How Long Does A Fever Last
How long does a fever last?
Pyrexia is the proper medical term for a fever. To be classified as a fever, one’s body temperature must be above the normal 98.6. Some people in the medical community do not believe that it is a true fever unless the body temperature rises above 101 degrees. To the person that is suffering from this condition they just want to know how long does a fever last?
There are numerous things that can cause a fever and they all can have impact on how long this rise in body temperature will last. Most commonly when a fever develops, there are chills and then sweating and extreme exhaustion. Fevers usually develop as a symptom of another problem going on in the body. For example, those who are fighting an infection may produce a fever as a sign of something else going on inside the body. If there is any inflammation to the body or its tissues, this can also spike a fever. As a matter of fact, the causes of a fever are so numerous they are hard to pin down. One can develop a fever from brain problems, a disease, the flu, cancer or exposure to poisons.
It is not typical for a person to develop a fever and no other symptoms. That is based on the fact that a fever is caused by an underlying problem in the body and not just a disease itself. The complaints are usually the same with most fevers, they can range from headaches, extreme cold, sweating and even vomiting. It is easy to identify when a child has a fever because of the lethargic behavior that accompanies them.
Many medical professionals hear the question all the time, how long does a fever last? A fever really does not last more than 2-3 days, unless there is a major underlying cause. It is important to take the individual to the doctor if the fever is extremely high or lasting more than the normal amount of time. While the average baseline for a body temperature is 98.6 F, some variation is allowed for determining a person’s fever.
Most people do not realize that the hypothalamus is a small thermostat type item that is located inside the brain. This controls all the temperatures and items such as sweating, chills and in general the metabolism.
For those who are wondering how long a fever lasts, it is complicated. The body has pyrogens which produce the fever within the body. Though they enter the body form an outside source, they encourage the creation of extra pyrogens inside the body itself. These little pyrogens send messages to the brain, primarily the hypothalamus and tell it to intensify the temperature of the body. The body will quickly respond to this stimuli as the bodies temperature increases. So what is it that causes these pyrogens: fungus, toxic items, drugs, bacterial infections and viruses.
There are different ranges in a fever. For example, a low grade fever is considered anything between 100-101 F. The higher grade fevers are 103-105 F. The fever becomes dangerous when it is over 104 F. Hyperpyrexia is the proper term used to describe a fever that is extremely high in nature. While it is unclear when the fever begins what the body is really fighting, the real test is to ensure that it does not last more than 3 days. A fever that lasts 10-15 days is called a prolonged fever.
While a fever is certainly not something to mess around with, there is now way to definitively state the answer to the question on most sufferers minds, how long does a fever last? Anything over 3 days needs medication attention to make sure that there is nothing more serious underlying.
In general a fever is just an annoyance that goes along with most bugs and typical infections, and should go away in a day or so. Bed rest and drinking plenty of fluids with a fever reducer is about the only way to ride out the awful condition, and will help speed up the process.