Hydration/Dehydration
Just like athletes in sports, people working in the trades have a higher hydration requirement compared to someone working in the office setting. Dehydration in any setting negatively affects performance and can lead to injury. Here we will explore what proper hydration is and how to prevent dehydration on the worksite.
What is Dehydration?
We will start with the assumption that we are all healthy and have no underlying health issues increasing our hydration needs. Given this condition, dehydration happens when you lose more body fluids than you take in, essentially placing your body in a fluid deficit. In fact, studies have shown that just a slight decrease in bodily fluid levels, as little as 2%, can result in mental complications with short term memory. Common signs and symptoms include:
- Feeling thirsty
- Dark Urine
- Headache
- Dizziness or lightheaded
- Muscle Fatigue
- Confusion
- Poor Skin Turgor
- Elevated Body Temperature
What Causes Dehydration?
Normal body temperature when healthy is 98.6 degrees F or 37 degrees C. When your environment, activity level, illness, or a combination of these factors increase your body temperature you will notice an increase in:
- Sweating
- Respiratory rate
- Feeling thirsty
- Dry mouth
These are all signs your body is working harder to keep cool and prevent your temperature from getting too high. Unfortunately, when these signs occur, dehydration has already begun. Meaning, your body is in a fluid or water deficit and needs to be replenished.
If you are seeing more than one of the symptoms above you can do a simple skin turgor test for additional confirmation.
1. Gently pinch a section of skin on a forearm with 2 fingers.
2. Let go and observe how long it takes the skin fold to return to normal.
3. Properly hydrated skin should return to normal in under 3 seconds.
Depending on the degree of dehydration, rehydration can be as simple as increasing water intake for mild cases or be so severe that intravenous fluids are needed in the emergency room.
How do I prevent Dehydration?
Make hydration a priority. Many times there are symptoms of dehydration that can be seen before the effects are felt, look for signs like;
1. Dark urine
2. Less frequent urination
3. Daytime fatigue without reason
Drink 50 to 64 oz of water per day over regular breaks or intervals. Water bottles commonly come in 16 oz sizes so try and make a goal of drinking at least 4 bottles per day, thirsty or not. It is likely that during the warmer months and when higher activity levels are needed for work, this goal will need to be increased.
Take regular, frequent hydration breaks. Maintain these scheduled hydration breaks in the cold months as well as the warm months. It is tempting to skip breaks and hustle through work in cold weather. Stay alert to dehydration signs when you are bundled up against the cold and continue to drink before you get thirsty.