Definition – What are calf wraps?
Most people have probably heard of calf compresses against fever. Especially for children, but also for adults, wraps are an easy to use and gentle method of lowering fever. The method is based on a very simple principle: the compress is slightly cooler than the patient’s skin surface. The warmer skin then causes the water to evaporate, which in turn cools the skin. In this way, the fever can be reduced by 0.5 to 1°C depending on the duration of application.
How do you do calf wraps?
Calf compresses are best used on lying or at least semi-lying patients. Before the compresses are applied, the fever should be measured and hands and feet checked for temperature. Only when hands and feet are warm or even hot can and should calf compresses be used.
If this is not the case and the extremities feel cold, the patient is still in a feverish state. It must be waited until this is over. Chills can also be a sign of this.
The following utensils must be prepared for the calf compresses: In the first step, one of the bath towels should be placed under the bed as a protection against moisture. Then one of the two thin linen towels should be dipped into the bowl of water and wrung out. It should still be wet, but no longer dripping.
This is now wrapped around the patient’s lower leg approximately one and a half times. The dry towel is then placed over it. It should be wrapped quite tightly in both layers so that the towels lie directly on the patient’s skin.
The procedure is now repeated on the second leg. It is important that the wrap does not cover the knees or ankles. These should remain free.
As a last step, another bath towel or other thin cloth can be laid loosely around both legs or the patient can be covered loosely with it. Here it must be ensured that no too thick towels or blankets are used, as otherwise a so-called heat accumulation can occur. This can cause the fever-reducing effect of the compresses to be lost.
- Two thin (linen) cloths
- Two towels
- One or two bath towels
- A bowl of lukewarm to lukewarm water for use with children or cool (16-20°C) to lukewarm water for use with teenagers and adults.
Calf compresses are most effective when applied three times directly after each other. For children, a simpler version consisting of two successive passes is also suitable. Afterwards the wraps must be removed and the patient’s skin dried.
- During the first pass, if the fever is moderate to high, it takes only a few minutes for the compresses to reach approximately the body temperature of the patient.
- The second wrap follows, which should remain on the skin for about ten minutes.
- The third pass should then take a maximum of about 20 minutes.
Calf compresses can be applied with water of different temperatures depending on the age of the patient. For adults, in addition to cold compresses made with warm water of about 20°C, lukewarm compresses are also suitable. Particularly with cold wraps, care must be taken to ensure that the patient does not start to freeze.
Cold water should not be used for children. Here you can fall back on lukewarm to lukewarm water. The temperature of the calf nappy is only a few degrees away from the patient’s body temperature.
Nevertheless, these wraps are effective and are less stressful for the circulation. Before using calf compresses, it is absolutely necessary to check the temperature of the patient’s hands and feet. If these are cold or cool, the patient is, as already mentioned, still in a feverish state.
Then calf compresses must not be used. Only when the extremities are warm or hot can they be used. But even then caution is required.
Patients with circulation or heart problems should refrain from using calf compresses for safety reasons. This is because lowering the fever can put a strain on the circulation. It is therefore important to pay attention to the circulation during treatment with calf wraps.
If dizziness or nausea occurs, the wraps must be removed immediately. To prevent circulation problems as much as possible, the fever should be measured before and during treatment with calf compresses. This may drop by about half a degree to a full degree Celsius as a result of the application.If the fever is lowered even further, this is too much strain on the body.
Basically, it is important to remember that the wraps must be removed immediately if they are uncomfortable for the patient or if he or she begins to freeze during the treatment with calf wraps. Otherwise, the wraps should be changed or removed as soon as the patient’s skin temperature is reached. This can be felt very easily. However, it should only be removed after 20 to 30 minutes at the most, as otherwise the patient’s circulation is put under too much strain.
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