for high grade fever, a cold shower will work the same way if a person is keen on taking one,” Dr Mohanty mentioned.

Dr Jha advised that supportive measures like taking paracetamol (within recommended dosage only), proper hydration, treating primary cause, and cold water sponging are much more effective.

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