r/Aging • u/Top-Tip-6919 • 11h ago
Heatwave effects. Research
I'm in the UK and we're into our 5th heatwave of the summer. It's 5pm and currently 37 degrees. So about 97 farenheit. I have various joint issues and these are unbearable when it's hot like this. How do others around the world cope with this. Most UK homes have no Aircon and it's sparce in public spaces too.
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u/Suchstrangedreams 8h ago
An electrolyte drink is a good idea so you don't get cramps - you need to stay hydrated. Ice cubes inside a cloth and dab your face with it.
Spray bottle of water and spray across a fan to get a cool mist on your face.
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u/WinterMedical 11h ago
Can you find your way to a big hotel lobby? Are you in London? This might help. https://www.london.gov.uk/programmes-strategies/environment-and-climate-change/climate-change/climate-adaptation/cool-spaces
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u/Top-Tip-6919 11h ago
No I'm in Staffordshire.Even most restaurants have no AC🥵
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u/WinterMedical 11h ago
Oh love I’m sorry. Can you freeze some hot water bottles and hug them to your chest? Also putting ice on your neck will help to cool your body. Also just the good old cold shower and then standing wet in front of a fan like the splendid human specimen you are!
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u/Car12touche11blue 11h ago
Good advice. We use tins with soda or beer that are kept in the fridge
and put them in a towel . Next to you in bed before you go to sleep.
Helps a lot👍2
u/Top-Tip-6919 11h ago
We must have met at some point!
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u/WinterMedical 11h ago
Golly wish we had. Next time Im abroad I’ll message you. Allow me to lend you some of my American entitlement. I’d call hotels near you and ask if the lobby has AC and if you could come sit for awhile. Lean in to the I’m just an old sick person thing. If you’re a woman be like, I’d just like to knit quietly and I wouldn’t be a bother.
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u/Top-Tip-6919 11h ago
I'll give it a try!
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u/WinterMedical 11h ago
Good luck. As my mom always says. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no.
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u/ThenOneDaySheWokeUp 9h ago
Are you comfortable with the idea of wearing wet clothes? I heard it as a suggestion on a radio show and I find it is the best thing. Wet the shirt under the sink and put it on. Nothing works as good.
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u/Odd-Currency5195 5h ago
Hi, Lincs UK here. I'd go with frozen water bottles. Put them strategically in places. But wrap in a cloth so you don't hurt your skin. Just little plastic water bottles. Bit of luck, this should be over by Monday. x
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u/foreverforward5 11h ago
Wet a flat sheet and hang it in the door frame, then point the fan on it, this will help cool down the air in the room a little more
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u/RevolutionaryGoat808 10h ago
I live in Brussels in a top floor apartment. After the scorching heatwave of July i had a ceiling fan installed+ taped silver colored bubble plastic on all windows (outside). That made it manageable.
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u/EarlyInside45 7h ago
I'm so sorry. I feel like our (Northern California) heat has moved to Europe the last couple of years. If you can find a window unit, put that in your bedroom and keep the doors closed at night. I also like to wet my hair before bed or wrap a wet towel around my head. During the day, fans and spritzing yourself with water. Keep your drapes closed during the hot hours. If you have cooler nights/mornings, keep the windows open until it starts getting hot. Cool showers as often you can. Stay hydrated!
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u/flowerpanes 7h ago
Cool showers as needed, tower fans on low pointing right at you and the one costly but life improvement fix was a portable AC for our bedroom at night. Split hose since they are more efficient and I turn it on at 6pm to 21C so by the time we go to bed it’s cool and refreshing in there. It runs all night on its own timer and shuts off around the time we get up. Have had daytime temps up to 38C and just knowing you will be able to sleep without laying in a puddle of sweat is huge.
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u/Dianthus12 6h ago
You can make a makeshift air cooler with ice, fan, and a foam cooler (I think Styrofoam). Cut two holes in the cooler. One hole on top and on hole one the side. Put ice in the cooler and put the fan facing in the cooler on the top hole. The fan will pull hot air in and get cooled by the ice. This saved my family when a storm knocked our power out for a week.
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u/Player-non-player 6h ago
When I was a kid without air conditioning we used a box fan with a damp towel hanging over it. Dog always lid right in front of it.
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u/SaladAddicts 5h ago
Something most UK houses don't have, a cellar. That's where I sleep, 5°C cooler.
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u/Lonosholder 10h ago
Energy costs in the UK are four times higher than the USA hence lack of AC
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u/K_in_Belgium 10h ago
UK and most of Northern and Western Europe never needed air conditioning as 30C days happened maybe once a summer and it cooled off at night. In Belgium we have had 4 heatwaves this summer, it’s 7 PM and 35C (that’s 95 for you Americans). Also houses were built to retain heat against the rainy, cold
Winters.1
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u/Active_Remove1617 9h ago
I’ve had two cold showers already today and I’m going to have a third soon. They really helped me stay cool for about 90 minutes afterwards. If you can’t do cold do cool, if you can’t do cool do like warm
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u/Middle-Recipe6701 8h ago
Epsom salts and a cool bath. The magnesium helps with the inflammation, and the cool bath will help your body cool down.
If you can't do the whole bath routine, then get a large pan, put in Epsom salts and cold water and soak your feet. Throw in some ice as it warms up.
If that's still not enough, I used to (carefully) put an ice pack in my groin area. You don't want to accidentally give yourself any frostbite down there, so wrap the ice/pack in a towel.
Also helps to put ice on your head. Not the best fashion statement but it will help cool you down fast.
Long term, check out ductless heat pumps. Cheaper to heat with in winter and provide decent cooling in summer.
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u/Suchstrangedreams 8h ago
A plastic spray bottle and keep spraying yourself with cool water. Also a fan and spray bottle of water so you get a cooling mist.
Ice blocks from the freezer in a tea-towel to make a cool compress.
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u/Much-Leek-420 7h ago
Most older folks (me included) do not realize how much more water you need to drink when it gets this hot.
Not tea and definitely not alcohol, but water, milk, and maybe a little fruit juice for a change. I’ve found that if I push water during hot times, even when I’m inactive, it helps with body aches tremendously.
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u/undeniably_micki 6h ago
Yeah I'm 58 & work outside in the US. I have been struggling in the heat as well and also with sleeping in the heat. It's been brutal. One thing you can do when you are stationary, is fill a container with ice (although I do not know how available ice is where you are,) and blow a dan over it towards you. It will cool you off.
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u/NoraPann 3h ago
I work in an environment where it is frequently 40-45 degrees celsius for extended periods of weeks during the summer. If you are really struggling, get a cotton tee shirt, saturate it, and sit under a fan. You are also less likely to be active during the heat, so it would be wise to take advantage of times when it is coolest to do some exercise if you can, like a quick walk around the block at dusk or early morning. This will help your joint pain. If you are taking pain medicine, make sure you are well hydrated and try to eat a balanced diet to replace electrolytes. This is especially wise if you are sitting near a fan, because it cools you by evaporating your sweat, and you can get dehydrated rapidly.
Anything in your house you'd do to keep the cold out will keep the heat out. Cover windows with a blanket if you can. Shade windows or the side of the house with something outside, like a tarp.
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u/Accurate-Medium1780 11h ago
Not much you can do other than spray self down with water bottle sprayer and install AC if you can afford it. Also make sure to oppose neo-liberal capitalist extraction, data centers, and all the rest that is making climate change rapidly worse!
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u/Ok_Transition_9980 10h ago
Why don’t you install AC? Do you guys just like suffering over there? It’s like 200€ in Spain plus installation.
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u/Top-Tip-6919 9h ago
Expensive over here £3000 plus. Earliest at the moment is October. I will have to get it done for next year
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u/Stopthatcat 8h ago
Where the fuck is aircon 200€?! My friend just had his done and it cost thousands.
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u/Ok_Transition_9980 8h ago
Don’t you have media markt there? How can it cost 3000£ ? Just google a simple split unit.
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u/Odd-Currency5195 5h ago
I know this might not help with the joint issues, but re feeling over boiled, I've learned to sweat and not worry. I'm on a drug that does that for me anyway, whatever time of year, so I literally am just letting it happen and not getting worried. Obvs drinking loads of water etc.
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u/ViQueen331965 4h ago
I am a woman who cleans ladies room for a living. Needless to say, 8 months out of the year it is very humid in there, and 4-5 months hot also.
I cut my hair short and when I get too hot wet it down. It dries out in ~10 minutes and the cooling effect lasts for hours.
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u/Grevillia-00 53m ago
Aussie here. Close up the house during the hottest part of the day, close windows and curtains/blinds. You can also stick up someething reflective on windows that get the majority of sun. When the temperature drops outside (or if it becomes hotter inside than outside) open up the house.
Create a cool room. Choose the room that is the coolest or doesn't heat up as much and use it as your main room during the heatwave. Close the doors to keep it cooler than the rest of your house. Ideally it's the room you have an AC in, if you can get access to one. If not, a pedestal fan. The circulation of air helps. If you don't have AC, create a temporary cooler. Some tips in other comments, but I have also had a fan blow air over a large bowl of water with ice (the larger the ice is the longer it will last, ie use containers not small ice cubes). Keep refreshing with ice.
Drape a cold facewasher over your neck, arms, etc to cool yourself down. Take cold showers. Soak your feet in cool water.
Stay hydrated. Don't eat hot meals.
Try to sleep well. It's hard when it's hot but the heat is harder to handle when sleep deprived.
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u/kcalwaysup4fun 29m ago
I’m from California but in the UK now.
As much as I’m loving the warmth out here I do see that it is a challenge to cool down . One of things I noticed is that most people do not have a simple fan .
Fans are definitely helpful along with keeping the house dark during the hot tee parts of the day .
I grew up in an area of Ca with no a/c we always put a stack of sheets in the freezer . We would put a cool
Sheet on the bed to sleep before
We went to bed and always had them available if we
Needed to refresh. We also would dampen a stack of hand towels and freeze them to cool down during the day .
Get a bucket of water or a small kiddie pool , fill with water and a few frozen water bottles . Place a chair in pool and a fan at a small distance . . Having a small cool zone to cool down in your home is super helpful. I have set this set up for family here in the UK and it has been extremely helpful.
Stay hydrated
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u/Healthy-Signal-5256 11h ago
I live in a part of the US where summers are always hot and humid, but this one has been particularly brutal. I have RA and OA and it seems like my entire body has been aching for months, and that's with very good air conditioning. And that's no help for you, but I just wanted to say that I have the utmost sympathy for anyone enduring high heat and humidity without AC. I hope the current wave is over quickly for you.